Lead magnets 101

What is a lead magnet?

It feels like every man and his dog is telling you that you need one, but what is a lead magnet?

It’s a tool you use in your business to entice your ideal clients to find out more about you.

• It might be a downloadable document – like a list of your top ten tips, or a checklist of some kind.
• You could use a quiz to help your ideal clients learn something about themselves 
• You could use a free challenge – 3 or 5 day challenges give you a great opportunity to get in front of your ideal clients more than once to showcase your skils
• It could be a webinar – live or pre-recorded, you can use video to show your ideal clients just how amazing you are and why they need you in their life
• It could be a free sample or discount code – just like you see on websites where you might be tempted to shop, a discount or free sample could convert browsers to triers or buyers.

Let’s go through how to get a lead magnet set up, 

this would depend on what type of lead magnet you choose but for this example, let’s go with a webinar or downloadable document – let’s break it down: 

1. Create your content – focus on questions that your clients ask you in your discovery calls, on your socials or via your website / emails and answer it via your lead magnet – people want answers to their main questions and being the business who can do that, makes you valuable and interesting to your audience so that they can’t resist clicking to find out more!

2. Make the content visually appealing – use a tool like Canva for a document, or record your webinar with a branded background that reflects exactly what your business is all about – make yourself and your business memorable so that when people are ready to buy, they picture you first!

3. You’ll need an email marketing system to collect e-mail addresses, send your download, or give access to it, and to nurture those new leads. There’s lots of options – some with  free options  like MailChimp or MailerLite, and some with the option to have multiple downloads or nurture sequences running together like Active Campaign or Convert Kit – have a look at them and see which one fits your needs best.

4. Create a landing page – some of the email marketing systems include this option, or you can direct people to a page on your own website – either way you’ll need catchy copy that converts so that people know what they are getting and why they need it in their lives! Use images and testimonials to really hype your offering up!

5. Add a call to action to the lead magnet and the email that you send out with it – what do you want people to do next – what should they read, buy or register for – include the links and make it easy for people to follow your ‘funnel’.

6. Create a nurture sequence – this is a series of emails that follow your lead magnet – offer more help, ask them questions, recommend a next step – keep showing that you can offer support.

7. Promote, promote, promote – use your socials, your e-mail list if you have one, and top tip – look at Pinterest – its a great platform for promoting offers and downloads and as it works like a search engine, it makes it easier for people looking for what you do to find it!

What your lead magnet needs to do. 

If you’re going to spend time getting a lead magnet set up, you need to make sure it works hard for you. So….it needs to:

1. Make sense with your business – tie it in with your core messaging

2. Add value to your potential clients 

3. Be easily digestible – think checklists, ‘how to’ and quick start guides

4. Make your brand stand out and be memorable 

5. Include a call to action to lead into the product or service you want to sell

6. Covert! Keep an eye on how it helps you grow your mail-list and your business – and if people are downloading it but your business isn’t growing as a result, tweak and adapt it! If they aren’t downloading it, change the title, or promote it somewhere new.