92% of customers that visit retail websites aren’t ready to buy (source). Which means that for every 10 people visiting your website, 9 are just browsing. And maybe 1 will buy, if they don’t buy from your competitors. So, it’s crucial that you make them remember you when they’re ready to buy. How do you this?
By collecting email addresses and sending them useful emails every couple of days. The best bit is, that the whole process can be done for free and fully automated. But the first question we need to answer, ‘What can we give them for free in exchange for their email address?’
Before we talk about lead magnets. Let’s be clear what a lead is…
A lead is someone that shows interest in your product.
For example, you advertise on Instagram and Google for your product. 1000s will see it. But maybe only 50 will click on your advert and go to your website.
These 50 are called leads. From these 50 maybe 10 will buy from you i.e. turning into customers.
What Is A Lead Magnet?
It’s a bribe… but better. It’s something you give your website visitors in exchange for joining your email list.
Lead magnets can be a piece of information (like access to a report) or a promotion code for a discount. They are also sometimes called “Freebies,” “a free report” or “signup incentives”.
Here’s an example of a lead magnet (it’s a 10% discount):
Sarah's Search for a Coat
As the summer tails off, Sarah starts thinking about a new coat. She googles the latest coats and clicks on mango.com. Just as she's about to exit she gets the following screen; “Subscribe now and get 10% off new collection garments”
10% off for just adding an email address? She enters your email address, knowing that she's just in ‘window shopping’ mode. After a while surfing different online stores, Sarah decides to continue her search tomorrow.
The next day at work, Sarah receives an email from Mango. Showing off their latest coats. She finally sees one she likes. With the 10% off and 7-day refund policy, it's an easy decision for her to buy.
Why use lead magnets?
They get results! It’s possible to DOUBLE or TRIPLE the conversion rate for your opt-in form simply by adding an incentive to sign up.
Think of all the work you do to drive traffic to your site. All the work you do to attract clients or customers. What if you could get 20, 30, 40 or 50% more results from all that? That’s what a good lead magnet can deliver.
What Makes a Good Lead Magnet
Something that gets the attention of your visitors. Something that addresses their biggest fears, problems, challenges or questions.
Basically, something that’s useful, but also something that grabs their attention.
Make The Title Powerful
Which sounds more appealing:
- “Weight loss information”
- “How to lose a stone in 7 days”
The second title is much more powerful and speaks to a specific desire.
16 Types of Lead Magnets
- Free samples
- Offer a free trial
- A coupon (if you’re a retailer or a local business, this is for you). Coupons can be for 10% off, for free shipping, for a free cup of coffee
- A video course
- An infographic so useful they’ll want to tape it to their refrigerator or their office wall
- A gear list – i.e. essential tools, online tools, resource list all compiled into one list so the user doesn’t have to find them separately
- A checklist for how to do something that needs to be done more than once or that seems complicated
- A how-to eBook in PDF format
- A half hour consultation with you. This one is excellent for coaches
- Free tickets to a special event (best for local businesses)
- Give access to a free membership site, or to a private Facebook group
- Have a quiz or poll on your site. Only give people access to the answers or the results if they give you their email address
- Offer a giveaway or let people enter a contest or sweepstakes
- Offer access to a webinar, or a recorded webinar or workshop
- Offer a “swipe file” – a collection of templates that people can tailor to their own use
- Report/Guide – How to, x steps to, etc
5 Wayst to Come up With Ideas for Lead Magnets
Put yourself in their shoes. If you were looking for information about your topic, what would you really want to know?
Make a list of things that come to mind.
Then, scratch everything off the list that is easy to find out. You know – the things people might want to know that already have been answered on other sites a hundred times before.
You want to answer the questions or solve the problems people can’t find anywhere else. That will make your site unique and will make your opt-in incentive irresistible.
Do you know of a few major sites that attract the audience you want? See which articles or blog posts are most popular there.
If it’s a forum or online community, see which conversations get the most activity
Visit the major Facebook pages in your niche. If your audience is more suited to B2B, see what’s going on in LinkedIn groups.
- Don’t forget YouTube
- See which videos have the most views
- Read the comments in the videos
- Pay special attention to the questions people ask
This is a forgotten source of amazing market research. Amazon reviews for books (and for products, if you’re an affiliate marketer or an online store) can tell you all sorts of information about why people bought a book or product.
You’ll also learn why people either liked or didn’t like something.
Finally, check out the comments made about the reviews. Sometimes the comments go on for pages.
Your Turn
Think of something that you can give away for free that is automated and free.
In the weight loss example above. The guide is the lead magnet. You can go on to sell personal training, weight loss supplements or even gym membership. Because they’re all related.
The link below will open a pdf that can give you some ideas for your lead magnet.
