5 Ways to Boost Engagement on Instagram by Asking Questions
Stuck for ideas on how to get better engagement with your followers? You aren’t alone!
The social media scape is ever changing and Instagram is no longer just a photo sharing platform. It’s now a powerful tool for brands to start conversations with their followers and make meaningful connections. We’ve found that a quick and effective way to boost engagement is by asking questions. This may sound simple but coming up with the right questions can be a challenge.
Read along to hear our five tips on creating unique questions that will encourage your audience to interact with your brand in new, exciting and fun ways!
1. Choose relevant and on-trend topics
The secret to higher engagement is as simple as asking people questions about topics that are trending and that they are interested in. Always remember that on the other end of the double tap and follow button is a real human who has thoughts, emotions, and experiences all of which they are willing to share and give input on if you give them the opportunity to do so!
Need some inspiration to get started? Ask them questions such as:
“What do you think about [some recent news event in your industry]?”
“Who inspires you every day?”
“What makes you optimistic about the future?”
“Have you seen this new episode of [TV-series]?”
You can ask people to comment their answers on your posts or use the Instagram Stories question sticker and if you are feeling brave you can also do live Q&A videos.
One of our favourite brands Nutella used this strategy by asking followers how they were “going to return the love this Mother’s Day?” This post was posted at a relevant time and prompted the audience to think of how they could use Nutella to surprise their Mum’s. https://www.instagram.com/p/COftdkcM-iP/
2. Ask close-ended and direct questions
You are more likely to get a response by asking questions that require a simple answer such as “This or That” or “Yes/No”. People can comment on the first thing that comes to their mind and don’t have to think too much or spend time writing an answer. Here’s a few examples:
“Are you a sweet tooth or a sucker for savoury?”
“Would you rather an iced coffee or a hot chocolate?”
“Comment below your favourite pizza topping!”
These simple questions make people more likely to engage and it can also be fun for them to compare their answers with other commenters.
Oreo got this on point! They successfully did this in a recent post where they asked their followers whether they were team Mega Stuf or team Thins. We know which side we’re on, what about you? https://www.instagram.com/p/CRo6VNaNAw8/
3. Offer prizes to the person with the best answer
The most successful engagement can be found on posts that turn questions into a quick quiz or giveaway. Every once in a while, ask your followers a question that gives them the chance to win a prize for either commenting on the best answer or selecting the correct response.
“We’re launching a new product next week! First person to guess wins…”
“Describe your dream flavour in 3 emojis for your chance to win …”
This will definitely increase their likelihood of engaging with your brand and the chances that they will continue to follow your page.
We recently did this with pleasing results for our client, Zeus Street Greek, where we asked their followers to comment something that makes them feel lucky for the chance to “Win a year’s worth of free chips”. For the ‘cost’ of a comment, who wouldn’t want to win that prize? https://www.instagram.com/p/CRPxkHNCwpj/
4. Ask people to tag friends in their answer
You can prompt people to engage with your brand by encouraging them to tag friends. This will not only increase engagement with your immediate followers but will increase reach as your post will be shared with a new audience.
“Who owes you a serving of our … Tag them below!”
“What a feast! Who will you be sharing it with?”
We combined this strategy with a giveaway for our client Dopa by Devon and had huge success. For the chance to win $100, Dopa’s followers had to simply “tell us how fast Dopa boy can eat a whole double up donburi bowl”. They also had to tag a friend in their answer and the closest guess - double the chance for more engagement!
5. Ask questions at times when your audience is most active
Make sure that you are posting on social media at times when your followers are online. The Instagram algorithm will work to move posts with higher engagement to the top of your followers’ feeds. This means it will get seen by more people and you will have a greater likelihood of getting further engagement. Analyse your Instagram insights to see the days and times your followers are most active.
Go to Insights → Audience and scroll down to the “Most Active Times” graph. You’ll see the day of the week and can view each by clicking on the arrow - which shows the approximate times your followers are the most active on Instagram and the average number of followers on at that time.
Increasing engagement won’t happen overnight but by experimenting and playing around with these five strategies, you’ll soon start to see results. Try one and see how your audience responds!
