How I'm using a quiz to grow my email list
Please tell me I'm not the only one who has ever been sucked down the internet black hole that is a Buzzfeed quiz? You know what I mean - one moment you're innocently browsing the web and before you know it, you're only a few questions away from finding out what type of pizza you are. Say what you want about them but there's no denying that these quizzes are addictive!
Want to know what else is addictive? Watching your email list start to snowball thanks to one such quiz.
if you're unclear about how a quiz can act as a lead magnet that helps you grow your email list, then don't worry. I was in the same boat not long ago!
I used to create email opt-ins the traditional way (meaning: for almost every blog post as an add-on to get extra/bonus content) yet I was often frustrated when they didn't convert as well as I wanted them to. I would spend so much time working on these extra lead magnets, but they weren't always enticing enough for people to sign up for them. Talk about a tough pill to swallow!
But the quiz I built? Yup, that's worth it.
A little bit about my quiz
My quiz is titled "How strong is your website's personality?" and it's a personality quiz. If you haven't checked it out already, you can take my quiz right here!
Quiz takers are asked a series of questions to find out which website personality they are, and their results are calculated based on how they answer. I came up with 3 website personality types so that each quiz taker gets personalized results based on their answers. The quiz questions are informal (read: friendly), personalized and fun to answer! Once people have finished the test, they simply enter their email address to get the results and next steps emailed to them.
I built the quiz and put it front row centre on my website. When you first land on my cover page, you have two options: take the quiz or visit the site.
Basically, I've highlighted my quiz anywhere I have an online presence and it's often one of the first ways people interact with me and my brand.
When I created this quiz, I knew it would serve a few purposes and I want to share those with you today.
1. Grow my email list.
I mentioned above that I'm using this quiz as a lead magnet, but what does that really mean?
At the simplest level this quiz is a way for me to capture people's information in exchange for their results. I collect basic data (first name and email address) from engaged members of my audience in a way that's more FUN than a traditional email sign up box and less formal than a survey. Capturing their email lets me add these people to my list and stay in contact with them over time.
Email is a power tool and a key part of my business, which is why setting up this quiz has been such a blast!
Related: Why you should start an email list today
2. Get to know my subscribers even more
There are different types of quizzes that you can create but I went with a "personality" quiz because I want to get to know my audience better. Each person who takes my quiz is grouped in one of the 3 personality types/profiles that I set up, based on a set of characteristics and how they answered the questions. Depending on the answers they pick, they will receive a personality profile that speaks to them and makes them feel understood, known and connected to their results.
Now that I know what personality type this quiz taker falls under, I can give them personalized content (which is way more valuable than general information) AND communicate with them in a much more targeted way moving forward. I'm pretty sure I know which group most of my quiz takers will fall under but I'm curious to see if I'm proven right or wrong!
This is where the business strategy comes in! In an ideal world I'd like every single one of my subscribers to come a client or a customer at some point (#dreambig) and this quiz is a gateway to developing and nurturing our relationship.
3. Interact with my audience
Because quizzes are unusual, they are also engaging. People enjoy taking them and statistically they are more likely to actually finish it without exiting out of it! These quiz takers participate in something they don't see all that often and are rewarded with valuable results and personalized content afterwards.
This is a huge change from the regular happenings where someone reads a blog post, (maybe) enters their email to get a free download, and then forgets about it/never touches it again. RIP to all the unopened PDFs chilling in a gmail folder somewhere.
With my quiz, participants feel a building sense of anticipation as they go through the questions and end with a feeling of "yep, that sounds about right!". When their results are emailed to them, they are curious and engaged enough to want more.
Who is this for?
Quizzes can honestly work for anyone in any industry. They are totally customizable so you can create a quiz that really supports your needs. Depending on your industry, who you serve or what your website's purpose is, you can create a quiz that fits.
I knew that a quiz would work for me, my website and my business, and there's no reason it can't work for yours too!
Here are a few ideas: an accountant could have a quiz called "How prepared are you for tax season?". A career coach could have a quiz called "How good of a manager are you really?". A social media expert could have a quiz called "What's your Instagram style?". Finally, a florist might have a quiz called "What style bouquet should you have for your wedding?"
Quizzes really do work for everyone!
PS: Some pretty major players in the online space like Tony Robbins and Lewis Howes use these quizzes in their businesses. If they're good enough for them, they're good enough for me!
Want a quiz like mine?
Um, yeah you do! I uses a tool called Interact* to create my quiz and from start to finish, the whole process was a breeze.
A little backstory: I had wanted to build a quiz for my website and business for ages but I kept dragging my feet because I heard so many horror stories about setting them up. A few of my online business friends had tried them out but said that the setup was clunky, unintuitive and had lots of ways that it could be messed up. You were pretty much own your own and they kept running into nightmare problems with the email integrations. The whole point of setting up a quiz was to use it as a lead magnet, and then they kept having issues where the email addresses weren't being stored and the results/content wasn't actually sent out?!?!? It sounded like more trouble than it was worth so for months I did nothing.
Here's where Interact* comes in. Unlike other platforms, Interact* is SO easy to use and I've been really impressed by how quickly I was able to get the quiz up and running! They have tons of information about best practices on their website so I felt totally confident that I was creating my quiz the right way. Connecting the quiz with my email service provider was done in like two clicks and it was a simple copy & paste to embed it on my site. I set aside a full day to launch my quiz and was thrilled that it only took a few hours total.
Here's how it works:
Step one is to brainstorm a bunch of topics and then decide on a winner. You want it to be relevant and useful to your audience so feel free to bounce your ideas off a friend or colleague. If you want a "tried and true" quiz topic, I suggest you use a template.
Next up, you get to create an attention-grabbing title to "hook" people into taking your quiz. My quiz is "How strong is your website's personality" and as you can tell, it's super clear and people know what they are about to find out. I strongly suggest you avoid a quiz title/topic that is overly snazzy or trendy because that basically just means your quiz is vague.
After that, it's time to create the quiz Q&As and results! Again, you can either create your own from scratch or customize a template - whatever works best for you.
From here, all that's left is to connect the quiz with your email service provide (Mailchimp, Convertkit, whatever), embed it on your site and push it live. If you're someone who hates touching code then don't worry - even a monkey could do this, it's SO easy!
Final Thoughts
I'm sure you can tell how excited I am to see how my Interact* quiz helps me to grow my email list now that it's up and running and I can't wait to report back with my data soon! It feels so good to know that I can cross "create a quiz" off my To Do List because it's something I've wanted to do for ages. And the fact that it was actually enjoyable to set up and I had FUN coming up with the results? That's a win in my book!
If you want to try out an Interact* quiz for yourself then you're in luck! They offer a FREE trial so you can play around with it and see how great the tool is!
Try Interact* out for yourself, see how easy it is to build a quiz and get it up and running on your site, and then sit back and relax while the quiz grows your email list. I know that's what I'm doing!
If you try it out, be sure to let me know so that I can see your quiz in action. Just leave the link down below in the comments and let me know what you think!
* indicates an affiliate link. I only share products I use and love with you!
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