Although a picture is worth a thousand words, when it comes to social media, a picture without words is just a picture. One of the most powerful tools of engagement is the use of questions. It allows your fans and followers to get directly involved with your posts and when done correctly, can generate buzz even outside of your own business page.
Below are just a few of the types of questions we like best to help increase your engagement and help you develop stronger, more personal relationships with your audience.
1. Riddles and Brain Teasers
Giving your fans an opportunity to compete with each other and think outside the box is not only a unique way to increase your response rate, but also extremely fun for your audience as well. The best part is that this type of question is relative to all ages and genders! We suggest making posts like this on the same day of every week so you can create a cognizant memory trigger and hopefully get your fans excited for that particular day every week.
2. Fill in the Blank
This type of question is a fantastic way to gather market research on your audience without paying a cent. By allowing them to provide their own answers, it gives you better insight to who they are and what their likes an dislikes are. This type of information can help you to focus future content in a much more effective way. For example…
Question: If I could only bring one thing with me to a deserted island, I would bring ________ .
3. Ask for Advice
Whatever industry or product that you represent can serve as a topic of discussion that allows fans to give you their opinion. The question could be about how you or your company can improve its products or services, or even about how you can improve the type of content you are sharing on social media. Your business pages should serve as 20% information about your product and 80% entertainment. With that being said, advice questions can help you determine better if that 80% you are currently posting is actually doing what it is meant to do… entertain.
4. True or False
This type of question is quick, direct and easy to answer. The idea is to ask something that is relative to your audience, but also very representative. Most of the time “true or false questions” should center around mainstream pop-culture or current world events.
Example:
True or False: Star Wars is the greatest movie series of all time?
5. Controversial Topics
One must be a little bit cautious when utilizing this type of question. Use your best discretion in choosing a topic and make sure it is relatable to your customer base. There is a difference between offending someone and provoking thought. These types of questions provide the opportunity to diplomatically push buttons and encourage people to be more proactive in their interaction with other fans. Everyone loves to give their own opinion about something provoking controversy, just make sure it is healthy controversy.
Use these questions along side an article or original blog post to provide added value.
Example:
Should Donald Trump be the next president?