What does a lead magnet look like, and how can you use it to grow your business?
The big question when a business first starts email marketing is: “How are we going to grow our subscribers?”
Sure, you can add a pop-up to your website and splash the news across social media, but how can you encourage visitors to trust you with their email address if they don’t know you yet?
A lead magnet can provide the necessary incentive for indecisive readers, delivering a reward in exchange for their email addresses.
But what does a lead magnet involve, and how can it help to grow your business?
Why use a lead magnet?
A lead magnet – a free offering in exchange for an email address – is a compelling way to turn casual visitors into subscribers and leads by giving them something they want in exchange for their personal information.
Your prospect benefits because they get a piece of valuable information that goes some way toward solving their problems, for example an eBook, whitepaper or checklist.
Simultaneously, your business benefits by gaining a warm lead who you can then lead down the sales funnel, as you’ve already gained their trust and proven your expertise through a free piece of valuable content.
It’s a win-win for both business and customer.
Lead magnets can be effective for any business type, from enterprise to eCommerce, from physical to service to digital-only products.
What does a lead magnet look like?
A lead magnet can take many forms, depending on what the information is that you want to share and what format your customer would typically digest information in.
A B2B service may develop lead magnets in the form of white papers or eBooks, while an eCommerce business may offer discount codes or coupons.
Some popular formats for lead magnets include:
- eBook
- PDF brochure
- Checklist
- Worksheet
- Whitepaper
- Case study
- Video course
- Discount codes
- Coupons
A lead magnet should be instantly accessible once the prospect has submitted their email address. Most businesses set up an automation to deliver the download link or access code straight to their inbox – which is also a great opportunity to make sure they mark your address as “not spam”, for future emails.
How to create your lead magnet
The biggest decision to make is what content to provide in your lead magnet.
This content will depend on your business and what problems you can solve for your customers. It must be valuable enough to compel visitors to sign up, by either solving a direct problem, providing actionable information or linking to useful resources.
For example, an outdoors retailer may create a downloadable packing list for different types of adventure, or an eBook about basic bushcraft.
Ask yourself:
- What obstacles do our customers face?
- How can we display our unique expertise to help them?
- What would our customers find valuable?
You don’t have to go writing a 100-page eBook – that could have the opposite effect and overwhelm your potential customers. Smaller eBooks and checklists are often more effective because of their easily digestible size.
Keep it concise and to the point: aim to solve one particular problem for your customer, in clear actionable steps, and demonstrate the value they’ll be getting from this resource.
Using your lead magnet within your email marketing strategy
Once you’ve created the lead magnet, it’s time to integrate it into your digital and email marketing strategy.
You’ll need:
- A form to embed into the relevant pages of your website, plus an optional landing page for the lead magnet
- A thank you page for after they’ve submitted their email address
- An automated email that contains the download link or access to the lead magnet
From here, your new subscriber is a warm lead: you’ve established a relationship, gained their trust, and demonstrated your expertise.
Now it’s time to nurture your lead through to a conversion, with a strategic and data-driven email marketing campaign.
