Tag Archives for " Chris Kilbourn "

4 How to Incorporate Quizzes To Amp Up Your Content Marketing Reach

When you put together your annual content marketing strategy, you may not have incorporated quizzes — and that’s okay. However, that doesn’t mean it’s too late to update your content calendar with a quiz or two, because they are easy to put together using quiz software, and they generally require no help from your development team.

Where Does a Quiz Fit Into My Strategy? 

Before you decide which channels to promote your quiz, you should ask yourself, “What is my number one goal for this quiz?” 

In some cases, your top goal may be to drive a bunch of social traffic. Conservative website Media Research Center saw immediate success with their first two quizzes, resulting in nearly 100,000-page views between the two of them. The first one, “7 Questions All Marine Corps Fans Should Be Able To Answer“, has been taken more than 65,000 times, and the second one, “12 Simple American History Questions All Patriots Should Be Able To Answer“, has been taken 127,000 times.

In other situations, your goal should be to  convert existing visitors on your website into email subscribers or customers. In that case, placing the quiz on your homepage or a very popular page on your site makes a lot of sense.

For example, Zenni Optical placed a quiz on their site helping consumers decide which eyeglass frames were best suited for their specific budget and lifestyle. Over 140,000 people took the quiz resulting in 7,000 new email subscribers and a $124,000 increase in revenue! 

And Zenni Optical isn’t alone. When online collectibles retailer Sideshow Collectibles wanted to increase awareness for their Court of the Dead brand of collectibles, they decided to run a quiz. For their campaign, they created a quiz that invited fans to discover which fictional character from Court of the Dead best represented them.

The results? The quiz was taken over 27,000 times, brought in 15,000 new email subscriptions and generated 1,800 orders delivering $75,000 in revenue! Of those 1,800 orders, 1,220 were first-time customers! 

How to Make a Quiz Go Viral 

The recipe for making a quiz go viral may not be as complex as you think. Here are the ingredients you must have to make it work:

• The quiz must be relevant to the audience. A quiz like, “Which season best represents you?” may not be the best way to promote your shoe company. You could instead ask a very relevant question such as “Which shoe represents your personal style?” Keep it relevant and simple.

• There should be an incentive for taking the quiz. When Court of the Dead ran their quiz campaign, they offered a coupon and guaranteed entry into a giveaway. Keep in mind that not every incentive needs to be monetary. For example, if you’re a university looking to generate email leads for your English degree program, you can put together a grammar quiz and have your participants share the results for bragging rights. After all, being able to brag about your intelligence is a big incentive for many people.

• The quiz must be user-friendly and mobile-friendly. One of the key elements for getting a quiz to go viral is to make it easy to take. Moving through the questions should be effortless and quick — on both desktops and mobile devices. Qzzr, a quiz software company, reports that roughly 53% of all quizzes being taken are on mobile devices! Don’t miss out on this big piece of the pie! Also, make sure the quiz is easy to share. Offer buttons for users to share on Facebook, Twitter, etc. once they reach the results page.
• You must ensure people take the quiz. “If you build it they will come” is an outdated concept. The competition for your audience’s attention is too big to ignore. The burden to make your quiz campaign successful rests with you. Placing the quiz in a high traffic channel is the number one step towards generating desirable results. This may mean your homepage, your social media channels or even spending money building Facebook ads to direct traffic to the quiz.

The quickest way to fail is to not recognize a quiz campaign as a true marketing tactic. Similar to all of your other content, you must promote your quiz campaign and drive traffic to it. When you follow these steps, quizzes will become a staple of your content calendar for years to come.

Chris Kilbourn is a content strategist at Qzzr, an online quiz tool that allows you to create quizzes and post them anywhere. In past lives, he was a professional rock star (seriously), and he built and sold 2 successful companies from the ground up. You can connect with him via email at [email protected].

3 What’s Best for Your Marketing Right Now?

Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is Chris Kilbourn – Enjoy!

It’s the best and worst time to be a marketer.

It’s the best, because marketers are empowered with infinite resources — data, robust tools, and high-yield customer acquisition channels.

But it’s also the worst, because the marketing landscape is more cutthroat than ever — never before has the competition for audience attention been so fierce.

In 2011, AOL and Nielsen estimated that 27M pieces of content were being shared each day.

Imagine what that number looks like today.

Virtually every marketing team has committed to investing more in content production, social media marketing, and inbound marketing this year. That’s because leaders finally have the tools that they need to prove the ROI of their spends.

As media budgets increase, however, there will be much more pressure on marketers to stand out. We’re all after the same audience eyeballs — and these consumers are tired of seeing the same messages over and over and over.

2014 is the year that you need to stand out — and you’re going to need to put up a strong fight.  Forge your own path. Outsmart the crowd. Test creative and innovative ideas.

It’s time to reinvent the wheel. Here are some ideas to get started:

1. Create World-Class Content

Everyone is blogging.

Let me repeat that: everyone is blogging. If you’re just launching your content marketing plan, you’re still behind the crowd.

But this position actually works to your competitive advantage.

A fully fleshed out content engine is expensive to maintain. The investment yields significant rewards, but think about it — when you’re already big, it’s impossible to reinvent your strategy.  If you’re just starting out, you have infinite potential to try something new.

Have an idea? Run with it.

Neil Patel exemplifies this concept. He’s gone where no marketer has gone before and routinely spends $20K-$30K to create in-depth guides like The Beginner’s Guide to Online Marketing. These are 30,000+ words and over 200 pages in length.

His goal wasn’t to copy anyone else but to set the bar high and truly be exceptional.

If you have an amazing idea and are able to quantify an ROI, do it. You can always start with a test, measure response, shift angles, and scale. With so much momentum in the content space, now is the best time to do it.

2. Build Relationships with 800-Pound Gorillas

The beauty of online marketing is that it’s collaborative. Our industry is one where peer support is high. We want to partner up and help fellow companies succeed. We are constantly looking to exchange value and help one another grow.

When you’re just starting out as a marketer (or are finding your stride), it will help to align your company and team with now-big companies that have been exactly where you are now.

800-pound gorillas have the advantage of an audience, customer base, and reputable product. As a small company, there are plenty of ways that you can help that 800-pound gorilla, while also growing your own company. Offer to provide content to blogs like HubSpot’s – they get your awesome content, and you get exposure for your company. You can also look to form strategic partnerships through software integrations. Take a look at the Unbounce partner marketplace for inspiration.

Even as a small business, you can add value to an 800-pound gorilla. Give more than you expect to get, and you’ll see value in return.

3.  Find New Communities

In terms of community-building, social media platforms are only the first step. Find communities where your customers are hanging out. Join conversations with fellow marketers on websites like Inbound.org and GrowthHackers.com.

In addition to finding opportunities to promote your company, look for new skills to learn (and people to learn from). Listen more than you speak, add great questions, and add value. Care about your community, and you’ll be surprised whose attention you’ll get.

Your Thoughts

You pick #4. What are your marketing goals for 2014? What were some of the most valuable lessons you learned last year? Share your thoughts in the comments below. We’re excited to learn from you and keep the conversation going.

Chris Kilbourn is the VP of Strategy at Fit Marketing. In past lives, he was a professional rockstar (seriously), and he built and sold two successful companies from the ground up. You can request a consultation with Chris and his team at Fit Marketing here.