What do Disney, Buzzfeed, Z Gallerie, Whiz Kids, and National Geographic all have in common?
They each successfully use online quizzes in their lead generation strategies.
According to a study done by BuzzSumo, the average quiz is shared 1,900 times. BuzzFeed is a great example of the type of engagement possible with quizzes, as they drove just shy of 3 million engagements in March 2017 from their top 50 most engaged with quizzes.
And the most exciting part is, the power of quizzes is not restricted to large brands. The engagement and virality of quizzes can support your digital marketing strategy and deliver an influx of new leads, no matter what size your business is.
But why do quizzes work so well, and how can you design quizzes that generate engagement like Buzzfeed?
In this article, we will dive into the psychology of why the human brain loves quizzes. We will also share the key components to consider when designing a quiz to generate leads for your brand on Facebook.
What is a Lead-Generating Quiz?
If you look at all of the quizzes throughout your NewsFeed, you will notice two main types.
Personality or Outcome Quizzes
Personality (or Outcome) quizzes provide results in the form of profiles that say something about the user’s personality. These are quizzes with titles like “What Type of Leader Are You?” or “What Kind of Book Lover Are You?” (created using Woobox).
Each user will respond to a short number of questions, with each of their responses correlating to a personality type. Whichever personality type they score highest on is revealed to them at the end of the quiz. Personality quizzes work so well, and easily go viral because of the “self-serving bias” of human psychology, which we will talk more about in the next section.
Trivia or Graded Quizzes
Trivia (or Graded) quizzes test a person’s knowledge of a given subject. These quizzes are often used by brands to gain insights into their audience’s knowledge about their brand, related to their brand, or topics connected with the product or service they offer. The quiz will give the user a grade or a percentage of how well they did.
An example of this type of quiz is the Whiz Kids Quiz (created using Woobox) where users can see how their trivia would stack up against child geniuses from the TV show.
It’s important not to create quizzes that are too complicated, mainly because users will share their results (and your quiz) if they are proud of their score.
The Psychology of Why Our Brains Love Quizzes
The unseen reasons quizzes work so well when it comes to virality and engagement can be found in the psyche of the human mind. So what is it about quizzes that are so irresistible to us?
Here are a few of psychological motivations happening under the radar.
1. Disclosing information about ourselves is intrinsically rewarding
Did you know that humans devote 30 to 40% of their speech output solely to informing others of their own subjective experiences?
Harvard neuroscientists found overwhelming evidence that we humans love to share information about ourselves because it lights up the parts of our brain that form the mesolimbic dopamine system. This means talking about ourselves triggers the same sensation of pleasure in our brain as food and money.
So how does this relate to quizzes?
One of the integral components of online quizzes is the ability to share your results on social platforms (most commonly Facebook). Like this example from a Woobox client.
This is why your Newsfeed is flooded with quizzes. By sharing the result of a quiz, the person is disclosing something to their friends about their personality or life and feels the hit of dopamine from the experience. They continue their positive experience as they receive likes and comments on their share. Which leads us to the next reason quizzes are addictive.
2. We prefer and seek out information that we think is flattering
This is what psychology calls our “self-serving bias”. We prefer information that validates how we see ourselves, or that we see as favorable. Most non-science based personality quizzes contain either flattering or neutral characteristics for this reason. If you go to any personality test on BuzzFeed right now and scan through the results, you will find they are all positive and could easily be applied to everyone. When people are taking a quiz, all they see is what they want to see, and this prompts them to share their results, which keeps the validation cycle going.
3. We lean towards distraction
In Freudian theory, displacement is an unconscious process where the psyche will transfer energy, ideas, and emotions away from things that cause us anxiety, towards similar things that are either superficial, whimsical, or distracting. This is why quizzes that tell us “which Avenger we are most like”, or “what celebrity we look like” are so appealing. They give a temporary relief from reality, by providing a dopamine-infused distraction.
4. There is a play into core human needs
Online quizzes play into two of the five basic human needs, from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The first is our need to belong. With quizzes, when you receive your result, you are categorized into a group, and even on the smallest level, you feel like you belong to the group of people with that trait or characteristic.
The second is our need for self-esteem. Have you ever taken a quiz where the result has shared that you are unintelligent, boring, or mediocre? The chances are very low. Online quizzes most often will give you a result that confirms you are smart, special, and destined for something big in life. They do this because these are the types of things people actually want to share about themselves, because of their innate need to be recognized for achievement. People want other people to think they are great, and online quizzes continue to grow in popularity because they serve this need.
How to Create an Online Quiz to Support Your Marketing Efforts
Now that we know a little about the psychology behind why online quizzes are so addictive, let’s go through a checklist of how you can create a lead-generating quiz for your brand.
1. Pick the type of quiz you want to create.
We talked about the two different types at the beginning of this article: personality and trivia. If your goal is to sell your product/service, a personality quiz is the better option to match the user to product recommendations.
For example, Woobox client DefineMe fragrance created a quiz for their Facebook audience to find out which of their fragrances best suits their personal preferences.
If your goal is to learn more about your audience, a trivia quiz is a great way to find out how much they know about your industry, your product, or your brand.
2. Make sure your quiz title is catchy
Just like the headline of an article, a quiz title is just as important. BuzzFeed is unmatched in their quiz title success, so go here and check out how they structure their titles.
3. Create questions that are relevant to your brand, fun, and conversational
Showcase your brand personality, and talk to your audience in your quiz like you were speaking to them personally.
4. Have positive results for your quiz so that people will share their results
Remember the self-serving bias theory. People love flattering feedback and will share this with others to make sure they know their positive traits (accurate or not).
5. Make your quiz results easy to share on multiple social media platforms
See the example below where DefineMe makes it really easy to share which fragrance result the user got.
Make sure to have an easy to find CTA saying “Share Your Results” or something similar to encourage the user to share.
Closing
All of the examples in this article were created by businesses like yours using Woobox. We can help you create appealing, on brand quizzes to pair with your Facebook advertising campaigns. Immerse quiz takers into your branding by effortlessly configuring colors, branded images, and links to your site to create an immersive experience that drives new customers. Creating your Woobox account is free, and you can make as many quizzes or any other type of promotions as you need. A Woobx subscription is only required to publish and run your campaigns.
Have a question about the Woobox quiz maker?
While making a quiz is easy with the Woobox builder, our Support staff is happy to help answer your questions. We’re available 9 am – 5 pm PST, Monday through Friday at 1-360-450-5200 or via support@woobox.com