A lead magnet is a tool that helps you attract potential customers by offering something valuable for free in exchange for their contact information, usually an email address. Think of it as a small but enticing gift that builds trust and opens the door for future business.
For example, if you’re an accountant, your lead magnet might be a free guide on “10 Tax Deductions Every Small Business Owner Should Know.” It’s a quick, free, value-packed guide that proves your expertise to prospects.
Why Use a Lead Magnet?
Because people receive so many offers every single day, they’ve become cautious about who they share their information with. A lead magnet helps break the ice by providing value upfront, with no strings attached. This not only builds credibility but also lowers the risk for potential customers, making them more comfortable engaging with your business.
The main goal of a lead magnet is to generate leads – people who are interested in what you offer and might become customers. However, it goes beyond collecting email addresses. The point of lead magnets is to start a relationship. When someone downloads your lead magnet, they’re signalling interest in your services, and now you have the opportunity to nurture that interest into a sale.
How to Create Your First Lead Magnet
Identify Customer Problems
Start by thinking about the problems your customers face – the ones your products or services solve.
For example, if you run a digital marketing agency, your clients might struggle with getting traffic to their websites. A lead magnet could be a simple checklist titled “15 Quick Tips to Boost Your Website Traffic.” Clients often reach out to the agency as they lack the expertise or time to complete the tasks themselves.
Decide What You Can Offer
For each problem, think of a small yet valuable piece of content that could help solve it. This could be a guide, a checklist, a video, or even a sample of your service. The key is to offer something that your prospects can consume quickly, ideally within an hour. This gives them immediate value and a positive experience with your brand.
Choose the Right Format
Next, choose the format that best suits your audience. Do your customers prefer reading, watching videos, or listening to podcasts? For example, if you’re targeting busy entrepreneurs, a concise checklist or a short video might be more appealing than a lengthy ebook. The format you choose should make it easy for your leads to get value from your content.
Create Your Content
Now it’s time to create your lead magnet. If you’re making a guide or checklist, tools like Canva or Google Docs can help you put together something professional-looking without much fuss. Keep the design simple and focus on delivering clear, actionable information. If you’re offering a video or audio content, make sure it’s well-produced and easy to follow.
Plus, you can use AI to help you out even further! Here’s an example of a digital marketer could do this.
Jot down your ten most common questions your audience may have, and write out answers to them all.
Put it all in ChatGPT (or Google Gemini) with the following prompt:
“You are an expert digital marketer. In the next prompt I’m going to paste in a series of my customer pain points and how my business solves them. I want you to read and remember each point, and then give me 5 suggestions, with your reasoning, for a title and strapline to a lead magnet to use in our marketing.
My company name is:
Industry:
What we do for our client:
Are you ready?”
Now paste in your lead magnet content. Wait for the answers to generate. And voilà. You can use the same approach no matter the industry you’re in.
In a few moments, we’ll talk about a few caveats when it comes to AI-generated content.
Set Up Delivery and Automation
Once your lead magnet is ready, you need to deliver it to anyone who signs up for it. Automation is your best friend here. Use a CRM system to handle the sign-ups, send out the lead magnet automatically, and track interactions. This saves you from manually sending out emails and makes sure that every lead gets their freebie without delay.
Promote Your Lead Magnet
Finally, it’s time to get the word out. Add an opt-in form to multiple pages on your website, like your homepage, service pages, and blog posts. Share the link to your lead magnet on social media, and consider using email marketing to spread the word to your existing audience. Paid ads can also drive traffic to your lead magnet, bringing in new leads more quickly.
A Word of Caution: AI and Content Creation
While AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini can be incredibly helpful in generating ideas and content, it’s important to personalise the output to fit your brand’s voice. AI has a tendency to produce similar content for different users, so always take the time to reword and adjust the content to make it unique. Tools like QuillBot can be a great first step in rephrasing AI-generated text. Good ol’ human fingers can do the trick well, too.
Start Building Your Lead Magnet Today!
Creating a lead magnet is a straightforward process that can have a big impact on your business. By offering something valuable for free, you can build trust with potential customers, generate leads, and ultimately increase sales.
So, take some time to think about what your audience needs, create a lead magnet that addresses those needs, and watch as your business starts to grow. Importantly, have your team ready to nurture them at every touchpoint.
