It’s almost a given that you need an email list to grow your business. But do you know what the first step is? You need a lead magnet. A good lead magnet will help you create more leads and new customers faster than any other marketing tactic, but it can be hard to find one that stands out from the rest of the noise on the internet. That’s why we created this blog post: to give you some ideas for creating a powerful lead magnet with ease.
What Are Lead Magnets?
A lead magnet is an item of value given away for free in exchange for contact information, typically on a landing page. Lead magnets can be digital products like ebooks, webinars, online courses; physical products like t-shirts and mugs; or any other content that would be valuable enough to convince someone to sign up for your newsletter.
How do I create effective lead magnets? Here are some different types of lead magnets to consider;
Cheat Sheet
Cheatsheets are pretty similar to checklists. They can solve problems your customer has in one swoop, and they’re handy for several scenarios. Many people love swift solutions rather than something more in-depth, which makes cheatsheets even better.
You could also use them as content upgrades if you don’t want an opt-in on your blog posts or create entire courses out of it instead. Cheat sheets have the word “cheat” in their name, so that’s pretty powerful too, giving off a vibe that customers will get forbidden knowledge instantly draws attention to itself.
Webinars
As an online seminar, a webinar is similar to a class that teaches viewers something new and goes into depth about one specific topic. Because they use urgency by offering limited availability or time-sensitive offers, webinars attract more viewers, which increases the chances of someone signing up before it’s too late. Or you could offer prerecorded videos as your lead magnet so anyone who signs up can access them anytime across any device, including laptops/desktops and mobile phones at their convenience!
Free Software Trial
By offering a free trial for your product, you’re allowing the user to try something new and receive value from it. You can increase conversion by setting an expiration date on their offer and notifying them of this deadline.
Additionally, if they love what they experience during the trial period but don’t want to pay full price after trying out your product or service, consider extending discounts as another way of increasing conversions.
Coupon
If you want to incentivize your online shoppers, coupons are a useful tactic. They work because the visitors have already shown interest in what you’re offering by visiting your website and making it that far into the conversion funnel. Offering a coupon is often just enough incentive for them to give up their email address (and make another purchase).
For instance, Society6 offers 30% off when users type in their email address at checkout with a timed page takeover that happens almost immediately after landing on their site.
Video
There are so many things you can do with video; it’s hard to pick just one. Your audience will love the videos too. Video content is 50 times likelier than static pages to drive organic search results and increase conversion rates for your visitors.
If you want more email subscribers in no time at all, take a blog post or article and turn them into an engaging short video series that helps break down broad topics until they become specific ones. Video grabs users’ attention while prolonging engagement, making these kinds of videos popular on social media sites like Facebook & YouTube. People stay longer when watching something entertaining instead of scrolling past whatever else might pop up in their feeds right away.
Discount or free shipping
This one is an oldie but a goody! Everyone loves discounts especially free shipping, as it saves them money and time. When you offer this as part of your lead magnet, people will no doubt sign up for their chance to receive the deal on their next purchase from your store.
Another way to make this work even more effectively is by offering free standard shipping and expedited or express delivery options at different price points (i.e., $X fee for two-day delivery).
Calendar or Planner
Printable calendars and planners are a great way to help your audience remember upcoming campaigns, events, or anything else you want them thinking about. They can be branded around the niche that interests your audience most, so they see it every time they open their planner/calendar for use each day throughout the year. You can repurpose these materials again as an email campaign later on in the season.
Ebook
An ebook is an excellent option if you’re looking for something quick and easy to create. You could offer free chapters or excerpts from a longer book, which will encourage them to sign up for your newsletter to get access. This is also a great option if you have an existing book on Amazon. If the reader enjoys your content, they’ll be more inclined to purchase it in full.
A Free Course
A weekly email of lessons or videos that are part of some sort of more extensive training program will entice readers into signing up for your newsletter – especially if they can see themselves benefitting from it.
Giving out a free course is one way to encourage people who might not even realize that what you offer would benefit them right now. It’s about building trust and helping them get familiar with your business before asking for their support. So make sure this lead magnet feels like something only available through subscribing to your list, so there’s no confusion when they receive emails telling them how special subscribers they are.
Your Turn
The key to growing your email list is being able to offer something in return for signing up. A lead magnet could be a free ebook, checklist, or access to an online course that people are interested in.
It’s essential to understand who you want on your list before creating the lead magnet because it will vary depending upon what type of customer you want to attract.
Let us know if you need help figuring out which customers would benefit most from your products and services! We can help you create a marketing plan tailored specifically for them with strategies like these blog post ideas.
