First things first: If you’re not already using Instagram Stories for your business, get started, stat. It’s such a great way to share behind-the-scenes looks, new jewelry arrivals, and anything and everything that represents you, as a person or a brand, with your followers. While you can always check to see who is viewing your Stories, admittedly the feature is a tad one-sided—unless one of your followers chooses to reply to a Story, there’s not much interaction going on there.

Recently, however, Instagram unveiled a new feature in Stories: Polls. It’s so simple—think of your third-grade note-passing (do you like me? y/n)—but offers so much by way of engagement. Users have jumped on quickly: Most Stories I scroll through have offered a poll of some sort, from preference about a clothing style to whether or not a travel blogger should revisit a certain locale or not. It’s fun for users to interact with, because at the end of the day, who doesn’t love sharing their opinion?

As for those who own or run social channels for a retail store, consider your options. Stocking for the holidays? Ask your followers to weigh in on which styles they’d like to shop for. At a jewelry show and debating whether or not to bring home a certain collection? Ask your followers. Since a Story lasts for 24 hours, you have a—well, nearly a—real-time interaction to get the information you may need. Additionally, it feels pretty rewarding to have your followers really interact with you, as opposed to throwing a Story out there and sort of hoping they enjoy seeing it (which is pretty fun, too).

A wise word to those interacting with Instagram polls: These are not anonymous. Answer carefully!

If you need some help or ideas figuring out how best to use the new polling feature, check out this tutorial from Later.com.

(Image courtesy of Instagram)

Brittany Siminitz

JCK Contributing Editor