You used to hate them.

Your teacher walked into the room and announced a pop quiz. Ugh! You didn’t want to take it. No one likes to take a test when they haven’t prepared.

But on social media and other digital channels, you gladly take that pop-up quiz to see how well you know NFL trivia or to learn which TV character you’re most like.

As a content entrepreneur, quizzes and similar interactive content can serve a dual purpose. Your audience will more actively engage with your content. And you can use the results for market research on your audience.

Another reason? People like them. A lot. Here’s some proof: 96% of those who start a Buzzfeed quiz, finish it; 88% of marketers say interactive content differentiates their brand; and at one point, 82% of people exposed to a quiz in their newsfeed engaged with them.

Interactive quizzes engage #audiences: 96% of those who started a Buzzfeed quiz finished it, @Outgrowco reported. #contententrepreneur Click To Tweet

Do you want to ask questions of your audience to engage them? 

If yes, read on. 

If no, may we suggest learning more about the difference between paid content creators and content entrepreneurs?

Tilt Advice

Since you selected yes above, let’s get into a few details around the what and how along with a few examples.

What

Asking questions to increase audience engagement comes in many forms, from quizzes to online polls to conversations during your livestreams.

How do you figure out the best topic? Best format? Make an educated guess. (You know entrepreneurs never get away from doing homework in this life.)

First, start small. Pick one format and one topic. Do variations of them several times. Evaluate the results.

Don't think about what you want to know. Create quizzes that your audience will want to answer and interact with, says @AnnGynn. #ContentEntrepreneur #InteractiveContent Click To Tweet

Some questions to consider:

  • Why would my audience take time to answer questions? Do they want to be entertained? Do they want to test or confirm their knowledge? Do they want to express their opinion?
  • What topics would help them achieve that goal? Which of those topics also would help us better understand our audience?
  • What format would work best? Will a Twitter poll be sufficient? What about a five-question quiz? 

There’s one more question: How will the audience see or receive their results? Will they see the results of the broader group? Do they need to?

How

With a Twitter poll or a livestream Q&A, you already have the tools built into the platform. For more advanced interactive techniques, you’ll probably need to find another avenue.

HubSpot shares this list of the top 20 quiz creators (including theirs). Research to see which one of these or others might work best for your purpose. Some are better designed for wider view surveys, while others are more helpful for quizzes where you want to show the individual results instantly.

For example, a quiz tool like ProProfs distinguishes between scored quizzes (i.e., how well do you know …) and personalization quizzes (i.e., which superhero are you). It has a free option as well as paid options that charge per survey taker. In comparison, Qzzr is a quiz tool that works for interactions that attract audiences and can become in-depth information for audience analysis and lead generation.

Pick the best quiz option based on your goals and budget.

And one more thing: Don’t trick your quiz takers, leading them through the quiz only to find they must provide their email to get the results. Tell them that upfront. Even better? Don’t require an email.

Tell quiz takers upfront they'll only get the results if they give their email. Even better? Don't require an email, says @AnnGynn #contententrepreneur #creatoreconomy Click To Tweet

Examples

Personality quizzes attract audiences because they’re fun and personal – the taker may learn more about themselves, and you can learn more about your audience.

what type of tiktoker are you example quiz for audience engagement

This 10-question TikToker quiz delves into the quiz taker’s personality. Questions include “What would you rather do on a Saturday night?” and “Do you love the sporty thang or the shopping thang?” 

As we took the quiz, it was apparent it’s intended for teen girls. That would have been nice to know in the beginning.

Here’s an example featuring the built-in features in Instagram Stories:

instagram 1-question quiz example for audience engagement

Refinery 29 used the simple one-question Instagram poll quiz (highlighted in this Hootsuite article) about primary election dates. These quick hits can work well in prompting people to learn more about a topic or congratulating themselves for knowing the answer.

You also can create more elaborate quizzes, such as this one about the Olympics (featured in ispring’s demo list). The fill-in-the-box format combined with video and storytelling creates an engaging content piece. We also like that quiz takers can see how many questions they’ve completed (and how far they have to go) along with their current score.

elaborate quiz example about the olympics for audience engagement

Have you created interactive quizzes for your audiences? What worked well for you? Use the hashtag #contententrepreneur to let us know.

About the author

Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. An IABC Communicator of the Year and founder of G Force Communication, Ann coaches and trains professionals in all things content. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.