How to Use a Quiz to Grow Your Email List (Part 1/5: High-Level Strategy)
You know that moment when you sit down, determined to finally “do email marketing,” and suddenly your brain starts buzzing with a million questions?
What platform should I use? How do I actually get people on my list? What do I even say once they’re there? Before long, you’re staring at a blinking cursor, feeling like maybe you’re already behind.
I hear this all the time from the entrepreneurs I work with—you know email marketing matters, but the how feels overwhelming.
Here’s the good news: growing your email list doesn’t have to feel like pulling teeth. In fact, it can actually be fun for your audience and strategic for you. The tool I love most for this? Quizzes.
When I was running Houseplant Academy, I built a quiz called “What Houseplant is Best for You?” It was lighthearted and simple, but it worked like magic. That one quiz brought in hundreds of new subscribers a week. And today, with my Rest Quiz, I’ve taken the same idea and built out personalized nurture sequences that make it even more powerful.
So when Interact reached out to me about a partnership, I knew it was an easy yes.
Interact is a quiz builder—think Buzzfeed quizzes circa 2018, but with more community building, strategy, and income potential.
Quizzes are fun for your existing audience, pull in new community members, and maximize your earning potential with both warm and cold leads using a simple but highly effective strategy. It’s like handing someone a personalized cup of coffee instead of asking them to grab whatever’s on the communal pot.
Why Quizzes Work for Email List Building
They’re irresistible (way more fun than “Sign up for my newsletter”).
They give instant value with personalized results.
They segment your audience automatically (the dream).
They boost open rates, conversions, and trust.
How a Quiz Builds Your Email List Step by Step
Someone takes the quiz.
They get added to a unique-to-them email segment within FloDesk based on their quiz results.
You follow up with automated emails that nurture, confront objections, and deepen relationships so you can make more sales.
And the best part? It’s a set-it-and-forget-it strategy!!! Which, as a busy momma with ADHD and a huge goal-list - that’s the kinda strategy I need! I’m assuming you can relate.
A few days of deep work, and you’ve got an email marketing plan that will serve you, your people, and your business for years to come.
Quick note before we dive in: This post contains partner/affiliate links, which means if you purchase through my links I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Here’s the thing though—I deeply care about your experience as a business owner and will only ever choose to partner with platforms I already use, love, and highly recommend. Total win-win for you and for me!
INTERACT: Try Interact here | FLODESK: Save 50% on your first year of FloDesk here
This post is Part 1 of a 5-part series on building a quiz funnel to grow your email list and turn subscribers into paying clients.
In this series, I’m going to show you exactly how to set the whole thing up—from creating your quiz in Interact, to connecting it with FloDesk, to building a sales sequence that works while you sleep.
And because this is a bigger process, I made you a free Notion Dashboard with links, step-by-step instructions, and even some of the ChatGPT prompts I used to pull together a complicated yet effective list-building and nurturing strategy in just one week. (For real—I did this all in one week.)
Here’s what you can expect in the full series:
Part 1: High-Level Strategy (you’re here)
Part 2: Step-by-Step Interact Setup (coming soon)
Part 3: Integrating FloDesk (coming soon)
Part 4: Writing Nurture + Sales Sequences (coming soon)
Part 5: Marketing Your Quiz (coming soon)
(I’ll link each part here as they’re published so you can easily follow along.)
The High-Level Strategy Behind a Quiz Funnel
I’ll give you the step-by-step breakdown in the next post, but before we get into the weeds of tech setup and email sequences, I want to zoom out. Let’s look at the big picture so you know what we’re actually working toward.
Think of this like your roadmap. Without one, it’s easy to get lost in the “where do I click?” details and forget the bigger goal: building an email list that actually nurtures people and grows your business.
Here’s the high-level strategy:
QUIZ → RESULTS PAGE → EMAIL SEGMENT → NURTURE SEQUENCE → SALE
1. Start with the quiz itself
This is your entry point. Someone stumbles across your quiz, they get curious, and they click. The goal here isn’t just fun—it’s to hook their attention and give them instant, personalized value.
We’ll talk more about how to select the kind of quiz you should make and how to optimize its content to best serve your audience, build your list, and work in alignment with your overall offer ecosystem in a future post. But for now, remember that this is an entry point. Most of the clients I work with are ambitious, highly motivated, and full of good ideas — but they also tend to have tighter schedules that don’t allow for a giant, 20-step plan. So don’t overcommit here. You can always expand your quiz and funnel over time.
CONTINUE READING → Part 2: Step-by-Step Interact Setup
2. Send them to a results page
Short and sweet. Tell them their result, validate what it means, and give them one small action step. Don’t over-teach here. The results page should be a spark, not the full campfire.
This is where I see people overcomplicate things. They want to cram in allllll the value at once. But here’s the truth: people don’t read long results pages. They skim. The goal of your results page is to help them feel seen and give them one quick win—then invite them into your emails where you can nurture them further. Think of the results page as the appetizer, not the whole meal.
3. Tag or segment them inside FloDesk
Based on their quiz result, they’ll be added to a specific segment. This sets you up to send emails that feel like they were written just for them.
Here’s my pro tip: set up your FloDesk segments (or whatever email marketing platform you’ll be using) before you connect your quiz. It’s like laying out coffee mugs before you brew the pot — you’ll know exactly where everything goes. This little step keeps things tidy behind the scenes and saves you a ton of tech headaches later.
CONTINUE READING → Part 3: Integrating FloDesk
4. Send a tailored nurture sequence
This is where the magic happens. You use those automated emails to remind them of their result, connect the dots to their deeper pain points, and show how your offer can help. The sequence does the heavy lifting of building trust, answering objections, and guiding them toward a sale.
Think of this as your chance to show up as the guide. Instead of blasting everyone with the same generic welcome sequence, you’re saying, “Hey, I see you. I understand what you’re struggling with. And I know the next best step for you.” That little touch of personalization goes a long way in building trust. We’ll dive deep into how to write these sequences in Part 4 of this series, but for now, know this: keep it simple and specific. You can always refine and expand later.
CONTINUE READING → Part 4: Writing Nurture + Sales Sequences
5. Keep marketing your quiz
A quiz isn’t a “one and done” project. Share it on social media, link it in your bio, add it to your website, even drop it into your podcast show notes. The more traffic you send to your quiz, the more subscribers you bring into your funnel.
Here’s the part most people forget: your quiz only works if people actually take it. Don’t be afraid to promote it often and in multiple places. Think about it like inviting people to a party—if you only mention it once, only a handful will show up. But if you keep reminding them (and making it sound fun), they’ll come. The more consistently you market your quiz, the harder it will work for you over time.
CONTINUE READING → Part 5: Marketing Your Quiz
Quick Recap: The Quiz Funnel Strategy
Create a quiz that hooks curiosity and gives instant value.
Share results on a short, punchy page (don’t overdo it).
Segment subscribers inside FloDesk.
Send tailored nurture sequences that build trust and sell naturally.
Market your quiz consistently so the funnel keeps working.
Now that you’ve got the big picture, it’s time to get into the fun, nerdy part — actually building the quiz. In Part 2 of this series, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step setup inside Interact, from picking the right type of quiz to writing questions that guide people to the best-fit result.
Consider this your coffee grounds measured and ready. In Part 2, we’ll pour the hot water slowly and intentionally—one step at a time—to build your quiz.
