When brainstorming about new testing ideas for a client, I remembered the launch of interactive ads in Instagram Stories. They launched last year, but let’s take a look at them now in case this fun ad type passed you by or got stuck on the back shelf.
What are Instagram Interactive Ads?
Interactive ads are also known as interactive poll ads. They are basically a way to get instant feedback for an A or B scenario, along a viewer to engage in a new way with your brand. Here is are a few examples of what these ads look like if you haven’t encountered them before:
There are countless ideas of how you could use polls for your business, but here are just a few idea for you:
- Get consumer feedback on product designs to know if one design or color is preferred over another
- Find out if consumers think a certain idea is a good one with a “Would you yadda yadda?” Yes/No poll.
- Receive feedback if a price point is too high.
- See if consumers have even heard of your brand.
- Ask consumers if they are planning to do a certain activity in the near future.
How Do You Set-Up Instagram Interactive Polls?
There are a few things in to keep in mind when setting these up.
- They have to be in their our ad set since they are only available in the Instagram Stories placement setting. In your ad set, deselect as all placement settings except for Instagram Stories.
2. Your image or video must have an aspect ratio needs of 9:16 or smaller.
3. Keep in mind that your poll question will always be in a white font and your poll options in a rainbow font.
Those last two points make a big difference so keep them in mind when developing or determining creative.
After you upload that, in your ads tab, scroll down and select the box next to “Add an interactive poll”.
After you click that box, several form fields will come up, allowing you to customize your poll. In this example, I uploaded a picture of an apple stacked over an orange in the appropriate ratio. I then added the Poll Question, “Which one?” and added the poll fields of “Apples” and “Oranges”.
The four remaining fields you have to play around a little bit with to get them appear the way you appear with your image or video. Let’s look at each of the components:
- The Sticker Width changes how big your poll question and options are.
- The Sticker Rotation changed the angle that the poll options are set at. Here, Apples & Oranges is level to the top/bottom of the ad, but it could be at an angle or upside down.
- The Horizonal Position shifts your question and poll options left to right.
- The Veritical Position shifts your question and poll options up and down.
Take a look at the difference in my how my poll appears differently with all those settings changed:
There is no right or wrong here with these settings. You just have to play with the settings and see how they look best with your image or video. You’ll get an error message if you picked a number that isn’t compatible with your creative.
Track Poll Contributors
Consider using tracking parameters and create a custom audience based on one of the fields to remarket to poll responders in the future. For example, if I used these parameters, utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Fruit%20Poll&utm_content=poll-responders, I could set-up an audience like this:
Conclusion
There are some really great opportunities available with custom Instagram ads experiences. Keep exploring and testing new ones. Interactive poll story ads offer some great research, engagement and top of funnel opportunities to interact with your audience. Just make sure your audience size is large enough for you to receive enough responses!
Have you creative interactive polls before? What did you learn? Comment below to share!
