Understanding the Quiz Funnel Concept
The biggest misconception with quiz funnels has always been that theyâre simply a tool to gather information. There's a sense that people fill in quizzes to get something free, and we're the ones who win at the end by getting their details. And while lead generation is a big outcome of quiz funnels, there is a lot more that happens in between the start and end.
I think people forget that at its core, every quiz funnel is interactive marketing. We are giving potential customers value in exchange for information, which automatically starts a two-way conversation with them. We ask questions about their likes, dislikes and preferences based on how they answered different questions through the quiz, and show them results tailored to those answers. Itâs quite personal and can usually lead to a long-term relationship.
Or nothing at all. There are so many versions of this relationship-building process too - for instance, some businesses might use it as an educational opportunity; others might use it to show how much money someone could save by using them; some others might try out product match makers or personality quizzes with curated results featuring something they want to sell right now. At the end of it all, you have this approach that helps you categorise leads based on different levels of engagement or interest in your product or service. More than that though, itâs an exercise in making your customer feel like you know what youâre talking about and know what they want.
Crafting Engaging Quiz Questions
People sometimes assume that quiz questions ought to be formal and set up to test knowledge. The whole point is for people to want to take the quiz, though. Quiz questions are crafted differently from survey or research questions, so they must be tailored accordingly. Theyâre also short and sweet.
Quizzes do really well as marketing tools and lead magnets because they feel like fun games for your audience to play. Or at least, you want them to feel that way.
Because quizzes are inherently interactive, thereâs an element of escapism in them when theyâre done right. This means you have to work on making your questions conversational and fun while also not appearing too pushy or intrusive. Itâs a rather fine line between asking things a person would willingly answer and things that might feel like too much of an overstep when it comes from a business youâre engaging with for the first time - I mean, would you trust every brand on the internet with personal information. You want your questions to get you answers and engagement - not scare people away from interacting with your business.
Sometimes, we tend to forget that we have access to the answers before even getting the results of the quizzes back because we have their responses in our backend. The point is not only crafting compelling, concise questions but also balancing how much you give away with how much information you take from them. There has to be a certain amount of value addition and entertainment for your audience to actively participate in sharing their information with you through this medium - getting some professional copywriters involved can never hurt.
Targeting the Right Audience for Your Quiz
I think most people get targeting wrong because they go too broad. The way I see it, iâve seen it happen when running a quiz as a lead magnet for âeveryoneâ or anyone who is even remotely interested in what you have to offer. The quiz questions are so vague that thereâs no way to segment the leads at the end of the quiz journey, let alone sell them what they need.
The reality is that if your quiz audience isnât targeted enough, youâre not only getting poor quality leads but also turning off your actual target audience. Sort of. Now, we know that growing an email list is hard enough on its own, so it can be tough to say no to anyone who wants in. But if you want qualified leads that actually turn into customers, you want to get very specific with whom the quiz funnel attracts.
The challenge comes when your offering can help multiple target audiences, and the temptation is to catch them all with one quiz funnel and one set of questions. In such cases, segmenting the questions and outcomes based on who theyâre best for can typically be a game changer (with slightly altered messaging). But that means putting in more effort into developing the right set of questions.
It all boils down to knowing exactly who this quiz lead magnet is for and ensuring that everyone you attract fits within those criteria. If someone doesnât fit within those criteria, then maybe itâs time to create another funnel just for them.
Analyzing Quiz Results for Lead Qualification
Reminds Me Of i find many business owners seem to have this idea that a quiz is fairly just about personality types, fun memes, or a way to test knowledge. Sure, all of those can work as great lead generators. But when you think about leveraging quizzes for your business and generating leads using them, it becomes something much deeper. In fact, as many marketers will tell you, itâs almost like the quiz is a way to understand who would benefit from your offerings in the first place.
Which means - youâre not creating quizzes for anyone and everyone. Most people end up going the usual route of asking a bunch of questions and then giving the same result for every answer - they end up treating all leads equally.
I think this is quite unfair to both business and consumers. Sort of. It sets wrong expectations, makes your brand appear dishonest, and leaves room for miscommunication that could have easily been avoided with a few tweaks.
On the other hand, when you analyse quiz results, there are two key things you can do with it. Firstly, people who engage with your quizzes but donât get a qualifying result are most likely not your ideal customer right now (or probably ever). Now I know this can be hard to accept sometimes. But try to think about the time you save by not trying to talk them into working with you.
Secondly, they also give you a good understanding of how different segments are engaging with your content and what they resonate with most. So in an ideal scenario, quiz results should guide not just who you reach out to for further discussions and sales, but also give you some context on what might be their pain points or priorities at that stage of their buyerâs journey. Of course itâs rarely ever black and white - there might be exceptions where someone who did not qualify immediately goes on to become one of your most loyal clients. And thatâs why understanding what stage of their journey theyâre at can help decide what kind of nurture they should receive at that point in time (if any).
Integrating Quizzes with Your Marketing Strategy
Letâs be blunt. I Reckon lots of marketers add quizzes to their site as a cheeky pop-up or dangle them from the side of a blog post like tinsel on a sad christmas tree. Theyâre busy, so fair enough, but theyâre missing the bigger picture. The quiz is possibly there, doing its thing - collecting emails, entertaining users for a second or two - and thatâs the extent of it.
More or less. It doesnât really fit in with anything else thatâs going on. Hereâs what we do differently; we approach quizzes holistically.
We look at them as an aspect of our overall marketing strategy and plan accordingly. Say youâre running an online shop selling gourmet snacks, and you also want to boost your social following - you could create a quiz for your website with questions about different snacks and their flavour profiles, then use email automations to retarget those leads with samples of unique items they might not have tried before, while encouraging them to share their results on social media.
Itâs not all smooth sailing though. Youâll need to take some time to understand your sales funnel, recognise where your audience is likely most likely to engage and how far along they are in the buyer journey when they do so, and figure out how best to incorporate quizzes into your existing strategy. While this is sort of fairly straightforward in theory, things can get rather complicated in practice.
You may have to revisit every stage in your sales funnel at multiple points throughout this process - it does require some trial and error. And then youâll need to determine exactly what kind of lead magnets will work for you (see: Experiment With Different Lead Magnets). Quizzes can be a fun way for both you and your audience to engage with one another - it just takes a little planning.
Case Studies: Successful Quiz Funnel Implementations
Well, the thing most people get wrong about quiz funnels is that they think slapping up a flashy, five-question quiz will immediately have leads falling out of the sky. Maybe it's a sort of wishful thinking - hoping people will always rush to find out what kind of office plant they are, and then hand over all their details to the brand behind it. Strikes Me As the reality is that people can sniff out an email grab dressed as âcontentâ from a mile away. A lack of subtlety almost always leads to fewer genuine conversions.
A great quiz funnel fits into the overarching brand story. Take something like the "What's Your Signature Scent. " quiz at The Perfume Shop, which works alongside in-store sampling campaigns.
Or consider Glow Recipe's "Whatâs Your Glowing Skin Routine. " with personalised product recommendations (and yes, theyâre collecting your data). Other types target curiosity more than sales by showing the customer something about themselves - like an astrology website's "Who Were You In A Past Life. " complete with lore and context for every result that follows.
While there are plenty of ways to take on quiz funnel strategies, some are more successful than others. There are generally simply too many factors at play for any one company to copy anotherâs approach in a way that guarantees results, I think. Individual factors range from tone of voice, how fun or interesting the questions are, and even the companyâs reputation - so thereâs no one way to do it right. The secret seems to be keeping goals in mind while giving people an engaging experience that doesnât feel empty.
The ones that donât perform well usually donât have an audience in mind or a clear reward for anyone playing along. And sometimes - despite following best practices to the letter - a campaign may fail anyway.