Instagram’s new poll feature offers your brand strategy more options

EARLIER this month, Instagram rolled out an interactive sticker within the Stories feature that offered users the opportunity to poll their audience.

At first glance, this feature may seem like just another way users can have some fun in their Stories, but for brands this tool provides an incredibly unique opportunity for growth.

Much in the same way location stickers are added, businesses can now add a two-answer poll to their Instagram stories. Once answered, followers can mark their selection at any time over the 24 hours that the Instagram Story is accessible.

The creator of the poll will be able to track the results in real-time and view the participant breakdown, allowing the opportunity to gather insightful information instantly.

So, how can brands leverage Instagram Story polls?

Market research

Although the feature only gives users the ability to add only two options to the poll, this does not take away from the invaluable information you can get about your audience and their preferences.

You’ll be able to as if your audience is enjoying the content you create? What would they like more of? What content do they dislike? Utilising polls in this way enables you to find out what your audience want from you.

For example, you could ask “What kind of posts do you prefer?” along with the options of “Video” or “Images”. By doing this, your company can get a better idea of what your audience is looking for in a product or service. It is also a very helpful way to test the waters when developing a new product or service.

On top of this, the high level of reach and easily accessible data means that your company can have insights into things such as number of story views, who has viewed your story, total number of voters, and number of votes for each answer.

Audience Engagement

The polling feature offers your audience a straightforward way to engage with your product and brand. Often customers may want to voice their opinion to your company but feel as though the process of getting in touch is more effort than it’s worth. The new poll feature offers a fantastic, simple way for your audience to engage and feel connected to your business.

Industry-related questions

Have fun with it. Instagram polls are a fantastic way of engaging with your community, particularly with focus on industry-related questions. This gives you the perfect opportunity to spark conversations among participants as well as the chance to attract the attention of other industry leaders.

By asking general industry-related questions, it shows your audience that you are passionate about that industry and care more than simply marketing your own product or service.  This will build customer loyalty and offer you the opportunity to build long-lasting, valuable relationships with your audience.

Competitions

Another way in which your company can leverage Instagram’s new tool is by running competitions. This is a marketing tool that is not new to traditional Instagram; it has been a significant tool for many brands social marketing strategies and can yield viral results. Why? Strategically used social media contests can boost your followers, increase engagement and generate buzz.

“Instagram’s new polling feature offers brands and influencers a new form of social engagement,” said Gil Eyal, founder and CEO of influencer platform HYPR, to Digiday,

“We’re seeing brands asking for feedback about products, creating engagement around topics that are in the media and conducting market research.”

However, whether polling will take off on the brand side remains to be seen.

“We still haven’t seen tremendously successful usage of this feature, but we are advising our [clients] about it and expect some great content to follow” adds Eyal.

As Instagram updates its features, so should your brands promotion strategy.

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