The word “quiz” can give some current and former students PTSD, but in the online world, quizzes – those created for fun that often reveal something about the quiz taker – are all the rage. In fact, if your quiz is designed well enough, it can go viral, bringing your site new traffic and attention. But what makes for a good viral quiz? In this blog, we’ll look at ways to help make your online quiz viral.
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What is a Viral Quiz?
A viral quiz is a form of viral marketing. Viral quizzes are typically designed to spread quickly over email, social media, or other online platforms (sometimes, of course, a quiz may go viral unintentionally). To make them viral sensations, quiz creators typically test people’s knowledge on a “fun” topic (e.g., movies, music, sports) or create a quiz that “reveals” something about the quiz taker, simply making it fun to share to see how friends and followers compare.
Difference Between a Viral Survey vs Viral Quiz
How is a viral quiz different from a viral survey? While both are interactive, there are some big differences.
A viral survey is designed to collect data and opinions from participants. It is typically used to gather information on a specific topic or to understand the preferences and attitudes of the participants. Engagement with a survey is often more serious and thoughtful, as participants provide responses to specific questions. Data collection and quality is a concern, as the information is often used to inform a report or for decision-making. If the survey is of a sensitive nature, there can also be privacy concerns for participants, which means security must be a priority. In addition, survey makers often need to include incentives to get participation, and going viral typically just relies on people having a high interest in the topic.
A viral quiz, on the other hand, usually presents questions in a more entertaining or engaging manner. The primary goal of a quiz is often to entertain and provide a fun experience for participants. Quiz questions are typically designed to reveal something about the participant, such as personality traits or knowledge on a particular subject. Viral quizzes are designed to be highly shareable, with participants often sharing their quiz results on social media platforms. Because the topic is just for fun, rarely is data collection or privacy an issue. The viral nature of quizzes is often fueled by the desire to challenge friends or to see how others fare on the same quiz, meaning incentives are generally not necessary.
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7 Steps To Help Make Your Quiz Go Viral
If you’re hoping to make a quiz go viral, there are certain elements you’ll want to include to make it something people will want to share. Here are seven ways to help ensure your quiz starts making the rounds online!
1. Cater To Your Audience
Not all quizzes will hit home with the same audience, so think about who you want to engage with and what they will be interested in. Of course, many quiz topics work for different groups (for example, “How Many Movie Scenes Can You Identify?” is a fun topic for all generations, but you’ll want more current film still for Gen Z versus older film still for Boomers).
2. Make Your Quiz “Look” Fun
A basic multiple choice quiz isn’t likely to go viral; after all, it just looks like an old high school test. So, you’ll want to make your quiz look appealing, with nice designs, colors, and fonts. Including survey images is another big plus; for example, having participants vote on image answers is a great way to engage participants. To use our previous example about movie scenes, you’ll need to include images from the films.
3. Be Mobile-Friendly
Mobile internet browsing has surpassed desktop internet browsing. Today, nearly 55% of people use their smartphones to go online. So, be sure that your quiz is mobile-friendly. A responsive survey that is optimized for mobile is crucial if you want to create a viral quiz or survey.
4. Make Results Sharable
Whereas some people may not share online surveys, opening themselves up to criticism if their results on a controversial topic or sensitive issue go against popular opinion, quizzes are typically lighthearted with “fun” results. This means people are more likely to share their results across their social media channels. This includes Facebook, Twitter/X, Linkedin, Instagram, and so on. Include social media sharing buttons to encourage sharing. Be sure to read our blog on social media surveys which work in much the same way.
5. Encourage Friendly Competition
One thing that makes quizzes really take off is when a quiz taker wants to see how their friends or followers measure up. Back to our example. Say they took the Movie Scene quiz and scored 10/10, with the results revealing them to be a “Movie Expert.” They may want to share this with their friends and followers to see how well they do. This group then takes and shares the quiz, creating a snowball effect which leads to exponential growth in participation.
6. Keep it Short
No matter how fun your quiz, if it goes on for too long it will test people’s patience. It’s best to keep it short to increase its chances of going viral. Check out our blog on microsurveys which highlights other advantages of short surveys.
7. Consider Difficulty Levels
Unless you’re quizzing members of Mensa, you don’t want your quiz to be too difficult when testing knowledge. If people do poorly, they’re not going to want to share their results. Of course, you don’t want to insult people’s intelligence, either. If you make it too simple, they’ll find it to be insulting and/or a waste of time. So, consider your audience and the appropriate difficulty level carefully.
Viral Quiz Example
Below is an example of a quiz with the potential to go viral, created using SurveyLegend. You’ll see we used a variety of our popular image questions to create a quiz based on our previous example on movie scenes. We also used a movie-themed background to get people into the mood for movies! After completing the quiz, a scoring page could be added where people can learn what level of movie fan they are.
Conclusion
Ready to create your viral quiz? We’re here to help! While “Survey” may be part of our name, quizzes are also part of our game! At SurveyLegend, you can design an engaging and user-friendly quiz with viral potential! Remember, the key is to make your quiz an enjoyable and shareable experience for participants. The more people enjoy taking it, the more likely they are to share it with others – and that’s what we’re all about: Our motto at SurveyLegend is, ““It should be a joy to give and receive insight”!
Have you ever participated in a viral quiz? What about it made you want to share it? Let us know in the comments!
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The term “viral” refers to the rapid and widespread dissemination of the survey, similar to how a virus spreads from person to person.
While no guarantee, to create a viral quiz you’ll want to make it fun and engaging, centered around a topic of interest to your target audience. You’ll want to design it to reveal someone’s “personality” or “future,” or test their knowledge on a lighthearted topic. The quiz should be easily shared, encouraging participants to challenge their friends to take the quiz.
A viral survey is designed to collect opinions and thoughts, and are usually more serious in nature. A viral quiz is typically more lighthearted, designed to entertain and usually “reveal” something about the quiz taker.
