Viral quizzes are like an actual virus that we just can’t seem to get rid of on the Internet. No matter how sophisticated we become as a society, “Which dog are you?” will always be a quiz title that no one can resist. As marketers we need to be aware of forms of content like quizzes and learn how to harness that viral power in a productive way that contributes to the bottom line.
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One way to make quizzes a practical, bottom-line-driving, tool is to connect them up to GetResponse and use them for lead generation. If that sounds crazy to you, I understand. My job today is to convince you that quizzes can be used as a real and powerful lead capture tool that integrates with GetResponse for targeted follow-up using automation.
In order to do that I’m going to break down the exact steps used to create an amazing quiz and how to follow up with new contacts brought in through your quizzes. I’ve now personally worked with over 10,000 brands to create quizzes at Interact, and what follows is my insider view into what makes an amazing lead generation quiz.
Part 1: What to make the quiz about
Before you even start thinking about the logistics of your quiz you’re going to need an idea. The best place to start with a quiz is with the core of your business. My favorite example of this comes from the World Wildlife Fund – they made a quiz called “Which Animal is Your Soulmate?” Now obviously it’s pretty easy for the WWF because all they do is work with endangered animals, but you get the idea – focus on what’s core to your company.
Part 2: How to write the title
A full 80% of your potential audience makes a decision about whether they want to click on your content based on the title (I’m guessing the other 20% bases on the image or meta description). That’s a huge emphasis on the title, so don’t mess it up! Here’s a couple of quiz title templates that are proven to work.
- The “Which (blank) are you?” title: “Which Coffee Flavor are You?” this is a personality quiz where the personalities are replaced by products or styles.
- The “Actually” title: “How much do you Actually Know About Donald Trump?” This is a simple knowledge test, but by adding the word “Actually” you are able to make it a challenge, appealing to people’s emotions.
- The “Are you really a (blank)” title: Again, a personality quiz, but framed as a challenge.
The common thread in all three of these quiz titles is that they all have an emotional and personal aspect to them. This becomes really important when we get to the quiz results, because emotional content gets shared much more on average than serious content.
Part 3: How to create conversational questions
Quizzes are a unique form of content because they are a one-to-one medium. Whereas most content (blog posts, videos, etc.) is broadcast from one voice to an audience, quizzes are one voice (the writer), speaking directly to one person (the individual taking the quiz).
This can be a huge advantage when you actually do it right, but unfortunately most people don’t. Here’s how to build rapport in your quiz questions so people will feel comfortable giving you their contact information at the end of the quiz.
- Speak like a human: This might seem like a no-brainer, but with quizzes where answer choices include “always, sometimes, never,” it’s not actually uncommon for us to write like robots on the internet. Sounding like a real person online is in actuality a bit complicated, and I wrote an entire article about it, but in general it goes something like just lowering your inhibitions.
- Use lots of images: All 100 of the top 100 quizzes created over at Interact have at least one image question. Pictures make your content more game-like, which creates an inviting atmosphere that is conducive to lead generation.
- Don’t ask too much: The ideal number of quiz questions is 6 for mobile devices and 8 for desktop. That’s because that number of quiz questions will take about two minutes to answer, which is the average internet attention span.
Part 4: How to write a call-to-action that converts
In the chronological flow of a quiz, after the questions and before the results is where a lead capture “gate” comes up. This is where you have an opportunity to connect with a quiz taker and get in the door for a longer-term relationship. This lead form connects up to GetResponse so new leads can be automatically followed up with based on quiz results. Here’s how to achieve an opt-in rate of 50% or better.
- Have an incentive: There is a built-in incentive of seeing quiz results, but that’s only part of what draws people in to give over personal information. The other part is an added bonus. This can be a giveaway or some free resource, or an exclusive newsletter.
- Tell them what you’re going to send: Be very up-front about what you’re going to send out. If you send one email a week, say it, if you send one email a month, say it. It’s much better to be honest here and have people not opt-in than to have them opt-in and be mad about it later.
- Let people skip: Don’t force people to opt-in on your quiz. Because quizzes get so much traffic, many of the people who take your quiz just aren’t the right fit for your business, you don’t want them on your list anyways.
Part 5: How to craft results that get shared
Now we get to the most important part of a quiz – the results. This is the most important because the results are where people get a chance to share your quiz, and quizzes that get shared a lot are the ones that go really viral. Here’s how to entice sharing:
- Be really up-beat: As I alluded to before, emotional content gets shared a lot. Within the emotions of sharing, happy content gets shared the most (ironically followed immediately by angry content). What this means is that you want to focus on the good things in each quiz result and skip over the bad parts. For example, if you tell someone they are a truck, focus on how strong and reliable trucks are, not on how slow and inefficient they are.
- Keep it short: Your results descriptions should only be a few sentences. It doesn’t take long to convince someone that they are awesome, and you want to focus on sharing anyways.
- Plan for sharing: The formula for sharing goes like this “I got (my result)(title of the quiz)” When writing out your quiz results, make sure to think about how the quiz title and results titles will work together to entice sharing.
- Include personalized links: Always include a link to learn more at the end of your quiz. Because people see different results based on their personality, you have an opportunity to make a personalized recommendation to people. Since personalized CTA’s convert 42% better, this is a must-do.
Part 6: How to follow up and close sales.
After you bring in new contacts from your quiz, it’s time for the real work to begin. The quiz takes care of the scariest part of sales, the initial lead generation, but that’s just one part of the sales process. Here’s how to set up an automation sequence in GetResponse to best turn your quiz leads into paying customers.
- Send a “thank you for taking our quiz” immediately: Quizzes get shared on social media, and people who are interested in your product may have never heard of you before. It’s very important to send an immediate “Thank You and Welcome” email so people remember where you got their contact information from. Otherwise your quiz takers will forget and think you are spamming them when you start sending emails.
- Treat quiz leads with respect: These are not outbound leads that you should bully into a purchase. Quiz leads are people who are lightly interested in your product and need some nurturing before they are ready to make any sort of commitment.
- Only sell every 4-5 emails: In your automation sequence, most of the emails should be to entertain/educate. Only sell every four to five emails, or every 1-2 months.
Did I convince you that quizzes can be a practical lead generating form of content? If not then I apologize and I’d love to hear why not in the comments. If I have convinced you, then check out the Interact plugin for GetResponse to create your own quiz today.
About the author: Josh Haynam is the co-founder of Interact, a place for creating beautiful and engaging quizzes that generate email leads. He writes about new ways to connect with customers and build trust with them. Find Josh on Linkedin: Josh Haynam or Twitter: @jhaynam