How Zafira Rajan Doubled Her Email List in 1 Month with a Quiz

What inspired you to create your “brand core essence” quiz?

My brand and niche are rooted in wellness, and I’ve always been inspired by natural fragrances. I came up with the idea of creating top, middle, and base “notes” of a brand’s essence that I could tie to a botanical plant. 

Then, I’d create a blend that would yield a really beautiful scent if they were paired together in real life. It took a lot of research on building scent notes and learning which ones worked best together, but it was so much fun!

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Key Takeaway: Think about which topics will interest your audience, and find a way to weave them into your quiz. As a copywriter who works with clients in the wellness industry, Zafira’s theme just makes sense and stands out more than a typical brand-style quiz
By drawing parallels between building a fragrance and building a brand, Zafira created a quiz that intentionally attracts her ideal audience. You can do the same when creating an audience-centered quiz.

What were your initial quiz goals, and have they changed over time?

I’ve always approached nurturing my audience from a quality vs. quantity perspective with lead magnets. After watching Chanti Zak’s success with quizzes and considering how it could serve me in the long run as a flexible funnel, I knew it was the best lead magnet choice for my ever-evolving business. 

Initially, I wanted the quiz to grow my leads, attract an aligned audience, and allow me to tweak the back-end if my offers ever changed (which they have!).

In the future, I can see it being the first thing I use to run Facebook ads once I start experimenting with them. That way, I can sell some digital offers to bring in more passive income. As I’ve taken more 1:1 services off my plate and started creating more programs, I know it’ll be so useful for me to sell them on autopilot.

Key Takeaway: We love how Zafira looks at her quiz as a “flexible funnel” in her business! While it’s important to define your quiz goals early on, they may shift and change over time. It’s best to allow your quiz to evolve along with your business offers. Even with your quiz running on autopilot, we recommend revisiting your quiz goals every six to nine months to ensure you’re getting the best results. While your quiz content may stay the same, you might want to make strategic edits to your quiz results and follow-up email sequence when your offers change.

What are some of the best results you’ve gotten from the quiz?

New leads book my services after reaching the end of my quiz and follow-up sequence all the time, but I also doubled my list in a month with no ads

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My list has since continued to grow, but I love most when quiz-takers tell me how they’re applying my tools and tactics from the quiz. Feeling like I have an intentional lead magnet that makes others feel seen and understood has been one of the best parts of creating a quiz.

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Key Takeaway: To see better results when you launch your first quiz, encourage your quiz-takers to share their results on social media. Zafira did this by re-sharing her audience’s Instagram story posts about the quiz. Other quiz creators like Zafira launched their quiz at the same time as their website redesign to make the best use of this short-term spike in traffic. You can use these same strategies when creating and promoting your quiz

Your quiz is the first thing a visitor sees on your website! What made you decide to put it above-the-fold?

Yes! I experimented with that early on when I first rebranded my website, and it’s worked so well. Most folks can’t resist a quiz. It’s also been a great way to easily redirect new audiences who are coming from podcast interviews or other speaking opportunities to my home page, where the quiz is visible. I’ve seen this strategy succeed for my clients and had to try it out for myself!

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Key Takeaway: Instead of trying to build your email list with dozens of freebies, build a strategic quiz and use it as your main lead magnet. That way, you can simplify your call-to-action by inviting new visitors to get to know you and themselves through your quiz. 

You use a thoughtful mix of GIFs and photos in your quiz. How did you choose the right ones?

I love this question! Many of the questions in my quiz are very connected to my brand vibe and messaging. Since I’ve done themed photoshoots, I already had the imagery to help bring it all together.

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When it came to picking images for the quiz, I had so many options to choose from. I wove in other elements that could strengthen and supplement my brand imagery. I always go with stock photos for multiple-choice questions, and I love to sprinkle GIFs throughout my emails—so they had to make an appearance somewhere in the quiz, too!

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Key Takeaway: Adding images to your quiz can make it even more memorable! About 90% of the top 100 most viewed quizzes have answer images, so take a page from Zafira’s book and intentionally choose imagery that shows your brand’s personality. For more of a pop culture flare, add GIFs and other stock photos from our Interact library. 

What are your tips for other quiz creators who want to bring their personality into their quiz content? 

It’s all in the details!

Use sensory details. I love to think about using all five senses when writing any piece of copy to transport my reader—for example, mentioning “leatherbound gratitude journals” or “rooftop sunset negronis” in my quiz instead of just “journals” and “negronis.” It makes a massive difference.

Leverage pop culture. I’m a huge R&B and hip-hop fan, and I totally used those music choices in my quiz. They align with my personal and global taste! Use references to popular movies, TV shows, artists, and more to connect to your reader instantly. 

Invest in brand imagery. My confidence and excitement to bring my real personality into my marketing went all the way up once I had fun photos to pair with my copy! So many readers are visual thinkers first, and aligning your words with your photos can go such a long way in positioning your brand creatively and authentically.

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Key Takeaway: Zafira just about said it all! The success of your quiz often comes down to how intentionally you’ve crafted and curated each element. There should be a purpose behind every line you write, every photograph you choose, and every quiz result you give. 

We’re obsessed with your quiz result landing pages. What went into your strategy for creating them?

I always wanted my quiz to make my audience feel really good about where they’re at in their own business before I shared any advice about what to do next to level up. That’s why I decided to tie their result to a positive trait and go an extra mile by translating that trait into top, middle, and base “notes” of scents in each landing page.

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It took weeks to come up with the custom formula for each quiz result to make it feel as personalized as possible! I researched what my audience was into, what feelings certain botanicals are meant to evoke in us, the difference between a base note and a top one, and then I found a way to bring it all together.

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I was really inspired by essential oil blends (I always have something citrusy in my desk diffuser!) and the idea of creating a personal scent for each person. I’d love to learn how to concoct natural fragrances from master perfumers and create my own one day. But for now, dreaming up digital scents is good enough!

Key Takeaway: Consider how you can go above and beyond in delivering your quiz results! One way is to create quiz result landing pages that dazzle your audience and give an incredible amount of value. Zafira found a way to blend her knowledge of fragrances and essential oils with the personal information she collected from each audience member through her quiz. Presenting the positive affirmations through these personalized landing pages took her quiz from a one-time activity to a thoughtful brand experience!

You also include a lot of educational content in your landing page. What made you decide to include this information?

After taking tons of quizzes, the ones that have always stuck with me delivered a ton of free value on their results pages, which made purchasing the end offer a no-brainer. Sales aside, though, I believe it’s worth “rewarding” your reader for taking the time to give you personal information—they should absolutely receive personalized advice as a result!

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When you do this effectively, your audience is more likely to open the emails in your follow-up sequence, instantly connect with your approach, and understand that you are qualified to support them based on their unique challenges. 

A results page that goes above and beyond is an instant surprise-and-delight factor in the online marketing world, and it’s 100% worth it. I apply the same approach to the quizzes I write for my clients, too.

Key Takeaway: Think about how you might be able to add a surprise-and-delight factor to your quiz. Quiz-takers already know they’ll receive tailored results at the end of your quiz, but how do you surpass their expectations? One of the best ways is to share your expertise and give valuable advice based on your topic. Not only will this show you’re an expert at what you do, but it will also give quiz-takers the clarity and confidence they need to move forward, no matter where they currently are.

What are your best tips for first-time quiz creators?

Don’t rush into creating a quiz because all the cool kids are doing it. I’ve seen firsthand how much more successful a quiz can be when you know your audience inside out and you’ve taken the time to understand who you’re serving; it makes all the difference with how you segment and strategize the end results.

Pay attention to what your audience responds to. The parts of your personality, quirky facts, hobbies, and elements that they resonate with are ALL hints that point to fun quiz topics you can choose from!

Have patience. Investing the time, energy, and money into a quiz is really about playing the long game—you might see instant results, or it might take time and tweaking. The most beautiful part about a quiz is that you have the space and flexibility to keep optimizing it without rehauling everything! 

What is the best quiz for you business?

Quizzes are super effective for lead generation and selling products. Find the best quiz for your business by answering a few questions.

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