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A kickass lead magnet is an essential content marketing tool for your small business or startup. It forms part of your lead generation strategy and starts the process of a potential customer’s journey through the top of your sales funnel.
If you haven’t heard of a lead magnet or think it’s just a marketing buzzword you need to read this post!
So, what exactly is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet helps you convert new prospects into leads. It’s as simple as that!
I love Ryan Deiss’s definition, as follows:
Lead Magnet – noun – an irresistible bribe offering a specific chunk of value to a prospect in exchange for their contact information.
Magnet is an appropriate term. An effective lead magnet attracts the right leads to you by being attractive to your target audience.. There’s no point attracting people who can’t afford what you’re offering. And once your ideal client is willing to provide their contact details and is interested enough to take the time to check out your ‘chunk of value’ it means that they have a vested interest in your brand and the products or services you provide. As well as helping to create brand awareness, your lead magnet gives them confidence in your brand.
Turn prospects into leads
There’s no point having a website or social media pages without having any means to contact followers or website visitors and engage with them. Remember, not everyone will want to purchase your products or services straight away– many people will require multiple touchpoints with your brand before they become a customer or client.
Win future business
According to Bounce Exchange, 70–96% of unsatisfied visitors won’t return to your site which means a missed opportunity of winning their business. If you have a kickass lead magnet, you can stop that happening!
Many solopreneurs I come across think they just need a social media profile. Unfortunately, this just won’t cut it unless you’re really lucky! And bear in mind with social media pages, the platforms own the data for your followers so if your page is suddenly shut down you will be up shit creek without a paddle! This is because your audience will disappear along with the page. And, albeit less dramatic, your engagement can easily drop when there is an algorithm change!
Why do you need a kickass lead magnet?
A lead magnet is the key to a healthy sales funnel. In fact your sales funnel is broken without a lead magnet!
However long you’ve been in business and whatever your annual turnover, your success and potential for sustainable growth depends on two things.
- Your ability to retain existing customers and turn them into loyal brand advocates.
- Your ability to attract and convert new prospects into leads and eventually customers.
The irresistible power of the lead magnet
A recent study from Microsoft showed that 89% of people are willing to share their personal information in exchange for clearly defined benefits so a kickass lead magnet is a no brainer!Your lead magnet starts the process of building a relationship that hopefully ends with a new paying customer!
How do you turn prospects into leads?
For your prospect to begin their customer journey, you need to find them and persuade them to give you their name and email address. You do this by offering them valuable content i.e. your lead magnet. Once you have this information, they become a ‘warm lead’.
You do this by adding a Call to Action (CTA) to your website so that prospects can access your lead magnet. The prospect will then be taken to a landing page where they fill in their contact details. Next, they will be taken to a ‘Thank You’ page and finally the lead magnet will be sent to them.
Note: Don’t be lazy and just add a newsletter subscriber form to your website! A newsletter is also a great marketing tool, but it isn’t as powerful as a lead magnet!
You can also promote your lead magnet on social media, either through posts seen by your existing followers/connections or through paid adverts.
What makes a kickass lead magnet?
Lead Magnets aren’t all created equally. A kickass lead magnet is the secret sauce to list building that attracts your ideal client, solves one of their pain points and can be quickly and easily consumed.
A lead magnet must deliver in terms of content & style!
Spend some time and put some thought into creating your lead magnet. You want to ensure it’s attractive in terms of both content and style. Include images such as graphics for killer conversions.
The recipe for a successful lead magnet campaign is all about creating great content (insert content is king link), (maybe including an engaging Facebook advert), targeting the right audience and being able to interpret the results properly.
A kickass lead magnet will help establish trust and build buyer confidence. Consider your target market’s pain points and tailor your lead magnet to help solve one of them.
Also, remember that once you have your lead you need to continue to entice them through the rest of your sales funnel and turn them into a paying customer or client. But that’s another story!
What types of lead magnet can you offer?
A kickass lead magnet doesn’t have to be long, complex or take hours to create. Quality over quantity is the key! However, it does need to make an impression and be consumed! After all, want your lead to act! Digital Marketer has some great lead magnet ideas and Talk Business has some kickass tips on how you can increase sales with lead magnets. Another useful resource is My Startup CEO’s tips on how to capture leads for your small business. Plus you can check out the lead magnet download from Bizmosis.
Popular lead magnet ideas
Some popular lead magnet ideas include the following:
- E-Book
- Report/Guide
- Cheat Sheet
- Mini Workbook
- Product Video Tutorial
- Remote Demo
- Audio Download
- Quizz
- Downloadable Printable:
- Webinar or Masterclass
- First Chapter of Book:
- Taster Course Module
- 7-day Challenge
- Swipe File
- Case Study
Gill Andrews has written a great PDF about the best lead magnets plus checklist.
Is a lead magnet GDPR Compliant?
According to GDPR, it seems contradictory to collect personal data to give a free resource. However, there is some provision in place that enables businesses to continue to do so.
Make sure you are GDPR Compliant!
You need to be GDPR Compliant when you’re sending lead magnets. so make sure you are familiar with the rules and regs as follows:
- There should be a legitimate reason for processing the data (i.e., the email address) that’s consistent with the service being offered.
- It’s reasonable for the data to be handled.
- There should be a minimal invasion of privacy.
- Specific consent has been given that is clearly unambiguous.
- Data processing will stop when consent is withdrawn.
Hopefully, I’ve persuaded you that a lead magnet isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a vital part of your sales funnel and if you don’t already have one you need to create one today!
But remember that lead magnets only get you names and email addresses. The real value of the lead magnet is in how you use that list of email addresses in your email marketing strategy. But that’s another story!
FANCY A FREEBIE?!
Grab my kickass lead magnet to help you create a kickass Brand Visual Identity here
