Lead Magnets PART ONE – What they Are and Which Ones to Use in Each Stage of Your Marketing Funnel
Turn contacts into customers.
See an example of an online assessment lead magnet we created for a client: CLICK HERE
What’s a lead magnet?
Most marketers know what a lead magnet is, so if some of this info is too rudimentary, skip forward. However, I’m starting with the basics because even though most business owners have an idea of what they are, they’re a bit fuzzy about how they work, when to use them and how to create them. This is PART ONE in a two-part article, and it’s intended to serve as a comprehensive guide for beginners so you can start turning contacts into customers!
A lead magnet is a free resource (e.g., a webinar), tool ( e.g., a template) or a special offer (e.g., a discount) that a business gives to potential customers in exchange for their contact information, especially the coveted email address. An effective lead magnet is one that offers something of enough immediate value that potential customers are willing to give up their contact information in order to get it.
Lead magnets are a type of content within a company’s content strategy (and the content strategy is part of the company’s broader marketing strategy). Lead magnets have a call-to-action that asks the prospect to enter their contact information (typically via an opt-in form on a web landing page) in order to access the resource, tool or special offer. That’s why lead magnets are also called ‘gated’ content. ‘Gated’ means that the lead magnet is locked behind the gate of the opt-in form and cannot be accessed until the prospect gives up their contact information.
What’s the difference between lead generation and lead magnet?
The term ‘lead generation’ represents the marketing processes and tactics a business uses to generate marketing leads as part of its overall marketing plan. A lead magnet is an essential tactic used within lead generation that makes it effective. Lead magnets literally ‘magnetize’ (generate) new leads!
What’s the purpose of using lead magnets?
The primary purpose of lead magnets is to get more potential customers into the top of the company’s marketing funnel. They do this by growing the company’s prospect database. The more contacts the company collects, the more people it can communicate with directly via email, text, phone or mail. The goal of communicating with this growing list is to nurture a relationship with potential customers, and ultimately, get them to buy something.
What other benefits will my business get from using lead magnets?
Beyond filling your marketing funnel with new prospects, lead magnets offer several other benefits: They will:
Increase conversion rates of lead generation activities.
Engage prospects who aren’t ready to buy yet and build their interest.
Establish a company’s industry authority and credibility.
Provide valuable data on prospects to further refine and improve overall marketing.
How do lead magnets work from the prospect’s perspective?
A lead magnet works best when it offers one valuable thing in exchange for simple contact information. The more information you demand, the more people you’ll lose due to annoyance or wariness. For top-of-funnel lead magnets, a first name and email address should suffice. At lower levels of the marketing funnel, you can ask for more information. Here’s the typical lead magnet process from the prospect’s perspective:
Organic SEO or paid SEM attracts a prospect to a place on the Internet that promotes your lead magnet. This could be a lead magnet featured in a social post, paid ad or organic web content.
The prospect clicks a link to get the lead magnet, which goes to a web landing page on your website that has an opt-in form that requires the prospect to enter his email address, name and possibly other info.
The prospect submits his contact information via the form to access the lead magnet. Usually, the contact information from the form goes into your company’s email marketing software where it is stored.
After submitting the form, the lead magnet can be delivered in multiple ways to the prospect. Sometimes, the prospect is allowed to immediately download something. Or often, the prospect will receive an email with further instructions for how to download, access or utilize the lead magnet.
The prospect is now in your company’s email marketing list and will receive your marketing communications – and more lead magnets designed to nurture the relationship and get the prospect to a purchase decision.
How do lead magnets work on the back-end at my company?
The term ‘lead magnet’ is a bit misleading for newbies because it implies that you just need a lead magnet. The reality is that it’s more complicated than that. A lead magnet only works as part of a broader lead magnet campaign that your company must create to support each lead magnet and the ongoing nurturing of all collected leads. The core prerequisites are a website and an email marketing program.
These are the 10 steps of a basic lead magnet campaign, from the top to the bottom of your marketing funnel:
Have a website and an email marketing program in place.
Determine the resource or offer your lead magnet will deliver.
Build a web landing page specific to the lead magnet with an opt-in form.
Design and/or write lead magnet content piece(s) for promotion.
Program an automated thank you message and/or lead magnet access instructions (via website or email) that appears for the prospect after they submit the form.
Promote the lead magnet on social media, organic content and/or in advertising.
Ensure all leads get into your email marketing program and are properly tagged and/or segmented.
Enroll new leads in automated email nurture sequences (and/or text, phone or mail campaigns) so they receive continued communications that nurture your relationship with them.
Use different lead magnets to entice them to learn more about your products and to obtain more details about each prospect so you can segment your marketing based on their needs.
Convert them to customers, and then send different lead magnets that turn them into loyal advocates!
Where do I use lead magnets in my marketing funnel?
Everywhere! The four levels of the classic marketing funnel, from top to bottom, are: Awareness, Consideration, Conversion and Loyalty. Different lead magnets are used to move a prospect from the top (awareness) to the bottom (loyalty). Learn about each funnel level, with examples of lead magnets that typically work best.
1) Awareness: The purpose of lead magnets is to attract potential customers and get them into the funnel
Prospects have identified a problem that is related to what you sell and they want to solve it. The best lead magnets are tools, tips or prizes that are easy to obtain and use. The lead magnet should help them solve their problem, teach them something, or offer a prize/freebie. The goal of these lead magnets is to subtly lure them into accepting more information from your company as they begin to view you as a source of helpful information.
Lead magnet examples:
Swipe Files
Tool or Toolkit
Template or Script
Cheat sheet or Checklist
Guide or eBook
Quiz or Poll
Industry Calculator
Contest or Giveaway
2) Consideration: The purpose of lead magnets is to make a case for your product and segment potential customers.
Prospects are now actively seeking to purchase a solution for their problem and they are considering their options. Here, the primary goals of lead magnets are to establish your company’s authority and provide product education that persuades them to consider purchasing your product over your competitors.
At this stage, lead magnets are also used to obtain more information about the prospect so that you can segment them into different groups based on their interests or product needs. For example, if you own a SaaS company, you can use lead magnets that require the prospect to enter what industry their company is in, e.g., ‘financial services’ or ‘healthcare,’ which enables you to send them future communications that are specific to their industry.
Lead magnet examples:
Webinar
Digital Course
Email Mini-course
Product Fit Assessment
Product-specific Calculator
White Paper
Industry Report
3) Conversion: The purpose of lead magnets is to get the prospect to try and buy your product or service.
Prospects have now evaluated your product among the options that could solve their problem and are getting ready to make a purchase decision. At this stage, the goal of lead magnets is to ‘seal the deal’ by convincing them that your product is the best option, or by giving them such a great deal that they’re willing to buy even if they’re not sure you’re the best option. You accomplish this by letting them try or product, delivering in-depth information that proves why it’s better than competitors, and/or by offering monetary discounts and incentives.
Lead magnet examples:
Free Consultation
Product Demo or Trial
Free Limited Account
Discount Off Purchase
Special Offers, e.g., BOGO
Subscription: Free Month
Free Shipping, Gift or Membership with Purchase
4) Loyalty: The purpose of lead magnets is to retain customers and turn them into raving fans and advocates.
Prospects have purchased your product and are now customers. At this stage, the goals of lead magnets are to gather information about their experience with your product and shower them with appreciation so that they stay satisfied and become repeat customers. Ideally, you can use lead magnets as part of your strategy to cultivate a fanbase of advocates who not only buy from you, but also help to attract new customers and build your brand’s reputation.
Lead magnet examples:
Loyalty Program Membership
Free Appreciation Gift
Discounts and Special Offers
Sample of New Product
Account Upgrade
Discounts and Special Offers
Free Shipping
Get more tactical details on creation, SEO and usage in Part Two!
Now that you’ve got a lot of great ideas to consider, stay tuned for Lead Magnets Part Two! In the next article, we’ll cover how to determine how many lead magnets you need, how to create them, how to repurpose old content, and how to optimize them so they get found online.
Lead magnets are the key to a stellar content strategy that converts! Let me know what types of lead magnets have worked – or flopped – in your business?
