6 Unexpected Ways to Collect Customer Feedback on Instagram

“You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you” – Dale Carnegie

No matter how hard you try, you must walk a mile in your customers’ shoes before you can truly understand the pros and cons of your product.

From customers’ perspectives, things may look different.

You need to understand what they experience – right from the moment they discover your product online to making a purchase.

The more you know about customer experience, and address their objections, the better. After all, satisfied customers return.

There is no doubt to the fact that…

Listening to your customers is a proven way to understand their needs and wants. It helps to improve the quality of your product and drives customer satisfaction.

So how do you get to know their perspective?

By collecting customer feedback!

Believe it or not, Instagram is a perfect place for it!

If you wonder why the visual-sharing platform is great for collecting customer feedback, pay attention to these Instagram insights and statistics:

• It has 1 billion active users
• 57% of Instagram users access the site every day
• 4 in 5 users follow at least one business on Instagram
• 60% of people say they discover new products on Instagram

The bottom line?

Chances are that your customers find Instagram to be a great place to establish connection with their favorite brands in a genuine way.

Instagram allows users to express themselves towards a community and retrieve information about brands, so customers are more likely to engage with brands on the platform.

So, here are some little-known ways you must practice to get your customers’ feedback on Instagram:

1. Monitor Inbox Messages

Just imagine: 59% of American social network users believe social media customer service has made it easier to get questions answered and issues resolved. Thus, people want to use social media platforms to connect with brands.

But, your customers might be messaging you on Instagram for more information, complaints or appreciation. Sometimes, these messages get buried in your inbox and your customers don’t get a reply in time.

Did you know about the secret inbox for message requests?

When you don’t follow a person who wants to send you a Direct Message (DM), the message goes to the hidden inbox. This is Instagram’s way of filtering out spam messages.

As you try to promote your business, it’s nearly impossible to follow every potential client on Instagram. Thus, you should keep an eye on the inbox.

And here’s how to find your secret inbox:

Once you’ve officially accepted the message request, you can type your reply.

If you wish to be notified about these messages, you can switch ‘push notifications’ to get alerted every time people want to contact with you via Instagram DMs.

Reading your inbox is a great way to collect customer feedback.

2. Create Polls

Ever heard of Ephemeral content?

The term refers to content which can be viewed for a short period of time – say 24 hours. This content uses people’s ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) and compels them to keep checking their Instagram for such content (example: Instagram Stories).

And when Instagram has rolled out a new polling feature, users start interacting with other Instagrammers more often. For brands, it means another way to collect feedback.

How?

Let’s take a look at Sephora. Since the company offers a variety of beauty products, it’s important to understand customers’ needs and wants. Thus, the marketers decided to compare the most common product to see what’s trending these days.

As a result, it helped the company understand more about trending products.

What’s more, as the marketers could see the list of people who had voted, they could analyze their potential clients’ profiles and find out more about their target audience.

Now, to create engaging polls that your followers will love, you must:

• Choose the right background photo: Ensure that the poll has your product’s photo. And if you want your followers to choose, show both options. The main idea is to represent the concept of your poll visually.
• Customize the poll: Write out your own question and provide interesting poll choices. For example, you can add emojis instead of text.
• Offer something unique: People like to be rewarded for their effort. So you can encourage people to participate by offering them discounts, free items, surprises etc..

The good news? People love interacting with brands, so they’re happy to share their thoughts with you.

3. Let them Ask Questions in Stories

Another Instagram feature that helps to understand more about your customers’ preferences is question stickers.

When Instagrammers view your story with a sticker, they can type their questions in the sticker. People have no limits what to ask, so they can stay creative and put various questions.

Have a look at an example:

Once you add a question sticker, your followers can type their questions that appear in your inbox. If you decide to answer it, you need to create a separate Story with the photo/video and the answer.

Moreover, you can ask a question and invite your followers to write their replies. It is a great way to get feedback when you launch a new product or service.

Here’s how to make the most of question stickers:

• Remind your followers it is confidential: Your followers might be wary of asking questions. Thus, you need to ensure that they know you will be the only person to know who has contributed a particular question.
• Always answer the questions: Even if you don’t want to publicly show the question or answer, don’t ignore it. Reply to them through DMs.
• Be creative: Give your followers the freedom of choice. Whether they want to share their thoughts or ask questions, let them be heard.

When you allow your followers to ask their questions, you show that you take care of them. Moreover, their questions can hint at what they want to know about your brand and product.

If you believe that the numerous comments on your posts mean nothing, we have bad news for you. There are several reasons for keeping an eye on the comments: understand your followers better, establish relationships with them, draw inspiration, and get feedback.

Modern internet users have an opportunity to be heard by big companies. Since they can share their thoughts and ideas in the comment section, they often leave comments on brands’ posts.

But here comes the harsh truth: people are more likely to leave negative comments.

If you have ever paid attention to the comments section, you might have noticed users expressing their discontent about a product/service.

Even big brands like Nike Sportswear have unsatisfied customers from time to time. And what do they do? The marketers at Nike find such complaints and respond to them with solutions.

Customers want to be heard by brands, and they expect brands to take care of them.

Remember! The faster you solve their problems, the better.

But wait.

Not all followers use comments to complain. Some have words of appreciation, while others have helpful suggestions. Hence, reading comments is another way of collecting your customers’ feedback.

5. Track Your Brand Mentions

In the digital era, customers are free to express their thoughts about brands. Thus, many users share their experiences with followers on Instagram by tagging a brand they’re speaking about. For a brand, it means a possibility to understand more about your reputation.

When you get a tag notification, please go through the user’s post and understand the context in which he/she mentioned you.

Let’s take a case study by MailChimp. Their avid user, Zacktatum, shared a photo of Freddie toys with a tag. The user was so happy to receive branded freebies that he couldn’t help sharing his thoughts with his followers.

So, what did MailChimp learn here? Their followers love free stuff, and consequently, they’re more likely to share a positive experience with their community.

As you see, people want to be a part of something significant, so they love when brands pay attention to them.

When someone tags your company, you need to act fast and show that you take care of your brand: read the caption, comment on the photo, and learn something useful.

Track your brand mentions by paying attention to tags, following your branded hashtag, and using tools like Mention or BuzzSumo. 

6. Spy on their Profiles

So, you keep an eye on your Instagram page. That’s great. If you leave it to understand more about your followers, that’s even better.

There’s no secret that people love sharing their thoughts and opinions. But sometimes they prefer to express their ideas on their accounts. And if they don’t tag your company, it’s hard to find them until you visit their profiles to read more about your followers.

For example, many bookworms are obsessed with stuff by MyBookMark. Instagram book reviewers often take photos with their creative bookmarks.

As a result, their followers take notice and initiate conversations.

When you see your product, read the caption and comments to collect customer feedback. Given the fact you haven’t asked your customers to share their feedback, these comments would be the most genuine.

In a Nutshell

Instagram marketing is not just about showing off your product. It has become a powerful marketing tool that helps you drive leads, connect with your target audience, establish relationships with your customers, and understand more about your brand and products.

If you want to bring your company to the next level, listen to your Instagram followers as they are happy to share their feedback with you.

Also, be consistent about your posting on regular intervals using an Instagram automation tool.

Regular posting is the first step to generate engagement and helps you to move on the part of asking for feedbacks.

How do you collect customer feedback on Instagram?

Do you know of any other way to collect feedback on Instagram?

Which Instagram posting tool do you use to maintain the consistency?