In the customer’s mind: Marketing through quizzes

Make it easy without being disrespectful, look for a broad common denominator and remember that it is not Stand-alone: A quiz is a great way to “make noise” and increase familiarity and memorability. You just have to build it correctly

One word, five letters, six attempts. A simple word game, which an American programmer who loves crosswords invented for himself and his partner. But how simple, so effective: just a few months after Josh Wordle released Wordle to the web, millions were already addicted. They wait every day for the new word, whether in the English original or in the Hebrew, Russian, German and even Yiddish version, and share the achievement on social networks – which led the “New York Times” to buy the rights. No MVP, no A/B Testing, no sophisticated UX-UI. When it’s this, it’s that.

The love of the game is the common denominator of all humanity, of every age and culture, and perhaps of mammals wherever they are. From beach balls and dolls to puzzles and trivia to “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” not to mention the Olympics and the World Cup – we all love a challenge. And like everything in life, we’re taking it from the physical world to the digital space: The global gaming industry, which has boomed during the Corona lockdown, was valued at $203.12 billion in 2020. According to market research firm Fortune Business Insight, it is expected to jump to $545.98 billion by 2028, with an average annual growth rate of 13.2%. But these figures suggest an even broader potential.

“Gaming is becoming an essential part of all mass marketing, and games are popular with older audiences than you might think,” Matt Willifer, VP of Strategy at leading marketing and advertising agencies in the UK, once said. When it comes to digital marketing or content marketing, interactive features are a wonderful way to create engagement, increase retention and memorability of the content and, through it, the brand. Within the ocean of interactive possibilities, in recent years the use of quizzes has been gaining momentum in Israel and around the world, whether on the subject of the specific service and product of the advertising company or for pure entertainment – entertainment that also provides broad exposure to the brand and the possibility of targeting audiences according to various criteria.

How do you build a quiz?

There is no standard solution to this question. There is much more than one way to do it – from multiple choice questions (“American test”) or yes-no questions to open-ended logic puzzles. But the technique, and how it works The level of difficulty must also be related to the target audience and the goal. If our interest is as many shares as possible, for example, it is worth remembering that people like to show that they are successful and successful. This does not mean that the challenge should be lowered to the floor – no one likes to feel that their intelligence is being underestimated. But there is no point in appealing to the general knowledge of the masses as a challenge in a concrete professional niche, intended for those who are in it and live it within the framework of their field of expertise.

One of the frustrating things about preparing a quiz is discovering that the number of finishers is dramatically lower than the number of beginners. To reduce the abandonment rate, it is better not to exaggerate the length of the quiz, present how many questions there are in total, and increase the level of difficulty in a gradual manner: start relatively easy, and increase. As for the entrance to the funnel, i.e. the number of entries, here we need to think about social – our first share and the share of the participants. An effective visual can present a question from the quiz itself, and preferably not too difficult. One that will make those who encounter it rush. The continuous sharing sentence can include the result achieved by each participant, but here is a catch: a low score, in this case, may prevent sharing.

And there is another important thing to remember: the quiz is a means, not an end. In digital marketing, we use it to promote sales, awareness or brand identity. It may sound trivial, but it has implications that many tend to forget. Whether it is a logo or a link, integrating advertisements, presenting additional content or thinking about the next step in the user journey – you need to pay due attention to it. Our quiz is not a stand-alone. When we wrote and published it, we had a goal. It would be a shame if we missed it.

How do you choose a topic?

Choosing a topic for a quiz is an issue in itself. Keeping it in a current context is always good, and usually also increases the chance of going viral online. It’s worth remembering that current affairs sometimes come at a price in terms of the quiz’s evergreen relevance.

If you’re addressing the masses, you need to think of a broad common denominator – but not necessarily universal. This could certainly be a specific niche, for example: film actors or achievements in Israeli sports. Yes, it’s reasonable to assume that such a focus gives up on broad segments in advance. But if we estimate that there is a large enough population that would still be interested, that would be happy to test their knowledge on the subject and perhaps also show off to their friends – it could work.

A good example of a quiz for the masses but with a somewhat “elitist” flavor can be found on the WEB2INFO website: Songs So Far. Additional examples: What do you remember from Seinfeld and The Golden Age of Israeli Music. One more example, this time in the context of a food chain’s branding: How many triangles are there on a tray and what is a margarita.