Creating the perfect lead magnet for your business
The purpose of a lead magnet is to gather leads into your business, growing your list in the process. The perfect lead magnet is something of perceived value that your ideal target client simply has to have, and they’ll be more than willing to trade their contact details with you in order to obtain it.
But how do you create the perfect lead magnet?
Our team could, of course, do it for you. We’d be delighted to have a chat with you about your business, and we can even write, design, create and promote your lead magnet on your behalf so that it fills your business funnel with leads.
But maybe you’d like to have a go yourself? In which case, allow us to present the perfect formula for a lead magnet that works.
*As of July 2023
Recipe for the perfect lead magnet
We’ve laid out all of the ingredients for the perfect lead magnet.
The Title of YOUR Lead Magnet
The single most important part of your lead magnet!
The title of your lead magnet needs to be something your target client cannot resist, and it usually takes the format of: How to [achieve goal] without [pain point]. For example, “How to Get Clients on Social Media Without Paying for Ads”. The right title is the difference between your lead magnet being downloaded and thousands of people going into your list, and your lead magnet sitting unloved on your website.
The Cover of YOUR Lead Magnet
The cover is the second most important part of your lead magnet. It has to look exciting, engaging and of sufficient quality that your target clients will want it. If it looks cheap, poorly designed or boring, nobody will download it and you’ll have wasted your time.
The Landing Page Promoting YOUR Lead Magnet
The landing page for your lead magnet is vital. It needs to convey all the benefits someone will receive when they download your lead magnet, convince them of its value, and persuade them of your credibility. To pull back the curtain slightly… THIS is a landing page you’re reading right now! It should offer social proof in for the form of testimonials, case studies and results-based evidence of how the lead magnet they’re about to download works. It should include evidence of your accomplishments, why they should choose you, and what makes you different? It should offer something called ‘future pacing’, which uses language designed to take your target client into the future and imagine a time after they have downloaded your lead magnet and put it into practice – what have they now achieved?
It should also be full of easy-to-access calls to action for them to download your lead magnet, or whatever it is you want someone to do, and these buttons should be frequent throughout your landing page.
On that note...
Upsell / Tripwire / OTO (one time offer)
When someone downloads your lead magnet, what happens next? Do they land on a ‘thank you’ page that just thanks them for downloading it? Or do they get presented with an irresistible offer for something that solves their problem more quickly than reading your lead magnet ever could? Perhaps a ‘one time offer’ they can only claim then and there?
OTOs tend to be very low cost, under £30, and aren’t designed to make you your fortune. Instead, they’re designed to move your warm leads into hot leads, splitting the tyre kickers from the genuine prospects, and they also should pay for any ads you’re running to fill your funnel. A decent conversion rate for lead magnet downloads to OTO purchases would be around the 10% mark. Any more than that, and you’re really doing well.
Follow Up
Most people miss this step entirely. When someone downloads your lead magnet, they’re a warm lead. Don’t let them go cold. Consider an automated email follow-up and mailing sequence or, better yet, a personal phone call or text message. As we’ll come onto in a moment, most people who download your lead magnet won’t read it all – they want the answers to their problems, and you can give them those answers.
Demand
Will anyone actually want your lead magnet? Will your target clients want your lead magnet? There’s really no point doing any of this if nobody wants it, is there? You can gauge the demand in advance by polling your existing clients or your social media followers on what problems are most pressing for them right now.
Audience
And who is your audience anyway? You need to know exactly who you’re aiming your lead magnet at, and what they most need or want.
CTA (call to action)
If your lead magnet is successful (and if you follow all of the ingredients in this recipe, it will be) you’ll be putting it in the hands (or on the computers and tablets) of hundreds and thousands of potential clients. What you absolutely don’t want to do then, however, is forget to add in your contact details and calls to action.
Ensure your lead magnet has your preferred method of communication on each page (phone number, email, WhatsApp etc) so that your target clients can get in touch with you should they need to. Also have more ways you can help them on the final page, such as a link to a video using a QR code, or links to further lead magnets. Think of your lead magnet as a large business card people download.
Contents of Lead Magnet
Last, and surprisingly also least, is the actual contents of the lead magnet itself. This where most marketers and business owners go wrong. They put all of their time and effort into the content of the lead magnet, and skip over the other more important points. This leaves them with a failed lead magnet nobody wants, and a failed marketing campaign. The sad truth is that most people who download your lead magnet won’t actually read it.
I’m sorry, but it’s true. They’ll download it looking for instant gratification. Instant results. But when they realise it takes a little more work, they’ll give up. The content is the least important part.
*As of August 2023
Want to talk through some ideas for a lead magnet?
Even if you’d like to have a go at creating your own lead magnet yourself, we’d be more than happy to have a chat with you to find out more about your business and give you some ideas for your lead magnet. Book a call with one of our team today, tell us what you’re looking to do and we can give you some free advice.
*As of August 2023
