The lead magnet is the foundation of every marketing such as digital marketing, content marketing (blogging), social media marketing, and email marketing. This is the first step of your customer value optimization and digital journey.
Why do you come into the digital field?
Why do you want to start blogging and/or digital marketing?
Whatever your answers to these questions like for independence, for a side hustle, to start a business, to make money, to get fame, and more.
What you need for those answers you just thought of, is Leads. You can’t do anything without your leads (audiences, readers, customers) whatever your goal of starting and/or entering into the digital marketing field.
It is the first step of lead generation. The freebie is one of your content marketing strategies to generate leads that convert into customers. This is the best way to build your email list for email marketing. It is a true way of building trust and relationships with your potential customers.
In this blog post, you are going to have a full guide on a lead magnet. How do you create one? Where do you place it on your blogging site or website? What makes it good? How many of them do you need? Lead magnet checklist and much more.
So let’s jump in…………………
Table of Contents
What is lead magnet?
A lead magnet could be anything as long as it is valuable, actionable, useful, easy to read, instantly available, and most importantly solve a specific problem of a specific group of people.
So, you can define it in one sentence as “a special Premium content, an incentive, a tangible marketing free offer given away to your prospects in exchange of their contact details usually name and email address.”
Source: Crazyegg
You can show your expertise by sharing useful materials, tips, techniques through a lead magnet. It is an opportunity to expand your email marketing and in some cases SMS marketing. It builds trust and relationships with your brand because unless and until your prospects trust you and your brand, they won’t provide their personal data.
Why do you need a lead magnet?
It is simple, the main purpose of a lead magnet is to capture the contact details, especially the Email addresses, other details are not so mandatory. Besides well balance lead magnet helps you to build your brand image, solves the problem of your targeted audience, it is one of the most and first steps in Lead generation as well as customer acquisition (one of the crucial and difficult tasks in the business).
People won’t give their personal details unless they get something back which solves their problems. And it fulfills that. It is your premium content that you give your targeted audiences as an incentive. You may have different lead magnets for different targeted audiences. But the ultimate goal of every lead magnet should be collecting the email of that potential audience.
Though Primary goal of the lead magnet is to collect personal information mostly email addresses. Your job won’t be finished just capturing the leads and you can’t grow your business. There is a further process that you will know in the Lead magnets funnel later. The leads you capture from your lead magnet are just cold leads.
Source: Jamesbachini
Why do you need email address?
As you have learned that the primary goal of the lead magnet is to collect the email addresses of your potential audiences, other like names and phone numbers are not mandatory. So why email is so important for your business?
Like everybody, you may also know that “Money is on the list” but it is half true. The full truth is “Money is, in the relationship with that list”.
Emails are the foundation of your email marketing. Only capturing emails is not enough, you have to build relationships and trust with that list for the success of your business. You can do that job only through email marketing.
Email marketing is your tribe-building formula. Your social media marketing foundation. Social media platforms are not your assets. it doesn’t matter how many likes and followers you have on social media platforms. Those are only numbers that can vanish or become less effective when something changes in those social media platforms.
To build a real digital marketing business, you need to build your solid asset. In which you have full control of. Your digital asset can only build through trust and relationships with your audiences, for that you need a tribe no matter how small and how big it is. Tribe building is the foundation of your digital asset and digital business.
Now you saw the position and importance of the lead magnet in your digital marketing business. It is the root of your business, your lead generation, customer acquisition, your tribe building, and your fully controlled digital asset building.
Lead Manget Types / Ideas / Examples
As long as you have the solution to the problems your targeted audience facing, you can create as many lead magnets as you wish in different forms. You can create and need multiple lead magnets depending upon your business, products and services, and different targeted audiences.
There will be also differentiation in lead magnets according to the sales funnel of your business. Because some lead magnets only provides a beginning stage that means identifying the problems of your targeted audiences. Some lead magnets serve deeper that is showing the solution of the problems your audiences have. It depends on the funnel-like top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and bottom of the funnel.
As mentioned above there are many ideas and/or examples of lead magnets that you can create. It depends on your target audience and which stage of the funnel they are in. Here is the list of lead magnets that you can use according to your funnel and convert your website visitors into leads very well.
- Webinar
- Consultation Call
- Checklist
- Step-by-Step Guide
- Newsletter
- Case Study
- Test/Quiz
- Toolkit Guide
- Mini Course
- Video
- Work Book / Work Sheet
- Templates
- E-book
- Spread Sheet
- Software / Calculator / Calender
- Trials
- VIP Group Access
- Cheetsheet
- Swipe File / Script
- Planner / Productivity Guide
- Recipes
- Tutorial
- Audio
- Sample Chapter
Source: Leadpages
- Industry Report / Whitepaper
- Mindmap
- Give away
- Graphics / infographics
- Access to Membership Site
- Coupons / Discounts
- Access to Waiting List
- Early bird Access
- Catalog
- Resource list
- Gated Content
- Event Ticket
- Email Course
- Recording / Replay
Does lead magnet actually works?
You have the answer to this question because you have noticed it when you visited a website. There are everywhere lead magnets, on the home page (sidebar), when you scroll a few seconds the page – a lead magnet pops up. when you are going to exit the website, again a lead magnet pops up. Some websites have lead magnets all the time at the top or bottom of the website.
If it doesn’t actually work why all website owners are using it on their website as possible as everywhere. They are using it because it is one of the best to generate leads in business. It works because human nature doesn’t change. You, me, and everybody want the greatest result and/or outcome for the least amount of work. The lead magnet does all the hard work and saves the time, energy, and more of your audience so they convert into a lead.
Source: Getresponse
You just have to create your lead magnet in such a way that your audiences couldn’t refuse it. For that, you need to know your target audiences, your customer avatars, and the issues and problems they are facing. If your lead magnet is irresistible and exact what your target audiences looking for, then you win the game. You got the goal of your lead magnet.
With that being said you also have to take care of your leads from the lead magnet. You can’t ignore the downside of the lead magnet. As you learned the lead magnet is the freebie. It is an incentive in exchange for the contact details. Don’t think that all the leads convert from lead magnets are quality leads because there are also groups of people who only focus on the freebies nothing more. It’s your duty to separate the leads who convert further and those who don’t.
Anyhow, a lead magnet works whether it is quality or not. It fulfills its primary goal of collecting contact information for list building, tribe building and building your digital empire.
How do you create a lead magnet?
Your lead magnet should not be complex and/or difficult. Though lead magnet is super important and the first one in your customer acquisition process followed to sales, you can create and keep your lead magnet simple.
Customer Avatar
First and foremost, to create a lead magnet, you have to define your customer avatar and/or buyer persona. This makes clear to whom you are going to create your lead magnet and helps you create a super-specific valuable lead magnet. In the process of defining your customer avatar, you will know their pain points, obstacles, issues, goals, and a lot more which makes it easy to create a lead magnet that converts. To know and learn more about the customer avatar and/or your ideal customer click HERE.
Value Proposition
The value proposition is something that your target ideal customer and/ or customer avatar already needs. In other words, you can think of it as how you are going to help your customers. You have your customer avatar and knew exactly what they are facing the problems. Create a solution and/or reason as a lead magnet that give them quick/better result so that they convert into leads. In this way, you can create something ultra-specific super valuable, and useful for what your customer already needs and wants without making the mistake of creating something you think they could want or need.
Content format / Lead Magnet Types
Now you have got all that you need to create a lead magnet. This is the creation step. You have got your ideal targeted customers, what they need and want. To convert them into leads you just need to create a lead magnet.
What you have to take into consideration when creating your lead magnet is – which stage of your sales funnel, your customer avatar is in. You can create a lead magnet accordingly so that it becomes valuable and gives your customers AHA moments.
Source: Getresponse
Attention, Interest, Desire, and Call to action are the elements you should include in your lead magnet in every stage of your sales funnel. First, you have to grab attention through the headlines of your customers. Description in bullet point and design creates interest in a lead magnet. Credibility, testimonials create a desire in your customers to take the last element that is a call to action. That means they will give you the contact information in exchange for your instant gratification lead magnet.
DONE, like this, you can create a simple effective lead magnet for your business. Still feeling confused, then in the beginning stage, you can create any type of lead magnet that you feel most comfortable creating.
What makes good lead magnet / Lead magnet Checklist
Now you have got your lead magnet and have known how to create one. Before creating a simple yet perfect lead magnet, you should know the characteristics, and/or you can call it a checklist for your lead magnet.
The lead magnet should be associated with your business i.e., products and services, and should clearly target your audience. Best lead magnets are always inspired by your audience. It’s on you, which types of lead magnet you are going to create and/or you need for your business. But the points/characteristics of a good lead magnet are the same for all types of lead magnets in all stages.
Here are the characteristics of a good lead magnet………..
- Free
- Irresistible offer
- One big promise
- Relevant and attractive
- Valuable and useful
- Gives AHA moment
- Instant gratification
- Quick and simple win
- Prompt to take define action
- Targeted and Super/Ultra Specific
- Solves a real problems
- Instantly accessible
- Demonstrates your expertise
- Easy to read / Rapid consumption
- Serves a business purpose
Where do you put your lead magnet?
You may already know the answer to this question because you are also on the way to a digital journey. Just think about the last lead magnet you opted-in. Try to remember how many times you may have seen that lead magnet in ads, emails, websites, and social media before you finally signed up for it.
The digital world today is very cluttered and noisy. Your audiences are forced to filter out many such lead magnets each day so the most relevant content rises to the top. Do not assume that you put your lead magnet and your audience will sign up for it.
Therefore, you can put your lead magnet wherever it is suitable so that your audience gets multiple opportunities to sign-up for your lead magnet. When your ideal customers land on your content on the website, social media and read your post, they ask themselves “what next” subconsciously. Yes, right there, you have to grab an opportunity to take an action from them through a lead magnet. That is why the call to action on your website as well as in the lead magnet is so important.
Some of the places you can put on your website have been already discussed above on the topic of “Does Lead magnet actually work?”. Here are some more ways to promote your lead magnet that converts well.
- Make it the main call to action (CTA) on your website
- Add your lead magnet permanent on the top and/or footer so that it promotes your lead magnet
- Put an opt-in box within your blog posts or at the end
- Put it on your Bio or about page
- Add it in an exit pop-up
- Add it in scroll timing
- Make it the cover photo on your social media page
- Set it as the link in your Instagram bio
- Pin it to Pinterest
- Add it in your YouTube video descriptions
- Run Social ads on Facebook and Instagram
Difference between Lead Magnet and Landing Page
A lead magnet is a tool (like an eBook or free product).
A landing page is a page your customer lands on where you collect email addresses using your lead magnet.
A lead magnet can be embedded on a landing page or can be behind a form on a landing page.
A landing page is just another ‘flavor’ of a webpage, but it is a webpage.
The lead magnet is “Enter your email to get your free eBook” – it is a magnet that pulls them in your sales funnel.
A landing page is a part that has your headline, descriptions. Like “here’s how to lose 10 pounds in 10 days”
A lead magnet is an item that you usually use to attract leads to your site or opt-in.
A landing page is the page visitors go to after they click on a specified link. It can sometimes directly point towards a purchase of a product or service.
A lead magnet has to contain an Opt-in form to capture the contact details of the potential customers.
A landing page does not necessarily have an opt-in form. It needs to have any sort of CTA which asks users to take any action.
A lead magnet provides your customers something of value when they give you contact details in the form of opt-in.
A landing page may not have a lead magnet and just have well-optimized CTAs.
Difference between lead magnet and Tripwire
Like Lead magnet and landing page look similar but there is a difference as you have seen earlier. Similarly, a tripwire and a lead magnet seem very similar but they are not.
You have got the definition of the lead magnet. Now let’s look at the definition of Tripwire.
“A Tripwire is an irresistible, non-core, high perceived value and insanely low priced (give it a try ) products or services offer that’s one and only purpose is to convert your potential customer into an actual customer”.
Tripwire is the third step of the sales funnel. It is offered at a low price to increase sales of your high-priced core offer. It is one of the best ways to turn your cold leads into warm leads. A tripwire gives you some kind of certainty to purchase your core offer because it is easier to sell new products or services to an existing customer than it is to sell existing products or services to a new customer.
Now let’s go into the topic. And let’s see how a lead magnet and tripwire are different from each other.
A lead magnet is the first step in the modern sales funnel.
Tripwire is the third step in the modern sales funnel.
A lead magnet creates a lead in your marketing and sales system that has not yet converted into a customer.
A tripwire is designed to get that lead to make the first purchase thus becoming a paying customer.
A lead magnet is used to generate leads by offering a free incentive.
A tripwire is used to convert leads into customers by offering a lost cost but not a free incentive.
A lead magnet offers an incentive in the form of a free product (e.g., A free eBook) in exchange for the email address or other information.
Tripwire offers a heavily discounted low-price product or service as an incentive to convert prospects into customers.
Lead Magnet Funnel
As you know that the primary goal of the lead magnet is to collect the contact information of your potential customers.
What do you do with that contact information?
This is the question that arises when you have collected the contact details of your customer. You may answer for list building and email marketing. But again, a question arises:
What do you do with the list?
Why do you need a list?
For the answers to those questions, the lead magnet funnel comes in front. Lead generation through your lead magnet is not a complete process. It’s only the beginning step of the lead magnet funnel. You have to build trust and relationships with your leads so that you can upsell and cross-sell your product and services. You have to create content in such a way that it compels your list or leads to learn more about your product and services.
By doing that you can get your ultimate goal of selling your core offer of products or services. Before that, you have to nurture your leads, provide valuable solutions to their problems in the form of content and email. Then only they become your paying customers. Here is a simple illustration of the lead magnet funnel:
Source: Funnelytics
Different stages of the lead magnet funnel
Now let’s have a look at different stages of the lead magnet funnel.
1) Lead magnet: To build the lead magnet funnel you need a lead magnet in the first place. The type of content and magnet you have to create according to your target customers and market demand.
2) Landing page: Then you have to build a landing page to give your freebie. A landing page is a page where your content lives behind the form. Your lead magnet is just another general content unless and until it has the ability to capture the contact details. Don’t forget to put the main part of the landing page i.e., Call to Action (CTA) on this page.
3) Opt-in Form: When your potential customers land on the landing page and take action on the CTA after analyzing your lead magnet, headline, and description, you have to capture their contact information and this job is done by the opt-in form.
4) Thank you page: After your potential customer opt-in. They have to transfer to thank you page. It is the best practice. On thank you page you can give the direct download link so that they can download your freebie OR you can create content on this page saying that the freebie will be in their email within a certain time.
5) Start nurturing: So, when you send your freebie into their email, they will get your email the first time, and thus they are on your list now. From here your journey of nurturing, building trust and relationship begins. You have to nurture them with a series of email that is packed with value and related to your lead magnet and/or your products and services.
6) Upsell: Once your list or leads start to consume more content from you and form a kind of trust and relationship with your brand, then you can offer anything else that can nudge them into a purchasing decision. You can upsell your core offers and/or affiliate products if you are in affiliate marketing.
7) Keep the relationship going: Lots of emails blast on your lead’s email inbox every day. So don’t expect to convert them from one series of emails or contents. If you succussed to convert them from lead to paying customers, it great. You have achieved your goal of collecting leads. But if they don’t, don’t worry it’s the nature of human beings to analyze and go thoroughly before spending money. You just need to continue to communicate with them. Build a new nurture series to check in with them every few months.
Final words
Lead magnets work so well because it is based on a fundamental principle: give or provide value first then only you get. It is a win-win situation for everyone. Your potential customers will find the information they need and you get their contact details.
It is one of the best ways to get the attention of your prospects into your brand and business in the ocean of online marketing and email marketing. It’s like catching a big fish by putting attractive, specific, and valuable bait.
Think and create your lead magnet today. You are here which means you are now capable to create one, aren’t you?
Please share in a comment which type of lead magnet have you created.
And
Share this post with your friends so that they can create one and grow their business as well.
