In this post, you’ll learn about lead magnets, ideas, delivery and design of lead magnets.

You’ll also discover the lead magnet definition:

Very few people seem to remember but there was a time when people wanted to receive e-mails from anyone.

Free e-mail on the Internet was a novelty at that time and people were willing to input their e-mail address in any form that asked them for their e-mail.

Thanks to the relentless spam and misuse of e-mail marketing, these days it is difficult to get people to part with their e-mail.

However, e-mail marketing still remains one of the top forms of marketing as it gives businesses direct access to potential and existing customers.

Since everyone realizes the importance of building an e-mail list, almost every business has an e-mail subscription box on their website.

But people have become so used to the same old strategies that they simply ignore those subscription boxes unless they specifically want to subscribe.

It’s similar to the phenomenon of banner blindness.

Businesses need innovative thinking to get visitors to given their e-mail and hence, the concept of lead magnet.

What is Lead Magnet?

In simple terms, it can be defined as an offer that is designed to get website visitors to give their contact information in exchange for something valuable.

It is also known by many other names such as free gift, human grabber, ethical bribe, sign up gift, sign up offer and incentive among others.

It can be in a variety of forms but the most often used incentive is a downloadable, free report or e-book.

So, if you want to acquire more subscribers, here are a few tips on how to create effective lead magnets for your website.

Lead magnet properties:

Lead magnets will vary with the kind of business you have.

For instance, lead magnets work great for:

• consultants
• trainers
• coaches
• software & technology companies
• local business owners
• information marketers

…and in general, business professionals and firms who sell tools, information and expertise.

The lead magnet can be in the form of:

• a free webinar
• a free assessment test
• a free podcast
• a free video or video series
• downloadable E-books
• white papers
• cheat sheets / resources lists
• training courses via e-mail
• and other such information.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Similarly, e-commerce businesses can have lead magnets in the form of:

• free shipping coupon
• discount coupon
• discount coupon for first order
• tips on saving money
• free VIP membership
• free educational materials for solving problems
• free gift with first-order and similar.

In the case of service business such as mechanics, plumbers, doctors, plastic surgeons, realtors and veterinarians, a lead magnet can be:

• free online tools such as specialized calculator
• tips to be a smart buyer
• free coupons (with expiration date)
• how-to content for DIY projects
• educational download about the industry and what to avoid

In the case of software business, it can be a

• free member account
• premium features for a week
• free trial of software tool
• industry research report or white paper
• downloadable desktop app with limited features

Things You Need to Do before Creating Lead Magnet

One way to find out the most effective lead magnet for your business is to create a number of things without putting too much thought into it and test them all.

However, this is inefficient and very costly way of doing things.

How to create a lead magnet, you say?

Many people make the mistake of putting too much effort into an idea that they think will work but ultimately it turns out that nobody or a very few people want that thing. You can never be sure which idea will click with potential customers.

A better way to do is think about your target audience, their goals and how your lead magnet can help them.

STEP 1:
The first step in the process is to figure out the demographics of your niche. It will help you in figuring out the goals of your targeted customers and how you can help them. Take a notepad and start brainstorming.

STEP 2:
Write down as many ideas as you can and start creating headlines. Take 5 to 10 of these ideas (which you think are the best) and write them down on a separate sheet of paper.

STEP 3:
To choose the best among these, turn to your existing customers and ask them about their opinion. You can give them a call or meet them face to face or use online forms.

This will give you some winners and now you can build upon those ideas and split test them.

This process will save you a lot of time, money and energy.

Examples of Highly Effective Lead Magnets

Interactive Quiz

This lead magnet is successfully used by many businesses such as Infusionsoft and Hubspot.

In the case of Hubspot, visitors are asked to click a button (Step 1) and then enter their information to download the State of Inbound Report (Step 2). However, visitors need to give their e-mail to get the information and custom downloadable report.

Similarly, Infusionsoft asks the visitors to take the assessment test and visitors are asked to input their website & e-mail to see the results.

Additionally, a visitor can opt-in to other ‘juicy’ marketing and business tips.

This lead magnet works as people have already invested a few minutes of their time and do not want to lose that investment. A vast majority of visitors give their e-mail address to find out more about their website.

In another example from hubspot (in los angeles, ca), we see an a presentation of a direct, one-pager (above the fold of the page) squeeze page with an offer (bribe) for the “How To Get 100,000 readers for your blog”:

Special Deal Offer

The ‘special deal’ lead magnet is used by a lot of service companies. They usually offer a coupon or special deals in return for e-mail of the visitor.

Since people always want free stuff, they are ready to pay the small price of giving their e-mail address to get a coupon that can be worth a few dollars.

Video or Podcast

Videos are the in thing. Everyone loves to watch videos on Internet. In fact, it is estimated that 70% of Internet bandwidth is consumed by video content.

So, create a great video with proper editing and an interesting title to capture leads. Keep the video short so that visitors can watch the whole video in one sitting.

Podcasts are also gaining popularity. It is possible that some of your potential customers like podcasts. So, you can also give them the option of a free podcast in place of video.

Free Shipping or Discount Coupons

Various shipping options and unique use of coupons are ideas from the most effective lead magnets for e-commerce companies.

Many companies offer a discount coupon for first order or free shipping coupon on the first-order in exchange for their e-mail.

This is a very powerful way of building up a subscriber list of potential customers who can be e-mailed again with special offers and discounts.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, the goal is to create highly targeted lead magnets.

Generic freebies that are not relevant to your business and not helpful for your customers are not going to work well as people are bored of those things.

It is important to use separate lead magnets for different products and services.

Do not forget to split test your lead magnets and retain the one with the highest conversion rate.

You can start with leadpages.net or unbounce.com to create and edit lead magnet pages and popups for your website.

WARNING: But, as you’ve learned – DO NOT start with the shiny tools!

Begin creating a strategy, document the steps, be clear on the goal and get help if you need to.

BONUS: Get the free lead generation guide that will show you how to quickly get more leads from traffic. Includes 2 bonus strategies not found in this post.