How to Use Online Quizzes to Build Your Email List and Grow Your Business

Why Build Your Email List When There are so Many Other Avenues?

Still thinking email marketing might be past its prime? Unless you own a social media company with an algorithm, you absolutely need to pay attention to email. It can be hard to nab your target audience’s attention—and even harder to keep it. 

So why is email marketing still reliable? Let’s break it down: 

• Your email list is one of only two assets you truly own, and it’s the only one that isn’t subject to a third-party algorithm. Got that? That’s right, no algorithm changes can ever affect your email list. It’s immune to the whims of social media giants – a precious parchment, enduring from the days of dial-up. So why not use it to its fullest potential?
• Email subscribers are asking for you to connect with them, whereas when you use ads, you’re banking on the idea of getting attention while interrupting someone’s scrolling behavior. Bingo! Remember, in email marketing, it’s about making a connection rather than an interruption. How can you make that connection even stronger?

Now that we’re on the same page with the need to focus on your email list, your next question might be something along the lines of “How do I grow an email list in the first place?” Well, the truth is, you can grow your email list in a variety of ways:

• Hosting giveaways
• Running live webinars
• Running automated webinars
• Creating PDF downloads
• Adding content upgrades to every blog post

And more.

There are so many ways you can grow your email list.

But there’s only one that you can create once and send traffic to for years to come.

That, my friends, is the online quiz.

Understanding the Power of Online Quizzes

Online quizzes can help increase email engagement and click-through rates. 

You’re probably scratching your head, wondering, “What’s all the fuss about these online quizzes, anyway?” Well, let me tell you! Quizzes aren’t just that annoying thing your 9th-grade math teacher loved to spring on you — they’re engagement gold mines. Here’s the secret sauce: quizzes are interactive. The moment you throw a quiz into your email, voila, your subscriber isn’t merely scrolling and clicking; they’re participating. 

Not only do quizzes hold the potential to increase engagement — the interactive nature of quizzes can help you gather valuable data about your subscribers. Now, I’m not talking about deep, personal secrets or Sherlock Holmes level of data. But the answers your subscribers give can provide a wealth of insights. 

And boy, can these insights be powerful! The data you collect from quizzes can help you understand your audience better. You get the inside scoop – their likes, their preferences, even their pet peeves. And that, my friends, is marketing gold. It’s like having a coffee chat with each of your subscribers, without the caffeine jitters. You can use this information to create tailored content that hits the bullseye every time. It’s like magic – but without a wand! 

Another amazing thing about quizzes: they’re really, really hard to resist. I mean, who doesn’t want to know what type of pizza they’d be? Or which “Friends” character they resonate with most? Or what kind of entrepreneur they are? Quizzes tap into our curiosity, and boy oh boy, can they be addictive. 

So, in a nutshell, that’s the power of online quizzes. They engage, they entertain, they enlighten. They’re part feedback tool, part entertainment, and entirely brilliant. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more to explore and exploit about quizzes.

Here are some statistics about quizzes that should help convince you to add them to your list-building strategies:

• Emails with quizzes have a 30% higher open rate (TryInteract)
• Quizzes in emails can increase click-through rates by 40% (Super Office)
• Including a quiz in an email can boost engagement by 50% (Mailchimp)
• Using quizzes in emails can lead to a 20% increase in email sign-ups (Medium)

I’ve been making quizzes for clients, and I’ve seen the same kind of thing. Increased engagement, thousands of new subscribers, more money… what more could we ask for?

So let’s think about how you’d add a quiz to your email strategy. First you’re going to need to zoom out. Second, you’re going to need to put yourself in your audience’s shoes. And third, you’re going to need to choose the right type of quiz.

Choosing the Right Type of Quiz for Your Audience

Creating the right type of quiz for your audience isn’t just about asking questions—it’s about asking the right kind of questions, the kind that will engage, entertain, or enlighten. Curious about which type of quiz will hit the sweet spot for your audience? Well, you’re in luck! You can find out more here. But to give you a bit of a headstart, here are the key contenders in the world of quizzes: 

• Personality Quizzes: Who doesn’t love these? They’re fun, engaging and highly shareable. Plus, they offer unique insights into your audience’s traits and preferences.
• Scored Quizzes: These goodies provide immediate feedback, making them awesome for educational content or anything where the goal is to test knowledge.
• Assessment Quizzes: Perfect if you’re looking at evaluating skills, knowledge or abilities. The feedback can be truly insightful for both quiz-taker and quiz-maker.
• Branched Path Quizzes: Now, these are a little more complex. These quizzes adapt to the quiz-taker’s answers, creating a more personalized experience. Intriguing, don’t you think?

If you don’t immediately know which type of quiz would work with your audience, start with a personality quiz. They’re the most fun. They teach us more about ourselves. And when we’re learning about ourselves, our minds are open, and we can be taken down a customer journey.

Align Your Quiz to Your Audience and Your Offer

Alignment is the most important thing. Once you’ve gotten the alignment figured out, you can use AI tools to help you craft great questions.

But you need to align:

• Your audience
• The problems your offer solves
• and your quiz

So, how do you align your quiz with your audience and offer? Simple – think about your audience first. Consider their pain points, the hurdles they face, the questions that keep them awake at 3 a.m. Are they struggling with effective time management, do they have a hard time picking the right set of golf clubs, or do they find it a challenge to pair wines and cheeses?

Craft your quiz around these problems. On one side, providing engaging, useful content that your audience can’t resist, and on the other side, subtly aligning it with your ultimate offer. In this way, your quiz not only acts as an entertainment piece, but also as a solution guide – a roadmap that leads them straight to your product or service doorstep.

The best is when you can create a quiz that grows your list, fills it with eager subscribers who are ready to buy from you, and have it be so good that they’re thanking you for creating it in the first place!

Segmenting Your Email List for Targeted Quiz Campaigns

Quizzes can provide valuable insights into subscribers’ preferences and interests. Once you’ve whipped up a stunning quiz catering to your audience’s curiosity, what next? You’ve got their attention but now you want to make things personal – and that’s where segmentation steps in. By segmenting your email list based on the quiz results, you’re essentially grouping subscribers into different buckets according to their responses. So, if a quiz asks puzzling questions about their coffee preferences and you offer a range of coffee products, you can now tailor your follow-up emails to match exactly what they’ve told you they enjoy. Cappuccino fanatics and instant coffee lovers suddenly find themselves in different email segments, each receiving content that speaks to their preferred cup.

But that’s not all, folks. Let’s fuel that motor of imagination a bit further, shall we? Consider how each quiz result might roll up its sleeves to concoct tailor-made follow-up emails. For instance, any quiz participant who expressed love for a cappuccino might appreciate an email containing delicious cappuccino recipes or a special discount on a luxe cappuccino machine. In contrast, the instant coffee enthusiasts might get a kick out of swift brewing tips, or maybe a surprise deal on bulk coffee purchases. In essence, each unique result opens up a whole panorama of email content possibilities, which is no less than a treasure chest for your email marketing strategy.

Do You Really Need a Separate Email Sequence for Each Result?

Most people who come to me for advice panic at this stage. They’ve made a quiz with five results, and then they hear me say that they need to write an email follow-up sequece for each of those results.

Calm down folks, it’s not as terrifying as it sounds! Sure, providing a personalized follow-up to each quiz result adds a nice touch, but it’s not necessary to pen five unique Benjamin-Franklin-worthy epistles. Did you hear that collective sigh of relief? Exactly, that’s you breathing easy. All you need to do post-quiz is shoot them an amicable email addressing their specific result. After that initial congrats-you’re-a-unicorn-or-a-rosemary-bush reveal, the rest of your email sequence can be the same for everyone. Saves time, keeps things simple, and still maintains that personal touch. 

Analyzing Quiz Results to Optimize Your Email Strategy

Personalized quiz results can be used to deliver targeted email content. Knowing how folks react to your quizzes – now that’s the real power move. Visualize for a moment – you’re at the helm of a popular podcast, and your mission is to provide your listeners with personalized playlists that tickle their audio taste buds. Quizzes slipped into your nifty email newsletters can be your secret sauce to do just that. You grill them on their favorite podcast genres, and in return, they get a carefully curated playlist. Sounds interesting, right? Well, the magic happens when you start analyzing those quiz responses. Each response is a window into your audience’s soul – a glimpse into their likes, dislikes, habits, or even their morning coffee rituals. That’s precious knowledge, no matter how you slice it! And armed with that information, you can create targeted email content that resonates on a personal level. This goes beyond playlist suggestions—it can help shape your marketing strategy, influence future podcasts, and ultimately keep your listeners engaged and coming back for more.

Examples of Successful Email Marketing Campaigns with Online Quizzes

• Warby Parker: What’s Your Perfect Pair of Glasses?
• Outfit Formulas: Find Your Perfect Outfit Formula
• Zenni Optical: You’ve Been Framed: What’s Your Perfect Eyeglass Frame?
• Disney: What Disney Princess Are You?
• Airbnb: What’s Your Airbnb Travel Style?
• BuzzFeed: What Kind of Potato Are You?
• Cosmopolitan: What’s Your Sex and the City Alter Ego?
• GQ: What’s Your James Bond Personality?
• Harvard Business Review: What’s Your Leadership Style?
• The New York Times: What’s Your Political Ideology?
• The Washington Post: What’s Your News IQ?

How to get started building an online quiz for your brand

First, look at your offers. What problems do they solve? Your quiz should be designed with your product or service in mind. Getting alignment between your offers and the problems you solve will go a long way toward figuring out what sort of quiz to create for your brand.

Begin by brainstorming relevant questions that’ll help identify your customer’s needs. For instance, if you’re volunteering a time management software, a question like “Are you forever scrambling to meet deadlines?” could help you identify folks who might need your product in their lives. And boy, do they need it! Be creative, be engaging, but most importantly, be relevant. 

Once you have your questions down, begin thinking about possible responses. This is your chance to segment your audience effectively. Your responses should lead to different results, all tied back to a specific customer persona. This is a great place to segment your list. Even if you’ve never done it before, segmenting your list by the different responses is a great place to start.

Next, choose a piece of software. I LOVE Paperform (and if you buy the quizillionaire toolkit there’s a special offer for Paperform inside there), but any form builder will do. I tend to shy away from quiz-specific software because subscriptions pile up quickly. Look for a tool that offers customization options, is easy to use, and allows for seamless integration with your existing email marketing platform. 

Write the quiz. Code it. Then test it. This is the hardest part, especially if this is your first time building a quiz. But depending on the logic you choose, it can be really complicated to code it up and make sure there’s a path toward a response for every possible permutation.

Voila! You’re on your way to creating a killer online quiz that not only makes you the talk of the (virtual) town but aids in really driving home that email marketing strategy. Now go, make some internet magic happen!