One of the fundamental steps in your sales funnel is the conversion of a prospect into a lead. A lead magnet attracts prospects, like metal to a magnet, and, when done right, it can be one of the most effective, and economical, ways to do so for generating leads.
WHAT IS A LEAD MAGNET?
By offering a prospective client something for free, you create a proposal few can refuse. However, you have to offer something they want. Something valuable. But they have to give you something in exchange: their email address. It’s a win, win situation.
A lead magnet offer is something (usually free) that is dedicated to giving your website visitor some relevant values in exchange for their contact information through a lead capture form (at the very least, an email address). It serves as a little salesperson within your funnel, ushering people from the street into your shop, lured, if you like, by a freebie.
WHAT DOES A LEAD MAGNET DO?
A lead magnet’s purpose is two-fold.
First, it collects a prospect’s contact information. Most people won’t freely volunteer their contact information. But, if they get something in return, they’ll gladly hand it over. This contact information is required to be able to continue the sales process. The capturing of name, email, and other information helps ensure that the lead is fully qualified.
Second, a lead magnet-specifically one in a well-constructed sales funnel -should create a relationship with your customer. According to common wisdom – and more than a few research studies – more than 95% of your visitors won’t buy anything on their first visit. But a lead magnet encourages them to take that next step-to begin forming a relationship with your company. You’re warming up a lead until they’re ready to buy.
Now you may be wondering, what can you give your audience as a lead magnet?
TYPES OF LEAD MAGNETS TO CONSIDER
Different lead magnets make sense at different points in your funnel.
Here are a few examples of tried and tested lead magnets that can be effective across all kinds of niches:
Newsletter – this makes sense as a great lead magnet for a potential customer only if you can commit to consistently publishing content in your newsletter that your audience will find valuable.
Case Study – offering your audience exclusive access to a compelling case study is a great way to gain their trust. You also want to ask for more information from the prospect, (email address and phone number) because someone interested in a case study is interested in your service.
Note: It’s a good offer if you’re in an industry where viewers are interested in how to accomplish something step-by-step. Two examples are marketing (“How we grew our email list to 100,000 subscribers over 5 months”) or health and fitness (“How Jill lost 75 kilos using X in only X months: the tips, recipes, and day-by-day breakdown”).
Template or Checklist Resource – A “checklist” is an easy lead magnet to brainstorm for any business. It’s simple and actionable.
eBook – perhaps the most used of all lead magnets, you’re giving prospects a highly valuable chunk of information. This is also great for content marketing as people get to see what you have on offer. The difficult part is coming up with a subject that appeals to your audience.
Email Course – This is a great way to prime your audience to open your emails, too, if you use email marketing.
Demo Video – if you have an interesting service, why not use a demonstration video as a lead magnet? Simply ask interested viewers for their email address in order to watch it. You can apply that tactic to your pricing information, too.
Webinar – another popular effective lead magnet. The reason is simple: like the eBook, it’s highly valuable information people will opt-in to see. You can also try to redirect people towards your landing page and increase organic traffic to your website.
You may offer multiple lead magnets at various stages if the lead is 100% worth it.
Whatever it is that you choose to offer, one thing is more important than anything else; it has to be a genuinely helpful, informative and engaging resource for your target audience. This will improve lead nurturing, gain a qualified lead and increase your conversion rate. Need help creating lead magnet ideas? Give us a call.
