Online quizzes have emerged as one of the most powerful tactics in the content marketer‘s toolkit. Brands and publishers of all kinds, from BuzzFeed to Disney to Forbes, are using quizzes to entertain and engage their audience, capture leads, and learn more about their customers.
Consider these compelling statistics:
- The average quiz has a 33.6% lead capture rate (Leadquizzes)
- Quizzes are shared on average 1,900 times (Buzzsumo)
- Interactive content like quizzes generate 2X more conversions than passive content (Demand Metric)
- Adding a quiz to your website can increase email opt-ins by 300% or more (Social Media Examiner)
- 96% of users who start BuzzFeed quizzes finish them (BuzzFeed)
The numbers don‘t lie. When executed well, quizzes can be a game-changer for audience engagement, list building, and sales. One of the most popular quiz types is the personality quiz, exemplified by the classic "Which [blank] character are you?".
Here are some notable examples of personality quizzes that went viral and drove major results for the creator:
- "Which ‘Friends‘ Character Are You?" from BuzzFeed has been viewed over 50 million times and was the most popular piece of content in BuzzFeed‘s history.
- The New York Times‘ "How Y‘all, Youse and You Guys Talk" dialect quiz attracted over 21 million views, the publication‘s most popular piece of content in 2013.
- Zenni Optical‘s "You‘ve Been Framed" quiz has been taken over 1 million times. About 29% of takers click the Shop Now button after completing, driving over $1 million in revenue and an ROI of 2,258%.
- "Which Harry Potter House Do You Belong To?" helped Pottermore gain over 1 million new registered users within just days of launch.
So what‘s the secret to creating a quiz that generates this kind of breakthrough engagement and business results? Having created quizzes that have reached millions of participants, here is my ultimate guide to acing the quiz game.
Planning Your Quiz: Setting Goals and Choosing a Topic
The first step to creating a successful online quiz is to set clear goals. What do you hope to achieve by creating this interactive content? Common objectives include:
- Increase brand awareness and reach
- Drive social media engagement and virality
- Generate new leads and grow your email list
- Learn more about your audience and customers
- Sell more products or services
- Make a deeper connection with your audience
Your goal(s) will inform every other decision in the quiz planning process, including the type of quiz, topic, questions, outcomes, and promotional strategy. So don‘t skip this crucial step!
Once you have your "why", it‘s time to choose a quiz topic and type. Besides personality quizzes, other popular formats include:
- Knowledge Test: How much do you know about [topic]?
- Scored Quiz: What‘s your [topic] IQ?
- Trivia Quiz: Can you ace this [topic] trivia?
- Assessment: What‘s your [topic] personality type?
No matter which type you choose, aim for a topic that is highly relevant to your audience‘s interests and your brand. Start by brainstorming quiz ideas based on:
- Your product or service offerings
- Your audience demographics and psychographics
- Popular content and conversations in your industry
- Current events, trends, and pop culture
- Keyword research to target relevant search queries
For optimal engagement, your quiz topic should be:
- Relevant to your audience and brand
- Not overly complex or intimidating
- Trending and timely
- Lighthearted and fun
- Celebrates the user
- A little bit unexpected!
For example, rather than a boring quiz like "How much do you know about car insurance?", a car insurance company could create a more engaging quiz like "What Kind of Driver Are You? Take the Quiz to Find Out!".
Crafting Engaging Quiz Questions and Outcomes
Now for the heart of your quiz – the questions and answers! The way you write your quiz copy will make or break its success. Follow these tips to create quiz content that informs and delights:
- Use a conversational, lighthearted tone that makes the user feel like you‘re having a friendly chat.
- Ask questions that are fun to think about and not too serious or personal.
- Keep questions short – aim for 6-10 total.
- Give each question 3-4 answer options.
- Ensure answers are distinct and not too ambiguous.
- Make questions visual when possible (images, GIFs).
- Aim for a mix of question/answer formats for variety.
- Write questions that subtly relate to your brand/offerings.
For quiz outcomes, you‘ll want to create 3-5 potential results that are:
- Distinct from each other
- Highly shareable and discussion-worthy
- Positive (people love sharing good news about themselves)
- Reinforce the need for your product/service
- Supported with eye-catching images/graphics
Here‘s an example of compelling quiz outcomes from Adobe‘s "Creative Types" quiz:
- The Artist: You are an imaginative, expressive creator.
- The Thinker: You are an intellectual, a lover of knowledge.
- The Adventurer: You are a curious, daring explorer.
- The Maker: You are a driven, detail-oriented producer.
- The Dreamer: You are an ambitious, big-picture visionary.
- The Producer: You are an organized, goal-oriented go-getter.
- The Innovator: You are an experimental, boundary-pushing pioneer.
- The Visionary: You are a bold, forward-thinking leader.
Notice how the outcomes are specific, aspirational, and focus on the user‘s positive qualities. Who wouldn‘t want to share an outcome like that?
Designing a User-Friendly Quiz Experience
In addition to great quiz copy, you‘ll need to create an intuitive user flow and attractive visual design for your quiz. Follow UX best practices like:
- Putting the most compelling quiz question first to draw people in.
- Using a progress bar so users know how much is left.
- Sticking to one question per page.
- Making the "next question" or "get results" button obvious.
- Displaying engaging visuals like photos, videos, and GIFs.
- Optimizing for mobile layouts and interactions.
- Communicating value propositions and trust factors.
- Making lead capture forms quick and easy.
Check out how Airbnb‘s "What Type of Traveler Are You?" quiz nails the user experience:
[INSERT SCREENSHOT]
The quiz features beautiful destination photography, single questions on each page, a clear progress bar, and a prominent CTA button. The branding is on point and the design guides you seamlessly through the experience.
Promoting Your Quiz for Maximum Reach
Creating a fantastic quiz is only half the battle. Now you need to get it in front of as many people as possible! Luckily, quizzes are inherently shareable and lend themselves perfectly to social media virality. Here are some tips to drive maximum quiz traffic:
- Partner with influencers to spread the word to their followers
- Run social media ads targeted to relevant audiences
- Optimize for quiz-related keywords and keyphrases
- Share the quiz link in relevant online communities (subreddits, Facebook Groups)
- Add social sharing buttons on your quiz results page
- Incentivize sharing with a contest or giveaway
- Cross-promote to your email list and website visitors
- Embed the quiz on your most popular blog posts
Treat your quiz launch like a full-on digital marketing campaign. Create buzz-worthy promotional graphics and copy. Get all departments on board to promote, from social to email to customer service. Make it an event!
Analyzing Quiz Performance and Optimizing Results
True quiz masters don‘t "set it and forget it". You‘ll want to monitor quiz performance closely, especially in the first few days post-launch. Track key metrics like:
- Number of quiz views
- Quiz start rate
- Quiz completion rate
- Average time spent on quiz
- Lead capture rate
- Social share rate
- Clickthrough rates to your site/products
Based on these baseline metrics, run A/B tests to optimize different elements of your quiz and see how they impact results. Try testing:
- The quiz title and description
- Specific questions and answers
- Images and visual design
- The lead capture form timing and fields
- Button copy and color
- Outcomes (e.g. personality types)
Continue to adjust and optimize until your quiz is a well-oiled marketing machine. Then rinse and repeat the process with a new quiz! The options for quiz topics and types are virtually endless.
Leveraging Quizzes in Your Overall Marketing Strategy
The benefits of quizzes extend far beyond the initial engagement. You can use quiz response data to segment leads, personalize future marketing messages, and build deeper customer profiles. Based on someone‘s quiz outcome, you could:
- Recommend specific products/services
- Tailor email marketing copy and offers
- Invite them to a relevant webinar or event
- Enroll them in a targeted email nurture sequence
- Adapt your brand voice and messaging
- Inform new product/service development
For example, Ethnic Supplies, an indigenous crafts store, created a quiz called "Which Indigenous Artist Are You?". The quiz outcomes included different artist types like the Painter, the Carver, the Weaver, etc.
Ethnic Supplies then used this quiz data to segment their email list and send targeted product recommendations based on each person‘s artist type. So the Painters received paint supply promotions, the Weavers got emails about looms and textiles, and so on.
The quiz data can also yield valuable insights for your business as a whole, helping you generate new product ideas, identify customer pain points, and even inspire your brand positioning and marketing messages.
Quizzes: The Ultimate Engagement-Driving, Lead-Generating, Insight-Fueling Marketing Machine
There you have it, folks. If you want to supercharge your digital marketing, quizzes are the way to go. Simply follow the steps in this ultimate guide to create quizzes that:
- Attract your target audience with an irresistible hook
- Engage users with fun, relevant, and thought-provoking questions
- Delight participants with a shareable, memorable outcome
- Capture more leads and drive them further down your sales funnel
- Generate priceless data to inform your entire marketing strategy
By investing in quizzes, you won‘t just boost short-term engagement – you‘ll lay the foundation for long-term customer relationships and sustainable business growth. So what are you waiting for? Your quiz audience awaits!
