Lead Magnet Secrets, Tips for Driving More prospects
Whenever we speak to companies whose emails we receive updates from, it’s because we signed up via a lead magnet. In fact, I still remember what it was like when, after my first year in business, I added a lead magnet, an eBook on digital marketing, to my website with zero expectations. Within hours, I started receiving new leads in my inbox. It was then that I realized just how powerful well-crafted lead magnets can be. Drawing on that experience, I’ve learnt that creating a good lead magnet is simultaneously art and science, it’s a very specific, formulated skill that involves some strategic thinking, creative flair, and an intimate knowledge of your target client.
At the core of the lead magnet is some form of valuable content offered for free in return for a prospect’s contact information, usually an email address, and marketers use a lead magnet as a first step in building the relationship with a prospect. It’s the appetizer for the main course of your offer. But what makes the appetizer so tasty that people won’t be able to resist downloading it? These are questions of lead magnet design, it’s not just what you offer, but how you offer it.
One project that I did with a lead magnet agency turned a very plain checklist document into something more engaging, evidencing the agency’s skill in designing lead magnets. Engaging images, a clean format, and powerful copy were used to ‘repack’ a boring old document as a free giveaway, and an effective one. A well-designed lead magnet can be more than a visual marvel; presenting your content well can communicate professionalism and trustworthiness.
While great design is important, lead magnet best practices should not be neglected., to work, your lead magnet must follow certain guidelines. It must, of course, be extremely relevant to a specific group of people. Your best bet is to select a group of people with whom you have enough empathy to clearly identify what their problems are (pain points, opportunities, or both). Your content should be fully optimized to solve, or inject valuable insight into, their problems. For example, if your audience is small business owners grappling with online marketing, what would be more relevant and useful than an in-depth guide to affordable marketing, tailored to that exact audience?
A second best practice is that you want to make sure that your lead magnet is easy to consume; long-form documents can be very off-putting. So formats like checklists, templates or mini-eBooks are often better, I used to work with a lead-magnet business that was all about creating quick bits of content. Their mantra was ‘the magic word is action’. By giving succinct, actionable advice, they were able to dramatically improve lead magnet conversion as well as increase user happiness.
As far as conversion rates, you should track and continually tweak the performance of your lead magnet. After all, your return-to-customer rate is likely the KPI for your landing page. we’ve used this method for a recent campaign we ran for a client, our lead magnet converted at 7 per cent, and after a lot of data collection and feedback, we refined the performance. We altered the call to action, edited some of the content, and reformatted the delivery method. In the end, we drove conversions much higher by several percent.
I’ve talked to clients and coached businesses already well-versed in using lead magnets for their email lists, and in no two businesses are two lead magnets the same. In one B2B company, an incredibly valuable lead magnet for their target audience was a long, in-depth whitepaper. For another B2C business in the same industry, something a little more fun and interactive, like a quiz, worked better. Once again, it’s about learning your audience and developing a lead magnet that’s tailored to them and their behaviours. In working with one business focused on fitness, we created a lead magnet that was essentially a 7-day workout challenge.
We have had the experience of making and refining lead magnets many times, and we’ve paid close attention to what works. We’ve learned to notice the invisible threads at play, and the nuanced moments of connection that help an opt-in grow into something much more. This is what a good lead magnet does, it’s not just about swapping samples for contact details, it’s about opening a conversation that sets the tone for a longer relationship. From the initial design and content to the subsequent exchanges when recipients show further interest, the goal is to demonstrate that you are expert and trustworthy.
My favorite story concerns a client who said they weren’t sure that lead magnets really worked. This client was a brick-and-mortar kind of company when it came to outreach, so we created a lead magnet that revved up the expertise they had with a virtual twist, an online course. It came out great. Not only did it become a lead-generating machine overnight, it also helped to solidify them as an expert in their field. How can you turn your business into a lead-generating machine?
To sum up, your lead magnet can be one of your most valuable business assets, it is not easy, or boring, or mundane. If you follow our advice and stay on the side of best practices, you can create a truly useful and beautiful masterpiece. If you use a lead magnet agency like us, you will have the team behind your creation. If you’re a solopreneur, or part of a small team, you’ll have to do it yourself. Either way, your audience and your business will get a gift that truly keeps giving. They will become part of your life, of your community, of your business. You will have learnt how to use them strategically.
Meanwhile, you’ll be getting valuable feedback, plus, you’ll be coaxing your new leads into becoming long-term relationships. In our experience, learning how to use lead magnets has been one of the most valuable things we have ever done for our business, we have successful client after successful client. Some have even taken the leap to work with us after we helped them take the leap. We have learned the art of the lead magnet thanks to feedback from our customers, and we have seen the power of a well-crafted lead magnet work its magic. So why wouldn’t you want to invest in this gold mine too?
