You’ve seen them, you’ve taken them, you’ve loved them and loathed them.

It’s that BuzzFeed style quiz that has taken over your Facebook newsfeed and promises to tell you what kind of Disney Princess you are if you’ll just answer a few short questions about your coffee preferences.

They reel you in with the carrot of revealing something about your personality or intelligence, and before you know it you’ve not only taken the quiz in its entirety but are also now sharing your results on social media.

It’s viral marketing at it’s best, and companies, entrepreneurs, and bloggers are using this strategy to grow their email lists like crazy.

Take the one I created to see how it works: “What Type of Mom Blogger Are You, Actually?”

This article on Forbes explains why online quizzes are so effective:

“If you want a lot of people to share something online, there has to be something personal, interesting, or fun about it… Most people love reading and hearing about themselves.

 

A quiz can offer that same satisfaction of speaking to something about who the reader is, but it does it in a way that offers instant gratification. A person on Facebook can do a 10-question quiz and see a result within a couple of minutes. At that point, they’re excited and it’s easy to coax them into sharing the link to see what kinds of results their friends get.”

You’ve heard you need to build your email list with freebies and checklists and resource files. And those can work great!

But if you’re looking to try something a bit more fun and “out-of-the-box” that will both delight your audience and grow your email list at the same time, then I think you’re going to love creating an online quiz for your blog.

I created my first quiz last month and it was so much fun! Well, not fun like having crazy dance parties with your kids, but wayyy more fun than creating ebooks.

How To Create an Online Quiz that Grows Your Blog Email Subscribers

When I first heard about using online quizzes as a marketing strategy and list building tactic I was intrigued and excited to try it but, having a bazillion things on my blogging to-do list already, filed it away on my “someday” list of things to try.

Then I came across this super-easy online quiz builder so I had to give it a go. All in all, it took me a few hours to brainstorm, create and publish my quiz. Here’s how I did it:

Step #1: Create Quiz Title, Questions & Answers

When you’re thinking about what type of online quiz to create, try to keep these three things in mind:

1. It should be enticing and fun for your ideal readers

Make sure you create a “clickable” title and cover image that piques your ideal reader’s interest and makes them want to click. Here’s a screenshot of my quiz, and the simple addition of the word “actually” to make it pop a bit more.

If you miss the mark on the title then your quiz is DOA (as is also the case with your blog post titles!), so spend time brainstorming and coming up with one that’s great.

2. It should give your readers a sense of what your blog is about and why they should care

The questions and answers inside your quiz are the heart of the quiz. They should be related to your blog topic and also lead the reader to take the ideal next step (sign up to your email list).

The Interact quiz builder I used makes it really easy to set up questions and answers. Their quiz builder guides you through adding questions and multiple choice answers. You can also add pictures to spice things up (they have a bunch you can choose from for free).

3. It should get them to sign up to your email list

At this point, you’ve had fun creating a quiz that will delight your readers, but don’t forget about your ultimate objective of getting email subscribers! You can set it up so that people will have to give you their email address in order to see their results.

Pro Tip: Add a “freebie” offer at the end of the quiz to increase conversions. When I did this, it increased my email sign ups dramatically! The first week I promoted the quiz I got 36 new subscribers, which I was happy with. But after adding the freebie incentive, my promotion efforts after the second week increased 72%!

The quiz builder integrates with most major email service providers (like MailChimp, ConvertKit, Aweber and many more), so connecting this with your email list is a breeze.

Step #2: Create Results

This is the part I was most skeptical about because a lot of the quizzes I’ve taken online seem to have such random answers. Like the one I recently took on BuzzFeed titled, “Build A Starbucks Frappuccino And We’ll Tell You How Many Kids You’ll Have”… it said I had one. Ummmm, not even close.

And even though I’d set up my questions and answers with specific results in mind, I was curious as to how the quiz builder would make it all work. Thankfully, it was really easy! They have a little tool that lets you easily correlate the answers with your desired result.

Step #3: Publish & Promote!

As I mentioned above, the entire setup – from brainstorming to creating all of the content – took me a few hours to complete. But I wasn’t done yet! Just like writing blog posts or any other type of content, you need to promote it to get the word out and readers in.

The quiz builder I used has a “viral” share feature built in so people are automatically prompted to share their results once they’ve completed the quiz. This was a HUGE help! But to get the ball rolling, I also:

• Posted in Facebook blogging groups on promo days
• Created a Pin image and pinned to relevant group boards on Pinterest
• Emailed my list (Note: Even though these readers are already on my list, thanks to the “viral” aspect of the quiz, if they share their results on social media then that means more free traffic to my quiz!)

Here are a few things I plan to try going forward:

• Facebook ads
• Add a link to the quiz in my main menu
• Add the quiz to relevant blog posts

Important Note: Don’t forget to welcome your new email subscribers with a strategic welcome email sequence. This will help ensure that your readers not only become subscribers, but also true fans that want to hear from you again and again.

Trying to build your blog email list can sometimes feel like a chore. Somewhere between daunting downloads and overdone ebooks, we’ve lost some of the FUN in growing our blogs! If you’re feeling stuck – either from boredom or lack of results – I think you’re going to love creating an online quiz for your blog.

It’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time, and if you keep these three tips in mind (from Step #1 above) then you’ll have set the foundation for a winning quiz that both delights your audience and grows your email list like whoa 🙂

 If you enjoyed this post, will you please share it on social media? That 5-second gesture goes a long way to support my blog. Thank you! 

Free Resource Guide: 8 Steps to a Money-Making Mom Blog in Just 2 Hours a Day

Everything you need to know, and in what order, to start and grow your own money-making blog in just 2 hours a day.