There’s a reason personality quizzes remain a popular staple for teen magazines and have exploded online through sites like Buzzfeed. Everyone loves talking about themselves and learning where they fit in. But did you know that personality quizzes can also be a powerful marketing tool?
How Lead Generation Quizzes Work
Online lead generation quizzes act like virtual flypaper. They catch and hold onto eyeballs scrolling over your website. Who doesn’t want to know which decor style they have or what kind of creativity they should harness? Quizzes are also eminently shareable: people love to show off their results, and other people who see the shared quiz results often want to know what they get. Quizzes are a great way to drive (and keep) traffic onto your website.
You can then turn some of that traffic into leads by asking for contact information. Tools like Interact (affiliate link) allow you to ask for user contact information before they see the results of their quiz. If you write an engaging quiz that gives the visitor valuable information, they will feel more willing to hear more from you than if you just slapped a newsletter sign-up form on your site.
Hang on while I put my teacher hat back on for a second. When I was in my master’s program, we learned how to write really good test questions that not only measured what students had learned but also taught students something new in the process. The same principle applies to using quizzes for lead generation and marketing. Yes, you are collecting information from your visitors, but you also have a rare opportunity to deliver valuable information to them while they are captivated by your quiz.
Your Lead Generation Quiz Strategy
As tempting as it may be to ask visitors which Game of Thrones House they belong to or which [insert popular boy band I don’t know] member they will marry, you need to be strategic about your choice of lead generation quiz topics. Fun quizzes may bring lots of people to your site but those visitors may not care much about what you do or say. Instead, pick quiz topics that build awareness and demand for your product or service. Here are a few ways to do this using the different lead generation quiz types Interact offers:
Show what they don’t know with a knowledge assessment.
Don’t be mean about this, obviously. But sometimes people overestimate their own knowledge and abilities! (See also: me trying to organize/decorate my house.) And that’s when they need a professional like you. Maybe your lead generation quiz can debunk common myths about your industry, or lay out exactly how complex and difficult your special skills are. Keep in mind: this is not an opportunity to show off or make people feel bad. It’s just a way to help people see the gaps in their own understanding…gaps that you are ready, willing, and able to help fill! For example:
- Eat This or That? Quiz-takers have to pick the more nutritionally balanced option. This would be a great option for a nutritionist/dietician, personal fitness trainer, or meal-planning guru.
- The Price is Right! Quiz-takers have to pick the correct ballpark price for household items, renovation projects, or event vendors. This could work for big-ticket service providers, like home builders or luxury travel agents, budget experts, event planners.
- Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader About _________? Fill in the blank with your topic of expertise.
Pick out who’s ready to work with you with a scored quiz.
Another way to gently point out customers’ knowledge or skill gaps is to use a scored quiz. Try reversing the scoring system to give the people who need your help most the highest score. (A little flattery never hurt anyone, right?) Scored lead generation quizzes can tell you who’s ready to work with you (and who isn’t!). You can then create appropriate nurture sequences for each group. This requires great familiarity with your target market but can yield highly specific lead groups. Some ideas:
- How secure/optimized is your website? A web developer or cybersecurity consultant can then follow up with customized suggestions for improving security.
- Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? A business coach can target the high-scorers with workshop and coaching opportunities.
- Is your diet balanced? A nutritionist can follow up with simple diet tweaks and offer a personalized consultation.
Help them find their group with a personality quiz.
The magic about personality quizzes is that they promote a sense of individual uniqueness and community belonging. When you find out you belong in Ravenclaw House, you’re proud of the Ravenclaw qualities in your personality AND you can’t wait to meet other Ravenclaws. So you share the shiz out of that quiz! Here are some examples of personality quizzes that appeal to our desire to belong:
- What kind of procrastinator are you? People may humblebrag about their procrastination but some will realize they need help to achieve their goals. Enter the priorities and productivity coach!
- What kind of communicator are you? Realizing their own communication style may prompt visitors to learn more about relationship or executive coaching.
- What kind of blogger are you? Once someone knows what kind of blogger they are, they can approach a web designer with specific questions about their website design.
Start your intake process with a personality quiz.
If your business provides customized services, you can prompt potential clients to start thinking about their needs and preferences before they even sign a contract. They’re not bound to the choices they make on the quiz, of course, but it’s a good starting point for that initial conversation. There are plenty of options for this kind of lead generation quiz:
- What’s your decorating style? An interior designer won’t need to recommend vintage furniture for someone who prefers Scandinavian minimalism.
- What’s your brand voice? With insight into their personality and voice, it’s that much easier for a copywriter can write authentically on that client’s behalf.
- What’s your wedding style? A photographer or wedding planner can suggest appropriate venues or vendors based on the client’s style.
Preview your products and services using a personality quiz.
If a fun quiz tells you that a product is best fitted for your lifestyle, you may be that much more inclined to buy that product next time you’re on the market! You can use lead generation quizzes to build brand and product awareness. Feature your own products and services in the images and results pages. Be careful not to tip this into a sales pitch, though. Keep the focus on providing helpful recommendations and accurate information.
- What’s your cleaning personality? Based on their results, send products that are helpful.
- What’s your fitness personality? Offer different training session options depending on which result they get.
- How efficient is your home? For each result, attach a list of recommended products and uses.
Converting From a Lead Generation Quiz
Don’t just put up a fun quiz that has nothing to do with your service or product. (Okay, maybe you can make ONE that’s just for fun.) Make sure to use all the juice information you gather! Here are three critical pieces of follow-through you need to successfully convert from your lead generation quiz:
Group and tag your audience.
The Interact quiz builder allows you to send leads straight to your e-mail marketing platform. More importantly, you can send those leads to different groups or tags based on their overall quiz results or answers to individual questions. For example, if your quiz is about housekeeping habits and personality, you can put the cleaning rampagers and pick-up-every-day-unicorns in different groups. Then, if one of your questions is about their biggest trouble spot, you can tag subscribers as Kitchen, Bathroom, or Entryway clutterbugs.
Direct traffic from your quiz.
The call to action button on the Interact quiz builder is an important part of your follow-through strategy. You can send users to different pages, blog posts, or files based on their overall quiz results. If your quiz tells people about their procrastination habits, send them to blog posts or PDF downloads of tips to beat specific habits. Different fitness personalities can be linked to different workout videos or nutrition plans. I do not suggest including a hard sell like, “Buy this product now!” as your call to action because it kind of kills the quiz fun. Instead, you could link to a free service consultation or information about earning free products by hosting a direct sales event.
Send targeted messages to your audience.
This is the most critical piece, in my opinion. Once you’ve collected e-mail addresses, sorted them into groups in your list, and sent visitors off to helpful links, make sure you keep the relationship going! At the very least, you need a welcome e-mail sequence that new leads start receiving after they complete your lead generation quiz. The best practice would be to send targeted messages to different groups. You don’t have to write an entirely new sequence for each group. You can just tweak your offers and messaging based on what you know about your reader’s needs. (If you’d like some help writing a welcome e-mail sequence, sign up for my free e-mail course here!)
tl;dr
Remember that a lead generation quiz has three major purposes: draw people to your website and e-mail list, collect information about potential customers, and deliver helpful information to your visitors. Think carefully about all three as you design your quiz! For more information about how to build a quiz in Interact, read this post. If you’d like to discuss a lead generation quiz strategy for your business, you can book me for an hour of consultation here.
Thanks for reading!
