A lead magnet is a tool for collecting information from people you can target later to promote your product or service.
As noted in my Website vs. Landing Page – Which Do You Need? post, savvy marketers use lead generation campaigns to collect contact information, so they are not 100% reliant on social media platforms to connect with their target audience.
While a social media strategy can certainly be a significant part of your marketing plan, it should not be the entire plan. Social platforms place limitations on how their users can be solicited, and the rules could change at any time. Imagine spending substantial time and resources building up a large social following and then losing access to it. If that had been your only source of sales leads, you would need to start your lead-generating process all over again.
In addition to lead generation, lead magnets can also be leveraged in other useful ways. I’ve outlined some of these in the How To Leverage Lead Magnets section below.
What is a lead magnet?
In simple terms, a lead magnet is useful information that you give to someone for free in exchange for their contact details. It should be relevant, valuable content that your audience can’t get anywhere else.
You can use just about anything as a lead magnet, as long as your target audience believes what you’re offering is worth providing their contact information in exchange. Most people realize you’re going to use their contact details to hit them up for something down the road. Therefore, what you’re offering as a lead magnet needs to be attractive enough to outweigh the perceived hassle of dealing with you later.
Here are seven guidelines to keep in mind about lead magnets:
- Think about what’s most relevant to your audience. What major problems or concerns are they facing right now?
- Think about what would provide high value to your audience. What would save them time and money or make their life better in some way?
- Think about how you can provide enough information to solve part of your audience’s problem in a way that makes them believe you’re capable of helping them solve all their problems.
- If you’re a coach, consultant or another service provider, tell your audience what they need to do to solve their problem, but not how to do it. (If you give away the how there will be no reason for them to engage your services.)
- If you’re selling a product, you can explain in detail what’s needed to solve a problem and briefly demonstrate how your product could be the solution.
- The purpose of your lead magnet is to delight your audience so that you establish your authority and create goodwill for future sales opportunities. Your lead magnet must therefore provide real value. It should not be a thinly veiled sales piece or clickbait where the title promises more than it delivers. Tricking someone into giving you their contact information will make them distrust you and any future offers you may present to them.
- Your lead magnet should include evergreen content so you can share it repeatedly without having to update it regularly.
15 Lead Magnet Ideas
As noted above, your lead magnet can be just about anything your audience believes is valuable enough to provide their contact information to you in exchange for it.
Following are some potential lead magnet ideas to get your creative juices flowing. However, when evaluating them for your business, you should consider how your audience prefers to consume content and your available resources for developing a lead magnet.
- eBook – a high-level overview of a subject that varies in length but is generally a quick and easy read. (Usually in pdf format.)
- White paper – a formal and in-depth report that analyzes a problem and presents a solution, supported by research data. (Most appropriate for B2B.)
- Guide, tip sheet or checklist – one to two pages of handy how-to information designed to save time by shortening someone’s learning curve.
- Editable template – a spreadsheet or document that allows people to create their own version of a strategy, plan, worksheet, design, social post, email, presentation, etc., based on the framework you’ve provided.
- Trial subscription or product sample – allows people to try before they buy.
- Product demo – popular for online software products.
- Webinar or Masterclass – presentation requiring pre-registration that teaches your audience what to do to solve their problem, and then offers your product or service at the end, often bundled with other bonuses or substantially discounted for a limited time to create a sense of urgency. (You can record these once and then replay them regularly, often without your audience knowing they’re watching a replay.)
- Free consultation – used by coaches and consultants offering high-value services.
- Mini-course – often a portion of a more extensive paid program, used to entice the audience to purchase the complete course.
- Training library – private access to exclusive training material.
- Poll, quiz or survey – invite your audience to participate and then require them to register to see the results.
- E-newsletter – enables ongoing nurturing of your target audience.
- Case study – an in-depth analysis of how your product or service was able to help a person (B2C) or business (B2B) solve their problem and make their life substantially better.
- Site audit – online marketing agencies can analyze a prospect’s website, landing page or social campaign and provide recommendations on how to improve.
- Giveaway – offer a chance to win something of value in exchange for contact information.
How to Leverage Lead Magnets
The standard way to implement a lead magnet is to include it on a landing page with a form to collect contact information. Once the completed form is submitted, the lead magnet is delivered via webpage or email. (Delivering it via email ensures people must provide their correct email address to receive it.)
Once you’ve created your landing page, your next step will be to send your target audience to it.
You can run paid ads on the various social platforms that send people to your landing page.
But if you’re not ready to invest in paid advertising, here are some organic methods for sending your target audience to your landing page.
- Include a link to the landing page in your bio on all social media platforms, including your Quora bio.
- Promote your lead magnet in your social posts.
- Include a link to the landing page in any related blog posts on your website.
- Spotlight your lead magnet on the home page of your website.
Consider investing in multiple lead magnets that address different problems as time and resources permit. For example, a fitness coach could have separate lead magnets related to diet, exercise and mindset. A real estate agent might have multiple lead magnets that include a tip sheet for getting your home ready to list, a guide on important considerations when buying a home and a checklist for ensuring utilities and other services are fully taken care of prior to moving.
Once you’ve invested the time and effort to develop one or more lead magnets, don’t restrict yourself to only distributing them via the landing page. Include them in email promotions or newsletters as added value. (Since you already have your subscribers’ email addresses, there’s no reason not to share your lead magnets with them.)
You or your sales team can also send a lead magnet directly to a prospect by requesting their email address over the phone. Not only will this help to build trust and goodwill, but offering something of value for free is a great way to break the ice and encourage additional conversation.
The same thing applies if you’re doing organic outreach through direct messaging. Depending on how a conversation is going, you can either send your prospect a link to your landing page or forward a copy of your eBook, white paper, guide, tip sheet or template directly.
Bottom line
Lead magnets are handy lead generation tools that you can use to establish your credibility, build goodwill and differentiate yourself from your competition. They introduce part of your solution and open the door for you to step in and sell the rest.
The key is to provide valuable content not otherwise available to your target audience. Give away enough value to earn their appreciation and pique their desire for more. But don’t give it all away, or you’ll have nothing left to sell.😉
If you’d like additional information about how to use lead magnets to promote your business, feel free to DM me at @dyble.lisa.