One of the best ways to generate new high-converting leads is with a lead magnet. Lead magnets have been around since before the internet, but they are a powerful strategy for generating quality leads.
The basic idea is to provide something for free in exchange for an email address and permission to contact them with more offers. It can be an effective first step for starting new customer relationships.
For a lead magnet to be effective, it must suit your business and audience.
Today, we’ll explore the benefits of lead magnets as well as different types you can use.
What is a Lead Magnet?
The name “lead magnet” is pretty descriptive of the objective of this kind of content. Lead magnets are enticing offers that you create to earn the attention of your audience. You promote the offer in exchange for contact information like an email address. There are many different types of lead magnets that you can use, which we’ll dive into later in this article.
How Lead Magnets Work
Lead magnets are great for building your email database with relevant people. Most people will not just hand over their email addresses without anything in return. The lead magnet is something valuable to them. By providing immense value in the form of a lead magnet, you can get people to provide their contact information.
The Power of Free
It’s no secret that consumers enjoy getting things for free. People will take time out of their day and skip over economically better options when an offer is free. Lead magnets leverage the power of free.
For the cost of free and an email address, you give away an eBook, checklist, or course to visitors. While the email address doesn’t seem like much to the consumer, it’s a huge win for businesses. Ultimately, lead magnets help boost conversions and skyrocket opt-in rates.
How to Create a Lead Magnet
Effective lead magnets contain the following:
- Something your audience cares about
- Value
- Solves a problem or provides something your audience needs
Here are the steps you need to create an effective lead magnet
Create Buyer Personas
“Know your audience” is something that every brand has heard one hundred times, but it’s not something that many do well. You need to dive into your buyer personas, carefully defining your target audience. Your buyer persona is your ideal customer based on the data your business has. Be specific and define your ideal customers:
- Gender
- Age
- Behaviors
- Job
- Social status
- Motivations
- Goals
- Obstacles
Look at what people are paying for. If consumers are willing to spend their money on something, it’s something that matters to them. Pay attention to the topics, formats, and more. Check out reviews to see what matters most to your audience. From reviews, you can find out their biggest pain points and the features they enjoy most. The key is to build upon the content that’s already out there. Offer something better or different than the examples you find.
Unique Value Proposition
Why should people choose your offer? Define your unique value proposition, what you can promise your leads. Base this on what your audience needs and what you can provide. Think about the features that can make your offer stand out.
One helpful way to do this is to examine your SEO. Look at your top-performing blog posts and find out which keywords they leverage. Based on keywords, make a list of ideas for future offers.
Assess the Competition
While you don’t want to copy your competitors, you do want to know what they are doing. From them, you can learn about strategies that work and what you can do better. Analyze your top competitors by looking at their primary lead magnets.
Select a Type of Lead Magnet
We’ll go over examples of different types of lead magnets soon, but you should choose one that connects best with your unique value proposition. Choose a concise lead magnet that is quick and easy for people to consume. You want to ensure the lead magnet solves their problem.
Get Feedback from Your Audience
Here’s the thing about your lead magnet, it does not have to be a huge surprise. Before you spend the time to create one, get feedback from your audience to refine your idea. People are often willing to tell you what they want.
Create a simple writeup of your lead magnet idea (don’t call it that when you send it to your audience). Share it on social media and send it to your current email list. Ask for feedback, like what they would like to see or how you can improve it. Not only will this solicit helpful feedback that you can use to fine-tune your lead magnet, but it will also prime your audience to download the lead magnet when it goes live!
Ideas for Lead Magnets
There are many lead magnet variations to choose from. Here are a few ideas of lead magnets you can leverage:
Checklists
Present a how-to guide as a simple checklist. This is handy because it’s concise and easy to follow. They’re interactive as well. People can print them out and then physically check off the list. Checklists work well for anything with multiple steps or components. For example, a clothing brand could create a summer vacation packing checklist for various vacation destinations.
Polls and Quizzes
Quizzes and polls come in many varieties, but they are incredibly engaging. You could provide advice based on the answers to the quiz, offer recommendations, or just have one for fun. Beep2B has a great quiz that helps you write a strong LinkedIn profile. Users simply answer the questions on the quiz and it will help them craft a compelling profile. Try the free LinkedIn profile writing quiz for yourself HERE.
Toolkit
A toolkit takes tips and tricks to the next level. This type of lead magnet is ideal for organizations that offer coaching or training.
Free Trial
Free trials work exceptionally well for companies with subscription models or digital products/services. They give users a taste of your services, increasing their trust in you. You can provide a 7 or 30-day free trial, or opt for a free sample of the product.
Tutorial
Create a tutorial, and consider making a simple video for it. These lead magnets can live on a landing page, or you can introduce them via an exit-intent popup. When your site predicts a user is about to leave, then offer the free tutorial to help them out.
Discounts
You can also offer your audience free shipping or attractive discounts for signing up for your email list. Typically, a strong discount is 15-20% off.
Giveaways
Create a competition or giveaway. People can subscribe or follow your brand on social media to enter the giveaway. Make sure the prize is enticing and attractive to your audience. A great prize will be well worth the quality leads and conversions.
Lead magnets are very effective for generating leads and starting customer relationships. Reel in your audience with a valuable, free consumable and then position yourself as an industry leader on the topic. In the future, this will lead to more conversions.
There are many different types of lead magnets and they are all fairly easy to create. The key is to provide something that your audience wants.
