Instagram Story: Now with polls, opportunities and risks for influencers and brands

Now in Internet World Business magazine, the new interview with social media expert Stephan M. Czaja on the topic of “Influencer Marketing: New survey function of Instagram Stories”. Social media networks have changed the world and influencer marketing is changing the world of advertising. With constantly new features, social networks also advertise themselves. Instagram now allows polls in the Stories. Stories are small “glimpses” into the lives of bloggers on Instagram. With small videos, they take followers or fans away from the posts in the timeline. Advantage: Stories allow much more content, they are often produced several times a day. This also allows products to be explained in much more detail. Read the full article in Internet World Business magazine.

After the video and the excerpts from the magazine, here’s an in-depth interview on Instagram Stories: the new polls

Magazine Publication – Influencer Marketing and Polls on Instagram

German tutorial.

Excerpts from the magazine – Internet World Business

Many thanks for the article! In the coming issues, Stephan M. Czaja will also be active as an author himself: All about Insagram!

Here we have another more in-depth interview on Instagram and the new polls:

An interesting Instagram tool is the Story function. Since such a story only remains active for 24 hours, it can be assumed that the effect on users will probably remain manageable. What experiences have you had with this tool?

Instagram Stories: The new polls

With the principle of Stories, Instagram has expanded by an essential core feature. Stories give users the opportunity to get to know influencers even more closely and directly. Stories are posted four to five times as often as photos and videos. This gives influencers even more leeway to shape their channel, engage fans even more. Who are actually the best Instagrammers in Germany? Here you can find the biggest German Instagram stars.

Photos or videos in the stream, compared to the stories, are much more complex to produce. They have to be of higher quality and require longer planning and production times. A story, on the other hand, is very short, noncommittal and does not have to be perfect. Rather, it is about seeing your own idol outside of the perfect photos. Whether now Caroline duration in the morning, still sleepy from bed tells, without make-up, only half sentences or whether Lena and Lisa upload a new musical.ly.

Instagram Stories are the tabloids of the new age. Fans can be closer to their idol in Stories than would be possible in the usual postings. Influencers are “supposedly” delivering intimate glimpses into their own lives – free of charge. What really attracts most fans to Instagram Stories and “the view into other people’s living rooms”, the classic media sprinkling.

Our own experience shows that not every influencer has mastered the art of improvising and acting professionally in front of the camera. The stories require a lot of spontaneity and also very relaxed characters who don’t take themselves too seriously. Not every Instagrammer succeeds in this.

The production of stories is just as time-consuming and you constantly have to think about the next story. No matter if it’s at the breakfast table, at lunch in the university or in the evening in the club. Fans always want to be there and naturally react just as emotionally to successes as they do to post failures. That’s why Instagram Stories involve influencers much more in terms of time, but offer the potential to engage fans even more intensively.

The limited publication time of 24 hours gives the whole thing an additional appeal, of course. Information is only available to a limited extent and similar to online marketing, the shortage also works perfectly here.

Successful Influencer Marketing: With Surveys?

In which industries or in connection with which offers does this tool have the greatest success?

In terms of product placement opportunities, Instagram Stories are interesting for the same providers who also work with posts in the Timeline. Ultimately, however, the target groups or followers of the influencers and their interests are the same. Therefore, product placements are also successful in similar areas as they are in classic Instagram. These include fashion, beauty, fitness, nutrition and travel. Each individual industry can of course be subdivided into many again, in the fashion sector alone there are sunglasses, handbags, new trend brands but also the giants in the industry that are involved in influencer marketing.

As described, products can be promoted much more effectively in stories because more time is available.

Stories can be linked so that each one tells a small story. If the influencer then publishes four or five posts in a row, a larger story develops. For the viewer or follower, this means a greater, more intensive connection to the topic than one post could create. We know the same effect from classic TV advertising. The more often we see a brand in a commercial, the more likely we are to have the product in mind. Whoever then buys a paper handkerchief knows what he will fall back on in the supermarket. We trust the recommendations of others, which is what makes Instagram and Stories so valuable for social promotion.

Instagram Campaigns: The new opportunities for companies

The story feature now gets the option to include “polls” or votes.

What new opportunities does this present for Instagram campaigns?

The new poll feature is a very interesting option as it gives the user another way to interact with the influencer besides the classic likes and comments.

A good best practice example came earlier this year when Shirin David, known from YouTube, Instagram and from the DSDS jury (RTL), called on her followers to help design and create her new perfume. Her fans were then able to take part in a multi-stage poll, the perfume was then titled “created by the community”. More than 300,000 young people took part in the survey, contributing to the new perfume and its creation.

This best practice shows the power behind surveys and user engagement. From a simple morning outfit question, “What shoes do you think go with my outfit?” To an in-depth marketing tool for product development.

When polls are included in Instagram Stories, they only remain anonymous for the users. Because whoever adds the poll option to Stories can not only see how many users have voted, but also who exactly voted for what.

Data evaluation: profitable or risky

How does this property of the poll function affect its usability in marketing?

The question, of course, takes us deep into technical development.

As we see from various analytics tools but also from simpler bots that exist for platforms like Instagram, the use of data is an absolute goldmine. For marketing companies and advertising agencies that accompany clients in the larger and international segment, the development of such programs is quite exciting and they will be invested in.

If, for example, you access Instagram via the interface and read out the channel of the influencer with authorization, you could create relatively simple targeting for the user groups. Whoever then makes a decision that is A, B or C, gets a corresponding ad played out, matching their own opinion. A simple example here would be the scattering of advertisements with individual name t-shirts in social networks. The trick: users see an ad, but with their own names printed on it. Direct address thanks to data utilization.

Of course, the chance of interaction is much higher with targeted ads, since the approach is individual and therefore less promotional. The own name immediately appeals to the users. The same principle can of course also be transferred to the new functions and options of the polls.

However, the evaluation of the data is very complex, if you look at the reach or the impressions of an average influencer, with a million followers, then a single story, for example, reaches over half a million people. If 10% of those still interact, there are 50,000 different people who participated. These can’t be easily exported in a CSV and even that would be too much of a good thing for most influencers. For larger and more complex projects, however, there is an extremely high potential in the analysis of the data. Especially when it comes to displaying ads that are based on the individual decisions of the user and thus significantly increase the probability of interaction. However, this requires complex software and the necessary background, as the data evaluation is not feasible as individual influencers and therefore hardly relevant.

Does this possibly rub off negatively on companies that make use of this function?

The use of the resulting data to improve products or create new ones is a positive signal for the users. Their own opinion is taken into account and their own wishes are also seen and perceived by the idol or influencer. If the communication strategy explains the model in a transparent way, no matter what the campaign looks like, it stands for customer wishes and the participation of the community. As we also see in politics, the desire for referendums, or the desire for consideration of one’s own opinion, is very important to many. So if users can help shape and influence things themselves, they will see this as a positive sign if all processes are presented transparently.

Beware of shitstorms! Topics must be well thought out

What survey categories should companies avoid?

Survey categories should of course always deal with the own thematic area, the own industry or the own environment. In general, as in the social networks, one should refrain from politics and religion. Clear positioning in one’s own market environment is recommended. Beauty brands should include thematically related content. E.g. fashion, fashion weeks or even stars.

The topics should be fun for people, social networks and of course Instagram work because they distract people, bring them joy, give them a little vacation from everyday life. In this environment, no one will deal with sad or highly emotional topics. People want fun and a little distraction. That’s how you should position yourself thematically.

Influencer Marketing from A-Z

Social analytics is the tool for agencies, companies, but also online shops and startups. But how does influencer marketing work? In our free two-hour online course, we explain blogger and influencer marketing from A-Z.