As time goes by and updates continue to roll out, more and more marketers are finding out that Facebook truly is a great social networking site to invest in for a return and overall brand growth. Now, it’s definitely not the only site around to put stock in; Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and other social networks do quite well also. For features, functionality and fans, Facebook can be the way to go.

Being such an expansive and innovative presence, there are multiple ways to effectively target your audience on Facebook and develop new fans and customers. One of the best ways is to use an app to create a Facebook quiz. In this instance, we’re speaking about personality tests.

What is a Facebook Personality Test?

A personality test is basically just a Facebook quiz. You create it by using the site’s app to construct a quiz-like feature which will ask users a question; e.g. “Which Dukes of Hazzard Character Are You Most Like?” Answers may include: “Boss Hog,” “Luke,” “Bo,” “Daisy,” “Rosco P. Coltrane,” and perhaps even the “General Lee.”

The interactive nature of a personality test definitely gets people interested. You can imagine the types of topics to come out. Which celebrity do you look like? Which billionaire are you like? Which scary monster would you become? And the list goes on indefinitely.

You can customize the app with different text and photos to make it fit your purpose, and you can run it like any other promotion on the site.

How to Use a Personality Test to Gain More Followers

1: Create an Original Test

The first step to this process is to create an original personality test. This is going to require a bit of comprehensive work on your part. For instance, you’ll have to completely fill out all the different legs of the personality profile with detailed information, and then find a way to tie it back. For example, when someone answers A + B + C it must come out to D and function properly.

A lot of marketers attempting to do these quizzes don’t put much thought into them, and people performing the quiz find that the answers are basically meaningless. Put more thought into it. Create a wholly unique test with an original subject, cool personality traits, some cool imagery, and make sure it comes out to an option that people earn by entering their traits.

2: Develop a Campaign Plan

The next step here is to develop a marketing plan. You can find some great relief via some Facebook marketing software, such as third-party ad-management apps, data hubs, and other pieces of software. But from initially visualizing your project to launching and operating it, you should have a plan in place.

Think about different aspects of your campaign plan, such as:

• Targeting the correct demographic to ensure that those who complete the test and offer their emails are interested in your brand
• Marketing your personality test through the use of tested and targeted ads, such as Sponsored Stories and Promoted Posts
• Asking for people to share the test so that it makes the rounds through different friends’ News Feeds and on their pages
• Promoting the test through the use of consistent hashtags, status updates, and even off-site; i.e. your main site, Instagram, Twitter, and perhaps even promo video clips on YouTube

The ultimate idea here is to reach out to as many interested people as possible. You’re going to draw a lot of attention from people who really aren’t planning to stay fans or to become customers, but those are just numbers that you’re going to have to live with. You want to gain as many followers as possible through wide and detailed promotion of this test.

3: Go Over Your Resources

Next up on the list, you should cycle through your resources to make sure that you’re ready for the big push. You might not realize it yet, but it’s going to be a lot of work on your end. Not only in creating the initial test, but in handling the traffic flow. You’re going to be inundated with new leads if your promotion is successful, and you’ll have to respond to them all and ensure that they’re all heading to a predetermined location which is ready to handle them.

Go over your resources and prepare. Make sure you have your ducks in a row:

• Have an auto-response ready that thanks people for their participation
• Have your mass mailer set up and ready to handle the new leads that you acquire
• Make sure that your landing destination is ready to receive traffic
• Troubleshoot your entire sales system to ensure that people can easily navigate your site and purchase products
• Carve out the time to test for any snags and to address any issue you may find
• Look into different money-saving aspects, such as a Facebook ad coupon, to ensure you can save money in the promotion of the test

4: Deliver the Goods

Some people might take the test just because they think it’s cool to see which object or person their personality aligns them with. But that particular demographic is rather slim. What you really want is to incentivize your test so that people are more inclined to take it. They take the test, which is just a way for you to get their email address, and in return they receive some type of gift.

Now, you have to be careful here with the gift you give out. It’s rather risky. If you’re offering something that’s unrelated to your niche and is valuable, you’re going to attract people who only want to participate in order to receive a gift. They won’t become customers, and they won’t stay fans. You want to attract people who really want to become and stay fans.

Here are some different things you can try:

• Offer a monetary prize in the form of a contest: 1 winner
• Offer a prize that’s very niche-specific, such as an informational eBook
• Offer deep discounts on your products and services
• Reward fan and customer loyalty by giving the best prize after a purchase

You want to add incentive, but you want to keep it aimed at attracting true fans from your niche.

Overall, a personality test is something that appeals to a very broad range of people. If you decide to just target random people, you’ll ultimately be able to attract a lot of new fans. However, you always have to be cognizant of the fact that fans on Facebook aren’t always going to stick around. It’s much better to pick up 500 loyal fans than it is to pick up 5,000 flash-in-the-pan fans who will never return.

So when creating your quiz, keep in mind the fact that you want to attract real fans who will hopefully turn out to be loyal, repeat customers.

Author’s Bio: Craig Robinson is a professional writer for Qwaya, a technology company specializing in Facebook marketing. If you have more social media marketing questions, feel free to ask Craig on Twitter.