The product recommendation quiz is a fantastic tool to convert new customers while helping them buy from you confidently. But like any tool, if you’re using it incorrectly, you’ll never build the awesome results you’re looking for. Are you making any of these mistakes with your product recommendation quiz?
- The Topic is too Broad
- Too Many Questions
- Wordy Questions and Answers
- Repetitive Questions
- A Million Answer Choices
- Not Mobile-Friendly
- Asking for Email too Soon
- Difficult to Convert
- Hiding Your Quiz
- Underutilizing Quiz Data
If these mistakes sound familiar, don’t worry! We have good news: you can still see fantastic results from your quizzes. Any great tool can deliver great results when used correctly. In this article, we’re going to cover each of these mistakes and how you can avoid or address them.
Let’s dive in!
Mistake #1: Creating a Product Recommendation Quiz That’s too Broad
At their best, quizzes improve the shopping experience by curing choice paralysis. A quiz that's too broad only perpetuates your shopper’s dilemma.
For example, if you’re an apparel site and your first question is “What are you looking for?” your quiz is too broad! There are too many directions this could go. The quiz building, managing, and navigating process will become clunky and generic. Instead, focus on one simple quiz topic like “What shoe style fits your personality?” or “Which summer dress is best for you?”
You can also rein in your quiz by focusing on gifts for a particular occasion with an interactive gift guide quiz.
Mistake #2: Asking too Many Questions
If you’re a parent – or have spent any time with children – you’ve probably been on the receiving end of a child’s never-ending list of questions. It's exhausting to field so many questions, but hey, kids are supposed to be inquisitive!
When a product recommendation quiz asks so many questions, it’s not so charming. If your quiz drags on longer than expected, users won’t smile and nod; they’ll simply close the quiz.
Quizzes are supposed to be fun, quick, and efficient. Shoppers don’t have time to waste answering never-ending questions. They’re busy with other stuff… like answering their children’s never-ending inquiries!
To increase completion rates and improve user experience, ask only the questions needed to make your recommendation. Keep it simple by combining questions or limiting your pool of recommended products.
Additionally, you can add a progress bar to show shoppers how close they are to finishing.
This can encourage users to complete the quiz, especially if your quiz runs a bit long.
Not sure what questions to include? Take our question recommendation quiz to get a personalized list of suggested questions.
Mistake #3: Writing Wordy Questions and Answers
Wordy quiz copy makes your quizzes too long, challenging to design, and easy to abandon.
Instead, keep it simple! Most people skim, so make wording short and easy to understand.
You can also keep the quiz moving along with active words. For example, instead of the bland, “What would you say your primary fitness goals are?” A better phrasing could be: “Let’s get moving! What are your fitness goals?”
Keep answer choices short too. Replace “I would like to improve my mobility” with “Improve mobility.” If questions need additional clarification, try adding a “More Info” tooltip or pop-up that gives more context without cluttering your quiz.
Mistake #4: Including Repetitive Questions
Every quiz question should serve a purpose. Review your questions and ask “Is this question essential? Are there any other questions that cover pretty much the same thing?” This can help eliminate repetitive questions.
If you identify overlap, remove any repetitive questions. Or, replace them with a different question that allows you to capture more useful information. Keep it simple! (sounding familiar yet?)
Mistake #5: Offering too Many Answer Choices
Showing too many choices can also make your quiz too complicated. You want a quiz that guides users to their recommendation quickly. Not forces them to sit and ponder over 10 ways to answer a question.
As we mentioned earlier, product recommendation quizzes should bring clarity to the confusion. Not add more clutter. If you’re facing too many answer choices to a question, consider how you can break this question into multiple questions or narrow the focus of the question. In some cases, allowing users to select more than one option can also help.
Mistake #6: Not Optimizing for Mobile
Mobile users are everywhere. If you’re designing a product recommendation quiz, don’t forget about your mobile users! Not optimizing for mobile can prevent the majority of your visitors from completing your quiz.
Avoid simply condensing your desktop version to fit a mobile screen. While technically functional, it can frustrate visitors if it doesn't cater to the quirks of the mobile experience. For instance, make sure any buttons are large enough for visitors to comfortably tap them. Also, check that there's enough space between inputs that visitors don't accidentally select the wrong choice.
To provide the best experience for each visitor, create a responsively-designed quiz, or target visitors with separate versions of your quiz based on their type of device.
Mistake #7: Asking for the Email Address Too Soon
Many eCommerce merchants use quizzes to collect a customer’s email address. This can be a great way to build your email list! But asking for a customer’s email too soon can create a high hurdle that will deter people from taking your quiz if they’re not already sold on your business yet.
To increase quiz completions, wait until your shoppers are invested in their quiz results. Ask for email at the end. You can also make this optional or mandatory. An optional choice may actually help your conversion rate and revenue in the long run. If you’re not sure whether or not to make this optional, try A/B testing this and see which leads to more quiz completions and attributable revenue.
Mistake #8: Making it Difficult to Convert
Even a great quiz can fall short of its potential to convert if you don't guide quiz takers towards the purchase. How easy is it for a user to purchase the product(s) in their quiz results? Do they have to search your website to add their recommendations to their cart?
To improve purchase conversion rates from your quiz, show a one-click “Add to Cart” button with their recommendation.
If you want visitors to read more about their recommendation before they purchase, you can also redirect users directly to the product page at the end of the quiz. The purpose of your quiz is to increase your sales, so give them an opportunity here to convert!
Mistake #9: Hiding or Burying Your Quiz in Your Site
eCommerce stores that launch new quizzes often get disheartened when they don’t see immediate results. In these cases, it often comes down to poor quiz promotion on their site.
Adding a quiz to your site is just the first step. How will people find it? Use pop-up teasers, make it appear in your site’s banner, and find other creative ways to promote it throughout your site’s navigation.
Take Jaxxon, for example. They promote their quiz in their top banner and menu.
Then, scrolling down the page reveals a larger promotion for their quiz.
That way, every shopper can access their quiz pop-up with ease. Foam machine brand Partymachines also shows a high-converting pop-up teaser to their site visitors.
With a significant amount of their traffic coming from TikTok, new visitors can quickly find the perfect foam machine for their needs when they see the quiz promotion on their site visit.
Quizzes are an exciting way to reach outside of your website as well. Promote your quiz to your email list. Create social media posts and add them to your paid ad campaigns. Quizzes are far more engaging than static content and often provide a much better return on ad spend (ROAS).
Mistake #10: Underutilizing Your New Zero-Party Data
Quizzes give you a wealth of customer preference data on what customers like, what they’re looking for, their style, and more. Don’t let this valuable zero-party-data go to waste! This data is only valuable when you put it to good use in your future marketing efforts.
Here are a few awesome ways to use zero-party data:
- Segment your email campaigns (Andie Swim's post-quiz automated email flow led to a 55% increase in flow revenue!)
- Personalize your site with customized promotions for certain customers
- Let customers know when you have new products relevant to their interests
- Retarget users on ad platforms with their recommended product(s)
Create a Product Recommendation Quiz that Converts
Which of these mistakes did you identify with? It’s easy to make mistakes when using a new tool. There’s so much to learn, refine, and perfect. And every business is different.
We love helping businesses create custom product recommendation quizzes. Quizzes are an engaging way to connect with your customers and personalize their experience. Do you need help creating a product recommendation quiz that converts? Reach out to us today!
