Let’s be honest: Instagram is a social media platform that is perfect for various marketing campaigns and outreach.

This is thanks to it primarily basing on short clips and images to attract young people who enjoy casual and fun content.

One of these interesting content formats here is known as Instagram stories.

Stories are short posts that last no more than 15 to 30 seconds. They are only available for 24 hours and can be viewed as Instagram reels at the top of the user’s accounts.

Instagram stories are pretty versatile, and one way you can use them to interact with users is to play an Instagram story game with them.

They can be a fun and lighthearted way to keep your followers entertained and interested while getting the word out about your brand and products.

What Are Instagram Games?

Instagram games are interactive games that business owners and influencers can conduct in order to interact with their followers. They consist of certain challenges or empty question templates that can be filled in.

Usually, your followers will share your story game to their own account with a response to your challenge or question.

Similar to TikTok viral challenges, Instagram story games are a great way to introduce your brand and get to know the community in an easy and fun way.

How Can They Benefit Your Brand?

Instagram story games have many benefits for your brand on this social media platform. Apart from having some fun with your followers, you’ll also be able to increase brand awareness.

One of the main objectives of social media marketing is to have more people be aware of your brand and products.

Whenever your game is shared, your follower’s circle of friends will be able to view the game too. The more your game is shared, the more Instagram users will be able to know about your company.

The use of games can also help boost the number of followers your Instagram account has.

When users see how fun your brand is, and how you actively engage with your followers, they will be attracted to follow your account themselves.

13 Awesome Instagram Game Ideas Just For You

Here are some Insta story ideas in the form of games that are creative yet simple to carry out.

You can leave the forever ongoing question: What to post on your social media platform – behind, for now.

Remember that these ideas should be switched around, and you shouldn’t repeat ideas too often so as not to bore visitors.

1. This or That

The concept behind the ‘this or that’ game is pretty simple. You have several pairs of words arranged side by side, and your followers can share the list, using markings to indicate their choice between the two contrasting words, usually with circles of underlines.

The number of pairs in this or that for users to choose from can range from one to more than 10, as long as the words are large enough to read and can be marked clearly.

The words should have a theme and topic, such as ‘What Do You Do on a Rainy Day?’, ‘Which Malaysian Food Would You Prefer?’ and so on. You can always get your Instagram story question ideas by seeing what’s trending on Instagram in the current moment.

2. The GIF or Emoji Answer Game

For these story games, you can create a visual with one or more questions, and then leave an empty box for your followers to answer using a Gif, meme, or emoji.

Keep your questions light and humorous, as this game is meant to be answered in a funny way too.

In order to get Instagram question ideas that are simple and creative, you can also see what other accounts are asking. Customize it to your brand and make it your own.

Try to avoid heavy or controversial questions in your story game.

Try topics like ‘How did your week go?’, ‘Handbag/Backpack Must Haves’, ‘How to Write The Perfect Bio for Instagram?’, and ‘The Best Ways to Describe Me’.

3. Polls and Quizzes

Creating a poll or quiz on your story game is really easy. This is because there are tools available for you to immediately put them in.

For polls and quizzes, you can pick a template and just type in the options for your followers to vote on.

Usually, Instagram polls have two options.

Once 24 hours have passed, you can display the results the next day, showing how many percentages of respondents voted for each option.

The difference between polls and quizzes is that polls will ask for an opinion, such as ‘Which type of ice cream do you prefer?’ while quizzes will ask for an answer to a question, such as ‘ What is the Capital of Finland?’

4. Ask Me a Question

In order to get closer to your followers (AKA – your target audience), you can open an ‘Ask Me a Question’ sticker on Instagram and turn it into a story game.

Once you pick this feature while designing your Instagram story, your followers will automatically be able to click on the box and type their questions inside it.

Once the question box expires, you can share some selected questions, together with your answers to them.

This is the perfect way for you to reveal more about your brand, and some of your own personal information with various ask me a question Instagram ideas.

5. Hashtag Challenge

The hashtag challenge is a simple yet creative Instagram stories concept. Basically, you have to include the term ‘Hashtag Challenge’ to let your followers know what’s going on.

Psst, interested in knowing about some Instagram story hacks? Simply choose your hashtag and location markers then let your followers share their own stories with the hashtag you’ve just issued.

You’ll get some really creative responses, so you can re-share these various responses on your story, tagging your followers or users while at it.

The great thing about the hashtag challenge and all the other story ideas on Instagram is that users who aren’t your followers can still participate. The hashtag challenge is one of the easiest for anyone to share.

Some of the hashtag ideas you can consider include #currentmood, #weekendvibes, and even those that are relevant to your brand and products.

6. Nominate Your Friends Challenge

This challenge involves tagging a friend to perform a specific action, which is often described by a hashtag or a short phrase.

To start a challenge, you can use Instagram’s ‘Challenge’ sticker which is available at the sticker icon section when you start creating an Instagram story.

Once you use this sticker, you’ll be automatically able to nominate one or more users to complete that challenge.

They can then pass the challenge on and nominate other users on Instagram story within their video clip.

7. The 30 Day Song Challenge

One of the trendy games going around on Instagram is the 30-day song challenge.

There are templates you can use to suggest the types of songs your followers can post on their stories or regular posts.

Each day, the description of the song changes and they will have to pick music that fits that day’s description.

The challenge doesn’t necessarily have to go on for 30 days. You can actually start your own music challenge that lasts for a shorter time, like one week or two.

Use a hashtag that can help users identify with your music challenge and preferably incorporate your brand name within that hashtag too. For example, hashtags like #TuneInWithBella or #MelodyChallengeWeek.

8. The VR Filter Challenge

Virtual reality filters are quite fun and come in different forms. As a company, you can design your own filters and add them to the Instagram story filter options. Otherwise, you can use any of the available filters on Instagram.

Let your followers use the same filter on their own Instagram stories, and tag your account and/or use a specific hashtag while they’re at it to let you know they’ve used the filter.

9. Followers Reveal Challenge

Get to know your followers more closely with this challenge. You can ask your followers to reveal bits of information about themselves, like their hometown, favorite food, usual daily routine, favorite beauty practice, and so on.

To make things easy, you can use a ‘get to know me’ template. It’s advisable to keep the theme as close and relevant to your product as possible.

For example, if you’re selling skincare products, let your followers reveal their favorite skincare routine. Alternatively, if you’re selling desserts like cakes, ask them what their most memorable birthday celebration was like.

10. First Letter of Your Name Game

The first letter of your name requires users to fill in a list of items that begin with the letter of their name. These items can be usual everyday objects or topics.

The original template can be shared by other Instagram users with their own unique responses.

This game doesn’t have any serious implications. It actually mimics those fun games we played in school with our friends.

The list of things to fill in should therefore be easy so as to encourage your followers to participate.

The number of items doesn’t have a firm limit either, as long as it fits into that one visual graphic and can be edited by your followers easily to add their answers in.

11. Bingo Your Experience

In the real world, Bingo is a game where there are several lines of boxes filled with numbers on a card.

Random numbers are drawn from a pool, and participants cross out the numbers that are being called until they get a straight line on the Bingo card.

These lines can be formed diagonally, horizontally, or vertically.

Instagram Bingo has some similarities with the actual Bingo game, except that its boxes are filled with different experiences related to a theme.

Your followers can share the template, crossing out the experiences they’ve had. It will be fun to observe if anyone has managed to get a Bingo.

12. Quick Draw Challenge

A quick draw challenge on Instagram is an Instagram game that is pretty straightforward. It requires you to share a template with instructions to screenshot it and draw something.

The picture should be drawn in a simple manner and in a short time.

Your followers can share the challenge on their regular posts or in their stories. You can even turn it into a competition and choose the best ones to be rewarded with a small gift from your business.

13. Spot the Lie

This game is sometimes called two truths, one lie. The concept involves writing two statements or answers that are true and one that isn’t.

Users can then click on the statement which they believe is a lie.

This game can be designed using the same effect as the Instagram Story polls, whereby users directly click on the statement.

The answers will be recorded and you can share the results (with the correct answer) in a separate Instagram story the next day.

14. Many Other Games to Consider

The best story games are actually those that fit the different situations and preferences of your followers. Some of the other games that are pretty popular include number Instagram story games, spot the difference games, dance challenge games, and more.

Other non-conventional means may also include incorporating bold social media content marketing memes as part of your digital marketing strategy.

Wrapping Up on Instagram Story Games

Using Instagram for business can open many doors for your brand and company. Instagram should be part of your social media marketing strategy in Malaysia, as it attracts many users locally and internationally.

Instagram story games are only a small part of a larger plan for digital marketing in Malaysia, and to get started you need to have clear goals and objectives.

One Search Pro will be able to guide you in formulating a firm strategy for all your social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and beyond – so wait no more and come speak to us today!