142 Engaging Social Media Question Ideas with Tips & Examples

by | Feb 18, 2021 | Social Media Planning, Social Media Strategy

142 Engaging Social Media Question Ideas with Tips & Examples

Discover 142 engaging social media question ideas you can use to engage your brands’ audiences, tips for getting the most of your social media questions, and examples from popular brands.

What’s your number one goal on social media?

Increase engagement. 

The more engagement you get on your posts, the more reach your post will automatically get.

And the more it reaches your followers, the more likely they are to visit your website and become a customer.

So it’s a simple formula really. 

Increase social media post engagement and conversions will eventually follow.

Unfortunately, increasing social media engagement for your brand or clients’ brands is easier said than done.

With social media algorithms decreasing organic reach, you need to make extra efforts to increase reach and boost engagement.

One highly-effective way of doing so is by asking engaging questions on social media. 

Keep reading to discover the benefits of asking questions on social media, ways you can post them on different channels, expert tips for getting more engagement from your question posts, and a list of 142 social media question ideas (with examples) to inspire your posts.

click to skip ahead to list of social media question ideas
Table of Contents
  1. Why should you ask social media questions?
  2. Features you can use on social media to ask questions
  3. 142 engaging social media question ideas (with examples)
  4. 10 tips to boost your engagement while asking social media questions
  5. Wrap-up

Why should you ask social media questions?

Engagement. Engagement. Engagement!

social media engagement gif from giphy

As Sebastian Schaeffer of Dofollow shares, “We always get a lot of engagement when we post content or media and then ask for users to weigh-in with their opinions. This drives discussion, gets people sharing, helps increase cross-posting opportunities for us and frequently provides us with inspiration for future posts.”

You get the point. But what are some of the other benefits of asking engaging social media questions?

More comments = more reach

Social media algorithms favor brands that start conversations and engage followers. The more comments you get on your posts, the wider your reach will be.

As Facebook mentions, “We use signals like how many people react to, comment on or share posts to determine how high they appear in the News Feed. We will also prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people.”

Engaged customers are happy customers

Almost 59% of American consumers engage with brands on social media – sometimes up to three times a day. And nearly two-thirds of consumers who are satisfied with brand interactions over social media are likely to recommend that brand to others.

The more engaged your customers are, the more they’ll remember your brand when they’re making purchases. They will also be more likely to recommend your brand (or your client’s brand) to their friends and family. 

Collect market research

You can get strategic with the questions you ask to boost engagement and collect valuable insights from your target audience!

Getting quantitative and qualitative data from social media can help you and your clients understand market trends and shape future marketing strategies. This data comes in handy when creating new products or services, too. 

Here’s a great example of Starbucks using the Facebook Polls feature to collect insights about their customers’ ordering habits while engaging them. 

Starbucks social media question poll example
Source

Features you can use on social media to ask questions

Social media platforms have various features that allow brands to ask questions and trigger discussions.

Ask questions directly from social posts

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter all have the basic post options that brands can use to ask questions.

Each platform has its own features built for asking social media questions (which we’ll cover later), but you can keep things simple by asking questions in your post captions. Just be mindful of the character limits on each platform.

  • On LinkedIn, you can write a post of up to 1,300 characters.
  • On Facebook, you can write 63,206 characters long posts.
  • On Instagram, you can write a caption 2,200 characters long. 
  • On Twitter, you are limited to 280 characters.

Here’s an example of Nordstrom, doing exactly that.

nordstrom social media question example

You can even use social media questions as part of social media contest, like Edible Arrangements did.

edible arrangements social media question contest example
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TIP: Scheduling posts with social media questions can be a time -consuming task, especially if you manage multiple brands. You can use social media calendar tool like HeyOrca to plan and schedule posts directly to your clients’ social media accounts.

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Host live question and answer sessions

Did you know in 2019 internet users watched 1.1 billion hours of live video? And that the video streaming market is projected to hit 184.3 billion by 2027?

Live sessions are all the rage in the online world right now and an excellent way to engage with your audience. 

After all, 82% of people prefer live video from a brand over standard social media posts.

Brands of all niches and sizes have been using Facebook and Instagram Live sessions to amp up their engagement. Jada Pinkett Smith’s talk show on Facebook live is a great example of hosting people on your Live session and asking them questions.

Ask questions in social media groups

Facebook groups and LinkedIn groups are a hub of activity and conversations from your community. And social media algorithm prioritizes posts from groups. Especially ones that your audience engage with.

So while asking questions is a great way to get some discussions flowing, you can also use the polls feature available in groups. It helps to amp up your engagement without resorting to paid ads. 

facebook groups social media question example
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Use built-in Stories features to ask questions on Instagram

Instagram Stories have multiple features that are designed for asking questions in an engaging way.

As Madison Moxley of Moxley Digital shares, “I find that using Instagram’s question, poll, quiz, and sliding scale stickers really encourage engagement with even the quietest audiences.”

Let’s take a look at some examples of social media questions asked using different types of Instagram Stories features.

Instagram Stories Slider

Instagram Stories slider feature for social media questions
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Instagram Stories Polls

Instagram stories polls feature for social media questions example
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Instagram Stories Questions

Instagram Stories questions feature example
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Fill in the blanks Stories

using fill in the blanks questions on social media - Instagram Stories example

While this might not be a native feature in Instagram, you can upload “fill in the blanks” graphics to your stories and encourage your audience to share the post on their profile with the answers filled in or circled.

Use polls to ask questions

Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn all have polling features built into their posts. You can leverage these to ask fun, silly, random, or product-related questions.

Here’s an example of Airbnb using Twitter’s polling feature to engage folks in the Twittersphere.

Airbnb twitter polls social media question example

TIP: Adding a picture increases your chances of getting higher engagements! After all, tweets with images receive 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites and a whopping 150% more retweets.

While you’re at it, slap a popular hashtag on that poll too!

142 engaging social media question ideas (with examples)

Ever heard of the 80\20 rule? 

80% of your content should entertain and educate your audience, and only 20% should explicitly promote your business.

This is where social media questions come in handy. 

Let’s take a look at some engaging social media question ideas and prompts you can use for inspiration.

General social media questions & prompts

Fill in the blanks prompts

Fill in the blanks-style prompts are a great way to engage your audience on social media. They are fun, easy to come up with, and can easily be tied back to your brand or client’s brand.

Best of all, they are great for engagement because they don’t require a lot of effort or thought from your audience.

  1. ______ is an awesome person and I want the world to know! (tag a friend)

  2. If _______ was an Olympic event, I’d take home the gold.

  3. If I could go anywhere in the world right now, I’d be in _______!

  4. My favorite brand in the world is _______!

  5. I’m inspired by _________.

  6. My favorite social network is__________.

  7. My all-time favorite book is __________.

  8. My favorite thing about my life right now is _____.

  9. My favorite thing about my family is _____.

  10. _____ makes me smile.

  11. The key to happiness is _____! (wrong answers only)

  12. _____ is my favorite local business in _____!

Here’s an awesome example of Zendesk using a funny fill in the blank post to engage their target audience.

There’s a lot of negativity, controversy, and divisiveness on our social feeds now-a-days. Brighten your audiences’ days with gratitude-related social media questions to inspire positivity!

  1. What are you grateful for today?

  2. Who do you admire most in your life? (Tag them below)

  3. What made you smile today?

  4. What is one way someone has helped you this month? (Tag that someone)

  5. What relationships are you grateful for?

  6. What’s one thoughtful thing someone did for you recently?

  7. Who is someone that really listens when you talk? (Tag them below)

  8. What’s a difficult lesson that you were grateful to learn?

  9. What about today has been better than yesterday?

  10. What is the best thing that has happened to you this year?

  11. What’s your favorite part of your job?

  12. What’s an aspect of your physical health that you feel grateful for?

  13. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you? (Tag that person)

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Lifestyle questions

Asking lifestyle questions on social media is a great way of getting to know your audience better. They don’t have to tie back to your brand or the brands you manage, but you can easily tie them back to your industry.

  1. If you could choose any job in the world, what would it be?

  2. What’s the #1 travel destination on your bucket list and why?

  3. What three items would you bring to an island getaway?

  4. What is the last movie you watched?
Hulu social media question idea on facebook
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  1. What shows are you binging on Netflix right now?

  2. What’s one thing you hope to accomplish this week?

  3. What’s your #1 goal for this year?

  4. What is your favorite season?

  5. What was the last thing you got really excited about?

  6. What is your superpower?

  7. If you could have lunch with any one person in the world (dead or alive) who would it be?

  8. What is the best compliment you have ever received?

  9. What’s your favorite travel destination?

  10. What do you prefer to watch?
    • a) YouTube b) Netflix

  11. What are your plans for the weekend?

  12. What’s your favorite type of book?
    • a) Personal development b) Romance c) Sci-fi d) Horror

  13. Which Social Media platform do you love most?

  14. What time of day do you check your social media accounts for the first time?
    • a) As soon as I get up b) Not until the afternoon c) All the time (someone take away my phone!)

  15. What sci-fi technology do you wish existed?

  16. What is the most used app on your phone?

  17. What team do you belong to?
    • a) team iPhone b) team Android

  18. Where were you born?

  19. Do you identify as a
    • a) morning person b) night owl

  20. Are you a
    1. a) dog person b) cat person c) lover of all animals

  21. As a kid, what was your dream job?

  22. What would the title of your autobiography be?

  23. What’s your favorite song right now?

Questions that prompt users to post photos

  1. What’s your favorite season? (Post a picture of it)

  2. Post your favorite childhood picture!

  3. What’s your favorite GIF? Share it below!

  4. Post a picture with someone you want to spend your whole life with.

  5. What’s your most used emoji? Share it below!

  6. Describe yourself in three emojis below!

  7. Post a picture of your pet(s) below! (great for hashtag holidays like #LoveYourPetDay)

  8. What does your dream bedroom look like? (Post a picture from Pinterest)

  9. What book are you currently reading? (Post a picture of the cover)

Would you rather question ideas for social media

would you rather social media questions ideas gif from giphy

Who doesn’t love a good would you rather question? They are great for long road trips and equally awesome on social media.

You can ask these questions directly within posts or use Instagram Stories features to drive even more engagement.

So, would you rather:

  1. a) Travel to the past b) Travel to the future

  2. a) Have your flight delayed 24 hours b) lose your luggage

  3. a) Hear the good news 1st b) Hear the bad news 1st

  4. a) Talk like Yoda b) breathe like Darth Vader

  5. a) Sit in a window seat for a flight b) sit in an aisle seat

  6. a) Eat only pizza for a year b) not eat pizza for 5 years

  7. a) Communicate by emoji only b) never be able to text again

  8. a) Read a book b) watch a movie c) listen to a podcast

  9. a) Work for Michael Scott b) work for Dr. Evil

  10. a) Get $1M right now b) get $10,000/month

  11. a) Live on a beach resort b) live on a ski resort

  12. a) Always have an annoying song stuck in your head b) always have an itch you can’t reach

  13. a) Go to a concert b) go to a sporting event

  14. a) Have a photographic memory b) have an IQ of 200

  15. a) Be able to read minds b) be able to move objects with your mind

  16. a) Be able to fly b) be able to breathe underwater

  17. a) Live alone forever b) spend the rest of your life with people who annoy you

  18. a) Binge on Netflix b) go on a hike

  19. a) Give up social media forever b) give up tv forever

  20. a) Be able to talk with animals b) be able to communicate in any foreign language

  21. a) Make lots of money in a job you despise b) less money in a job you love

  22. a) Explore space b) explore the ocean

  23. a) Be too hot b) be too cold

  24. a) Have 5 close friends b) 10,000 Facebook friends

  25. a) Get $100,000 in real money b) $200,000 in Amazon gift cards

  26. a) be famous b) be the best friend of someone famous

  27. a) have 100K Facebook followers b) 100K TikTok followers

  28. a) give up bathing for a month b) give up the internet for a month

  29. a) receive a free world tour opportunity b) never have to pay for food at restaurants

  30. a) have 10M followers on Instagram b) find true love

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Funny/random social media questions

Making your audience LOL or even ROFL, is a sure-fire way to generate more engagement on your social posts. Just be mindful, creating funny questions is easier said than done.

  1. If you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be and why?

  2. If you had to eat a crayon, what color would you choose and why?

  3. Why do people say “heads up” when you should duck?

  4. Have you ever answered a poll question with a random answer?
    • a) Yes b) No c) Puppies
  5. How focused are you?
    • a) Very b) Could be better c) Look, a squirrel

  6. Would you rather sneeze for an hour or have hiccups?
    • a) Sneeze b) Hiccups

  7. What’s your biggest pet peeve?

  8. If animals could talk, which would be the rudest?
    • a) Snakes b) Bunnies c) Wolves d) Cats

Social media questions about food

  1. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

  2. What’s your specialty dish?

  3. How do you like your coffee?
    • a) With milk b) With sugar c) Black d) I don’t drink coffee

  4. Why does triangularly cut bread taste better than square bread?

  5. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

  6. What is the best topping for pizza and why is it pepperoni?

  7. Should pineapple be a pizza topping?

  8. What’s the best meal you’ve ever eaten?

  9. What’s the most adventurous meal you’ve ever eaten?

  10. If you could only eat at one restaurant for the rest of your life, what would it be? (tag them below) 

  11. What’s your favorite healthy snack/food?

  12. If you could cook with any celebrity chef, who would it be?

  13. If you could eat any junk food for life, what would it be?

  14. If you could only eat at one fast-food restaurant for the rest of your life, which one would it be?
do you even lift gif for fitness-related social media questions
  1. What do you prefer? 
    • a) Gym b) Outdoors
    • a) Squats b) Burpees
    • a) Morning workouts b) Late-night workouts

  2. What’s your favorite shoe for walking/jogging?

  3. Which celebrity athlete would you choose as your personal trainer?

  4. What’s your go-to protein powder?

  5. What’s your favorite post-workout meal?

  6. What’s your favorite fitness clothing brand?

  7. How many times a week do you workout?

  8. What’s more important to you? Cardio or bulking up?

Holidays are the best time to get some engagement going. And by holidays we don’t just mean Christmas and Easter – we mean all the quirky and fun holidays we’ve discussed in our Social Media Holiday Calendar List (along with their hashtags!) 

safeway holiday social media question example
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  1. What’s your favorite holiday? (Post a picture of you enjoying that holiday)
    • a) Easter b) Thanksgiving c) Christmas

  2. What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?

  3. If you could get any gift on your birthday, what would it be?

  4. What does your perfect holiday look like?

  5. Do you prefer wrapping fits or bagging gifts?

  6. Who is on your holiday gift-list? (Tag them below)

  7. What would be the perfect gift to you from us?

  8. How many family members are you buying gifts for this year?

And here’s how popular brands are leveraging social media questions for lesser-known, but equally fun, social media holidays.

Product/service based questions to ask on social media

Remember the 80/20 rule? Here’s where the other 20% comes in.

Asking product and service related questions is a great way to engage your audience and it can help give you qualitative insights about your clientele and brand.

So what are some questions that you can ask your audience?

First and foremost, make great use of polls.

As Jeff Romero at Octiv Digital shares the following example, “If you sell financial advising services, you could post a poll about what is affecting personal finance the most with responses like 1) economic issues, 2) health-related issues, 3) no long-term strategy, 4) not sure where to start, etc. 

As people respond to the poll, you now have answers to reach out to them with. It’s effective and drives engagement. Plus, polls on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn take up a significant amount of space in a user’s feed, giving your business prominence.”

Here are some other types of product-related questions you can ask on social media:

  1. What’s your the #1 thing you struggle with when it comes to [industry]?

  2. What questions do you have about [product-related topic]?

  3. What app or tool helps you most with [product-related topic]?

  4. What’s one feature/product/service you’d like us to start offering?
  1. What’s your favorite [industry] blog?

  2. Do you prefer podcasts, videos, or blog posts?

  3. What [industry] product can you not live without?
  1. What’s the #1 thing you look for in a [your product or service]?

  2. If you could get one product from our store for free forever, which would it be?

  3. What kind of [industry] content would you like to learn about?

  4. What deal would you prefer to get?
    • a) 15% OFF b) Free shipping

  5. Share a photo of ___________.
    • A product you bought from us.
    • Your favorite product from our line.
    • You using our product.

  6. If we gave you $100 to spend in our shop, which products or services would you stock up on?

  7. Which product/service would you like us to make a tutorial of?

  8. How disheartened would you be if we discontinued _________ ?
    • a) Very b) I’d die c) It wouldn’t matter to me

Jenny Chang, a TikTok influencer with over 1.4 million followers, advises brands to ask questions that give their followers the upper hand.

Chang explains, “For example: What were your thoughts about my ‘live’ conversation this morning? / I want to couple my presence with a community, how do you advise I/we do that, together? / Do you prefer my hair blonde or red? Does this style of content appeal to you, if so, why?”

10 tips to boost your engagement while asking social media questions

From posting at the right time to finding the right questions to post, there are lots of ways you can further amp up your engagement and conversions. 

Here are 10 tried and tested tips to help you make the most of social media. 

1. Reply to your audience’s questions and answers.

Make sure to reply to each and everyone of the questions (and answers) you receive. 

2. Share their answers on Stories, too.

And if you get a lot of answers, choose the best ones to share.

3. Use Google to find the right questions to ask.

If you’re struggling to find questions to ask your audience, just hop on to Google and do some basic research.

You’ll get a list of questions in no time.

You can also use a tool like Answer the Public to discover topics related to your niche or clients’ industries.

4. Build momentum.

Noah Alexander Smith from Streetsideauto.com recommends building momentum before starting your questions campaign. 

“When you ask questions on social media, particularly on Stories, start building momentum by publishing stories a few days ahead of time so the Instagram algorithm gives your account better placement.” says Noah.

5. Every once in a while, offer a gift to the person with the best answer.

Turn your questions into a quick quiz or a giveaway, and offer a gift to the winner.

6. Post at the times when your audience is most active.

This goes without saying – post your stories, tweets, reels and social media posts when your audience is up and using social media. Catch them when they’re actively engaging on social media. 

For best times to post on social media, read our guide. It has everything, from the general best times to finding your brand’s peak hours. 

And while we’re on this topic, encourage them to engage with your posts. One great way of doing that is by asking them to tag their friends. 

As Sara Chambers of Elly and Nora Creative rightly says, “Inviting your audience to tag other users is a great way to get more bang for your buck. Examples: Where’s the best place to eat in your city? Tag your friend who knows all the best restaurants.”

7. Make use of visuals – emojis, GIFs, etc.

Tyler Tassinari of Three29 shares, “Far and away, the most success we’ve had with questions is when they are paired with high quality visuals.

For example, if we are creating content for a bakery, we would get a great photo of their delicious pastries and simply ask, Which one are you picking this morning? People seem to love sharing their input with this format.

Given social media platforms have become so heavily visual, we’ve found that you have to grab the users attention with a great photo before you can ask them to engage.” 

TacoBell knows all about creating engaging visuals.

8. Ask close-ended questions.

“Try asking questions that trigger a natural answering reflex in human beings, as people can’t help but try and find an answer,” advises Amy Stenson, Social Media Manager at digital marketing agency, The Audit Lab. 

“It’s almost like a subconscious thing that we can’t control. While they may not always engage, questions like these will encourage people to stop and read your updates or comments to find out the answer.

Closed questions are always much easier to get engagement from, as open-ended ones require a lot more thought and effort on the part of the reader. The easier your question is, the more people will answer. Closed questions are those with answers such as ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘true’, or false’. Take care not to make your closed questions sound too biased – it’s easier said than done – try to keep things as neutral as you can.”

9. Repeat your question in the comments section.

“Posting or pinning your question in the comments section of a post is essential to seeing success. It starts off the engagement. Many people are just scrolling through a feed and may miss a question if it is mixed in with other text or asked in a video,” explains Nick Valle of Restoration Rocket.

“Kicking off the discussion by reiterating the question in the comments will encourage replies in the comment section, signaling to the algorithm that it should show the post to more people organically.”

10. Choose relevant and on-trend topics that would elicit response.

Stay on trend and ask relevant questions.

A good example would be Fuse’s campaign during COVID19.

Vanessa Francone of FUSE Create shares, “Our top performing post was when we asked followers to tag and name their favorite small business. Since small businesses are struggling right now, people were excited to post about their favorites and support members of their community. It also acted as a great inspirational post for people to shop local during the holidays.”

Ryan Mason of Jville Auto Mart found that posting something semi controversial will often lead to a lot of engagement. It gives your audience a chance to weigh in with their opinion, but also reply to others that have commented. All of that will increase the post’s reach.

Mason shares, “For example, I recently posted did you watch the inauguration and received ~250 comments on my personal page.”

But how can you use that question to drive engagements when a question on your personal account has nothing to do with your business?

“Facebook remembers who interacts with you and adds weight to your next posts. Essentially, the more someone interacts with you the more likely they are to see your future posts. So the next time you post about your business on your personal profile, those who interact are more likely to see future posts.

You can tie in your business in future posts. Here’s an example of a meme I made when the Bernie Sanders meme was trending.” explains Mason.

Wrap-up

Social Media Questions are a great way to start generating more engagement for the social media accounts you manage.

There’s a wide variety of ways you can incorporate them into your content plan. Play around with different types of questions on different channels, try different features built for asking questions, and get creative!

Have any questions about our questions article? Want to share examples that have worked well for you? Email datis@heyora.com

Try HeyOrca free for 14 days and see how you can fight burnout by saving time planning, publishing, and collaborating on your social media content.

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