Lead Magnet, though the term is probably alien to you, chances are your already implementing it in your marketing without being familiar with the term in some form or another. If it happens, you don’t have one – or don’t have a good one – read on, so we can help illuminate you.
In this article, you’ll learn not only what makes a great lead magnet, but also how to optimise it to be highly effective. Acquiring high-quality leads is an important objective for any small or large business, and is instrumental to aid in boosting sales and a return on investment (ROI).
Today, we will share how to create optimised lead magnets that will attract customers and help them to fall in love with your brand.
One obstacle marketers have to hurdle is how to acquire a prospect’s contact information in a way that it will be beneficial to both parties. It’s a given that people are not that willing to provide their contact information easily – unless of course, they are offered something of value in return.
Another factor to consider is that modern users’ inboxes are overflowing, and users are not eager to blindly subscribe without a valid reason while being assured you won’t be spamming them. Without leads coming in regularly, it would be next to impossible to grow a business, which brings us to a critical part of lead generation, which is the lead magnet.
What is Lead Generation?
Let’s start by identifying what a lead is. A lead is any individual with whom a company has not done any business yet, but one who shows interest in what your company offers in some way, shape, or form.
Lead generation is the process of attracting individuals and converting them into someone who shows interest in your company’s offering, whether they be products or services, in hopes to increase future sales.
By understanding the wants and needs of these target customers, you would be able to tailor information to better draw them in, as well as qualify them based on a variety of factors. Lead generation is more than just a list of names and email addresses that marketing hands down to sales.
The lead generation process today includes:
- Attracting potential buyers using a variety of techniques.
- Providing useful information.
- Building and nurturing relationships with them.
- Evaluate the readiness of each lead to move them forward.
What a Lead Magnet is?
A vital part of lead generation is a lead magnet. At its core, a lead magnet is an offer you promote to your audience in exchange for their contact information, typically their email address. The end result of an effective lead magnet is typically an email list with the existing and potential customers.
The purpose of acquiring these contact details is to start a relationship with prospects that will eventually result in their becoming your loyal customers.
Lead magnets can be offering samples, discounts, trial subscriptions, newsletters, free consultations, cheat sheets, checklists, just to name a few.
The best and highest-converting lead magnets all have these vital elements in common:
- They have perceived value – Is what you’re offering worth giving their contact information for? Can it help them get their immediate pain points addressed? Does it offer expert insights? Can it help them get things done quicker? Will it help them save time and money?
- They are relevant – Even the most attractive offer will fall flat if it does not resonate with your target audience. Ensure that your lead magnet serves a needful purpose with your valuable target audience in mind.
- Shows your business expertise – A great lead magnet delivers on your initial promise and does not leave them hanging with a solution it doesn’t properly provide. The best lead magnets will solve just enough of the problem that makes them recognise they may not have the time or skill to continue with the proposed process, and that they are indeed in need of an expert, and ideally that your product/service is the answer they are looking for.
- They are Super Specific – The more specific your lead magnets are, the better it will convert potential customers. It would even be better if you can personalise your lead magnet to a specific landing page.
- Can be accessed and digested instantly – Users online love instant gratification through easily achieving something.
Why are Lead Magnets Important?
Consider lead magnets as your online sales person for your site. A targeted email list cannot be built without lead magnets. Furthermore, it gives your potential customers a glimpse of what your business can offer.
It is a fact that people do not buy at the first opportunity. As with any human interaction, business relationships are no different. When you meet someone for the first time, it is intimidating to ask them for their personal information, especially if there is nothing you can offer them in return.
Once someone visits your website or hears about your product or hears about its potential benefits, the process of reaching out to them begins. The prospect will feel more compelled to act if your offering proves to be valuable.
Your website can be enhanced by including a lead magnet that will encourage visitors to provide their contact information and start a relationship with your company.
When done right, you will be able to acquire massive amounts of email addresses in a short span of time. As a result, an increase in sales is more likely when you have a larger customer base.
6 Steps to Creating an Optimised Lead Magnet
Suppose a new visitor comes to your website, finds exactly what he or she is looking for, clicks on the BUY button, and you are done. Great! But it doesn’t usually happen like that, does it?
Visitors or prospects typically take their sweet time researching and comparing other websites before they decide which website to buy from. Your consolation, at least, is if you can manage to collect their email address, so you can initiate an email conversation, nurture them, and guide them through your consumer journey so that they finally convert.
Here are 6 steps you can implement in creating an optimised lead magnet to help you grow your email list.
1. Know your audience – The initial step you MUST do before creating your lead magnet is to conduct an audience research. Getting to know your audience is vital for lead generation and sales conversions.
When you skip this step (which we do not recommend), it will result in the creation of a lead magnet for yourself, and not, in any way, gives benefit to your audience. This step is vital if you intend to convert your following into customers for your business.
2. Define your purpose – An in-depth audience research will help you identify who you are looking to attract to your business and what areas you can be of help in addressing their pain points. This will help you create a lead magnet that meets their needs, and also meet the overall objective of your lead magnet creation.
3. Create your resource – Once you know your target market and the purpose of your lead magnet, it’s time to actually create it. With so many formats available to attract and convert your target audience, it will be time-consuming and costly to try them all. Set your focus on formats that are proven to work. Our favourite common ones, to name a few, are:
- Checklists
- Free Template/Workbook
- eBook
- Cheat Sheets
- Email course
- Free Webinars/Master Class/Trainings
In the same vein, you can also take a peek what lead magnet formats your competitors are not using but could potentially work for you. Don’t forget who your Lead Magnet is for and what value you’re offering.
Keep these things in mind to help you in creating your resource:
- Keep it simple – an overly complicated Lead magnet defeats its purpose. Make it simple, concise and packed with value.
- Focus on your strengths – If you are a great writer, an eBook will probably be your best format. If you’re comfortable with a camera, photos, or video will work great for you.
- Prioritise easy consumption – You’d want to help solve your prospect’s problem as quickly as possible. This gives them quick gratification, which can help them move along your sales journey quicker.
4. Build your consumer journey – For your lead generation strategy to be more effective, you must align your lead magnets with your Consumer Sales Journey. This is the process in which you guide a consumer closer to achieving the ultimate goal of making a sale.
This means you must map out the steps or stages that cover all cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioural consumer responses they experience throughout all the stages of their consumption process. The reason for this is that not everyone comes in the consumer journey at the top. Some will come on board in the middle, and others may come in near the end stages.
These stages include:
- The awareness stage
- The pre-purchase review
- Purchase stage
- And the post-purchase stages.
Note that these consumer stages are extremely unique to each business, the type of offering and the target customer. Ensure that their mental and physical experience is positive for you to easily cultivate and create a loyal target market.
5. Utilise technology – Create a lead magnet that impresses visitors ensuring it’s done professionally by utilising modern technology/design. Create your processes and optimisations to streamline its content and delivery.
The good news is that, thanks to digital transformation and the advent of various kinds of software and online business solutions. This makes it easier than ever to set up and support your lead generation process.
6. Launch your resource – Last, but certainly not least, now that you have your resource uploaded to your website, make sure you have the proper automated follow-up systems in place to ensure your lead will be nurtured once they receive the resource. Now your lead magnet is ready to be put out for the masses.
NOTE: Ensure that you also have the right reporting structures in place to measure the success of your lead generation efforts. After all, if you can’t measure the success or failure of what you have created, you won’t have a compelling reason to make it better.
Whatever you do, never stop aiming for improvement and iterating. Big wins often come from minor tweaks.
For more tips and articles like these, visit our Biz Growth Blog page. We also invite you to avail of our Free Growth Hacks page, filled with free resources that can help you achieve your financial goals by growing your business.
