51+ Instagram Poll Ideas for Business, Food + Couple Stories

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Are you running out of Instagram poll ideas to increase your IG Story engagement?

Ever since Instagram Stories became available many small business owners have been trying to capitalise on this feature.

When compared to the IG feed, an Instagram Story calls for more creativity.

Recently, a business owner in my network mentioned that IG Stories is where she has more fun.

Depending on your brand messaging it may not be possible to add humour to your Story posts.

Let me know if you can relate to these obstacles.

Publishing to IG Stories every day can be time-consuming because you’ll need ideas for both feed and Story posts.

Even if you had a list of 10 Story ideas the next hurdle would be setting aside time to create them.

Of course, there’s also the added hassle of adding captions, hashtags, emojis, text, interactive stickers and at mentions.

If only there was a way to obtain a list of Instagram Story ideas that you can quickly create 30 days of content and schedule it out to publish daily.

In this post, I’ll help you get a huge list of IG Story ideas and you’ll learn how to create and schedule 30+ posts so you can set it and forget it.

Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links which means that if you buy one of my recommended products I get paid a commission for sharing the link at no additional cost to you.  I only recommend products that I have tried myself and have experienced success.

History of IG Stories

One of the best ways to appreciate features on social media is to look at the history of Instagram Stories.

After all, wouldn’t it be nice to grasp the development of this unique technology?

Instagram launched Stories back in 2016 and there was a bit of backlash from the social media industry.

The reason for the backlash was because Snapchat already had a similar feature on their platform.

What made IG Stories different is that the user has the ability to pause, rewind and even add filters. (anyone else enjoys filters? Woohoo!!)

By November that year Instagram added live video.

In January the following year skippable ads, 5-second photo and 15-second video were also added.

Having the ability to respond to Stories was not added until July 2017 which was followed in December by Story highlights.

Users of Instagram can take all of this functionality for granted and complain about what they can’t do.

However, isn’t it amazing what Instagram has been able to accomplish in such a short time frame?

Instagram Story Statistics

Another important dimension when it comes to appreciating IG Stories is consumer statistics.

As a business, it is essential to assess the potential return on investment before using precious resources to publish Stories.

Did you know that there are 500+ million people who watch IG Stories daily?

The average user spends approximately 30 minutes a day on the platform.

81% of people use Instagram to research products and services.

A whopping 130 million tap on shopping posts every month.

Strangely enough 14% of adults in the US have never heard of Instagram.

Of the 1 billion users on IG, only 140 million are based in the US.

Actually, 88% of Instagram users are based outside the US.

Over 50% of IG accounts visit the Explore page monthly.

The Fastest Way to Create Story Content

Before grabbing your big list of Story ideas, let’s head over to Canva to see how to create Stories fast.

If you haven’t heard of Canva before it is a graphic design platform that allows you to create social media images easily.

It is especially great for non-creatives like me. Lol!!

Best of all, there is a free forever account that you can use until you achieve pro status.

When you open Canva, click on “create a design” and you should see Instagram Story in the list of options.

You’ll be brought to a blank screen that looks like the one below.

If starting with a blank screen makes you feel depressed, consider purchasing Canva templates from two of my favourite vendors.

For those with a smaller budget choose this option. For a budget of $25/month or more go with this 2nd option.

Step 1

The best practice for Stories is to have 3 slides as follows:

1. The setup
2. Middle
3. Call to action

Since your Story will have a poll at the end you can start with the last slide and work your way backwards.

I’ve always found it easier to place an image of myself on the slide with the poll on it. You can also use an image of that specific topic.

Step 2

Create your template with the 3 slides.

Again starting with the last slide create a placeholder for your image and the actual poll.

In case you did not realise it, creating Instagram polls inside the Story app will be a lot easier.

Add a grid element as the placeholder for the image.

Step 3

After choosing your first topic complete the 2nd slide content and think about the best engaging title for the first slide.

In this example, I’m going to focus on the topic of pizza bases because it is always a topic of contention. Lol!

So, my second slide will focus on the toppings since I want to have the element of surprise on the 3rd slide.

Simply write up the content for the second slide and add elements like check marks, lists or anything you’d like to include.

Remember to leave space for hashtags, GIFs and emojis.

Step 4

When you have the perfect title, create the 1st slide and make it pretty and engaging.

Here’s my example of the first slide.

You’ll notice that I’ve left sufficient space for hashtags, GIFs, emojis and other items.

When all three slides are ready you can take a look at them in gallery mode.

Feel free to create more than one option for each slide.

I have two options for my first slide.

Step 5

All you need to do now is head over to Instagram, upload your slides, add the elements like hashtags, emojis and text.

Finally, add you poll to the last last and publish it to Instagram. You can use Facebook Business Suite to schedule the Story for another day.

As you can see, it is so simple to add the poll after the fact when you have an idea of what you want to say in it.

Remember you can be as creative or as contentious as you want to be. It is your Story and you want to stir up engagement.

Instagram Story Polls Question Options

If you’ve been using Instagram Stories for some time you may or may not be aware of the many options available to poll your audience.

There are essentially 4 different poll stickers or types of polls and it is a great Instagram marketing strategy.

Before giving you a truckload of ideas to create polls it would make sense to show you the many options available.

It will help you decide on the types of questions to ask or the type of poll to create.

When you open your Instagram app and click on the option to create a story, you’ll first see a blank screen.

However, when you look at the top of the screen you’ll see the sticker icon that looks like a face on a square background.

By clicking on that smiley face you’ll have access to the four Instagram poll stickers.

Multiple Choice

The multiple-choice questions sticker allows your Instagram followers to pick one of the many possible answers available on the list that relates to them.

Emoji Slider Poll

A fun alternative is asking your audience to rate something on a sliding scale of 1 to 5. This comes with cute emoji sliders to encourage engagement.

Ask a Question

One of the poll options, known as the question sticker, gives your audience a chance to write their unique answers. This one is best used after building rapport with your audience.

This or That

The final poll option on the list is a classic poll, it’s an image that asks your audience to choose one of the available answers given to them.

It is ideal for Instagram poll questions that require a quick answer which means you can create your own poll questions.

During the 24 hours, you’ll get access to the poll responses via direct message.

After the poll, you’ll be able to see the poll results so that you can gauge which one works best with your target audience.

As you can imagine Instagram questions is a great idea and effective tool to gather answers from a real person.

51+ Instagram Poll Ideas for You

Now that you have a great understanding of Instagram Stories let’s get you some content ideas for Story posts.

I’ve decided to break down the content into 3 different categories namely business, food and couples.

Instagram Poll Ideas for Business

As this is a small business resource it is important to have some content ideas to get your customers and clients to engage with at a business level.

1. Who does your business help?
2. The best advice you’ve received in business
3. Your favourite life planner
4. What do you do to get visibility for your business?
5. One secret to getting ahead in business
6. Your #1 business book of all time
7. Two of your best time-saving tools you use daily
8. Who is your business hero or heroine
9. The best business course you ever did
10. Your favourite office accessory of all time
11. Someone you would recommend as a business coach
12. What do you wear while working from home
13. The best way to stay motivated as an entrepreneur
14. How do you communicate with your team
15. Your favourite business shows (dragon’s den, shark tank, etc.)
16. What’s your favourite marketing podcast
17. Two business influencers to follow
18. Your biggest business etiquette tips
19. A secret way to get business exposure
20. The best movies for entrepreneurs (Like a Boss, Wall Street, The Intern, etc.)

Instagram Poll Ideas for Food

1. The best energy foods to stay productive
2. Where do you take business clients for dinner?
3. Your favourite guilty pleasure after work
4. Do you eat healthy snacks during the day
5. What foods help you gain clarity on a project
6. Your favourite dish of all time
7. Who will you share a tub of ice cream with?
8. What’s your favourite vegetable?
9. Do you eat your salad with a spoon or fork?
10. When it comes to noodles which is your favourite?
11. Are you a rice or noodle person?
12. Do you like your rice boiled or fried?
13. Eggs or cheese for breakfast?
14. Is breakfast important or not?
15. Do you schedule your meals?
16. Your #1 meal planning hack
17. What are your favourite picnic foods
18. Best places to have a picnic
19. Where eat on the weekend to meet new clients
20. The secret superfood to staying productive all-day

Instagram Poll Ideas for Couples

1. After dinner his/her place or yours
2. Your favourite activity together
3. Where do you share intimate conversations?
4. Your most memorable moment together
5. One thing you wish he/she would tell you
6. The thing he/she does that makes you feel insecure
7. How often do you spend time together
8. What’s his/her favourite outfit
9. Your favourite place to eat together
10. That thing he/she does that’s so cute
11. Who has nicer parents he/she or you
12. Do you see yourselves together forever
13. What’s the one regret you have after meeting your special someone
14. The one thing he/she does that makes you blush
15. One piece of advice you’ll give to new couples
16. Your secret for a lasting relationship
17. What’s your love language
18. What’s his/her love language
19. Who’s better at business him/her or you
20. How do you feel about doing business together with him/her
21. Who’s better with money him/her or you

Now that you have the content, a way to create it and how to get it published let me tell you the best way to schedule it out in advance.

You can either go to your Facebook Business Suite or check out other IG Story auto-posting options here.

Summary

Creating content to share on IG stories can be an absolutely, time-consuming option and it can feel like it is holding you back.

However, IG Stories can be a very valuable way to get your audience to engage with you and your business.

I was in your shoes just last year where I told myself that IG stories will never happen for me.

Now, I am just bursting with ideas almost every day and I cannot wait to post something to Stories daily.

A secret hack is that I create 3-4 weeks of content in advance and I scheduled it out using Facebook Business Suite.

It does glitch sometimes but it is a lot better than manually posting your Stories everyday.

If you need access to over 365 social media prompts that will help you plan 90 days of content grab my content planning bundle here.

Over to you, what has been your experience coming up with Instagram poll ideas?

Announcements

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I learned that getting visibility for your business is to take that first step of posting your first piece of content.

Before long, you would have published over 30 pieces of content on IG Stories.

In 2017, I started this business because I had a burden on my heart to reduce women illiteracy globally.

Because this is a huge undertaking I have decided to help 1,000 women over the next 10 years to become wildly successful in their online business through simplified marketing strategies.

That way we can build a strong business network of women who can donate 1% of their profit and together we can help reduce women’s illiteracy worldwide.

Would you like to be part of this movement? Shoot me an email using alvern (at) successunscrambled (dot) com.