Imagine being able to run your business while you take time off of work. If you think that sounds too good to be true, consider if you have and use a lead magnet.
A lead magnet is your top-of-the-funnel step to lead generation, and it can help you turn followers into customers. Then, you can increase your revenue without paying a ton for ads.
Keep reading to learn how to create the perfect lead magnet.
Consider Your Customer Needs
Before you create a lead magnet, you should consider what your ideal customer needs and wants. Think about their biggest problem that you can solve. While you can’t solve big problems for free, it can give you somewhere to start.
If you have a following on social media, you can run a poll asking for opinions on things. Then, your followers can respond with what they need or want, and you can compare the results.
If you don’t have an audience, you can do some market research. Figure out where your ideal customer hangs out or what search terms they use to find what they need. Then, you can check out what questions people have about what you offer.
Once you have an idea of what your customer needs, you can come up with ideas for the top-of-the-funnel for sales. Make sure your lead magnet can give people a quick win so that they can trust you and potentially buy from you.
Check Out Your Competition
Another way you can learn what will help with lead generation is to see what your competition offers. You can visit the website and social media accounts of businesses in your industry to learn what free offers they have.
Consider how your competition promotes their lead magnets, such as within blog posts or as a popup on their site. View their social media to see if they promote their lead magnet there as well.
You can also check out what your competition sells. Then, you can figure out if you can offer a smaller version of the product for free, such as a short eBook.
View Your Analytics
You can also use your analytics to get ideas for lead magnets to create. If you have a blog, you can view your website analytics to see what blog posts are the most popular. You can also see if people use any of the same search terms to find your site.
And if you already sell products or services, you can use the analytics from those. Consider which items get the most sales and if you can create something similar that you can offer for free.
Your analytics can tell you a lot about what works for your business and what doesn’t and are a great market research tool. Then, you can focus more of your time on creating the perfect lead magnet that will generate valuable leads.
Make It Passive
As you come up with ideas of what to offer, focus on passive digital items. While a free logo design can sound enticing, it can take up a lot of your time as you get more leads.
Instead of a free service, you could offer a checklist or an eBook. That way, people can download the lead magnet and consume it at their own pace. You won’t have to worry about scheduling time to work with people and not get paid.
Creating something digital also means you can give it away to one person or one million people. Either way, you won’t have to do extra work.
Decide What to Create
Now, you should decide what to create to generate leads for your sales funnel. Consider what your audience needs, especially if you get a lot of the same questions or if people have requested specific products.
However, you should also focus on your strengths. If you don’t know much about video editing, creating a video workshop or mini-course probably isn’t for you.
You can create a variety of things for a lead magnet, such as:
- eBooks
- Checklists
- Other printables
- Short courses
- Webinars
Next, you should make sure that whatever you create leads into one of your paid products or services. If you offer Instagram management services, you can offer something about using Instagram. Then, you can make sure people want what you offer rather than free information.
Choose Your Tools
Once you decide what type of lead magnet you will create, you can choose the tools you’ll use for it. If you want to create a checklist or another PDF, Canva is an excellent free graphic design tool.
You can also use Microsoft Word or Google Docs if you want to draft an eBook. Then, you can create a cover in Canva or another program to make the eBook look pretty when you market it.
If you’re going to give a free webinar as a lead magnet, you should consider if you want to record the event and send a replay. Also, consider how many people may want to watch so that you can choose a tool with enough capacity.
Create the First Draft
When creating an eBook or other download, you should give yourself time to create a rough draft. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and you can make small or large changes, but you should get your thoughts out.
You can write an outline for your lead magnet, or you can start creating it. Then, you can create a basic design for the digital download, and you can flush it out later.
If you want to give a webinar, you should create an outline. Practice giving the webinar to a friend or family member so that you can get comfortable speaking on camera. That way, you can feel more confident when you give the presentation.
Polish the Lead Magnet
Before you release your top-of-the-funnel product, make sure you feel good about it. When creating a download, edit the text to get rid of any spelling and grammar errors. You can even have someone else edit it for a second set of eyes.
You should also make sure the product flows well and doesn’t have any weird formatting issues. Then, you can add the cover if you design it in a separate program. Export the file as a PDF or something else that people can access on any device.
If you’re giving a webinar, rest up beforehand and put on your favorite outfit. Make sure you have water on hand in case you need it, then turn on that camera and give your talk.
Promote Your Paid Offer
Before you publish your download or finish your webinar, take time to promote a relevant paid offer. If you write an eBook on how to use Instagram, include a section at the back of the eBook on your Instagram management services.
You can promote the offer as a way to learn more about what you touched on for free. Then, you can encourage more people to buy your product or hire your services.
If you have a hard time getting good leads to convert, you can offer a discount code for people with that free lead magnet. People love a good sale, so it can be an easy way to bring in a bit of extra revenue.
Add It to Your Site
Once you complete your lead magnet, you can add it to your website so that you use it for lead generation. You can connect your lead magnet to a new or existing mailing list in an email marketing program like Mailchimp.
Then, you can upload the file to your email marketing program and add it to the email people get when they sign up. After that, you can create a popup form or embed the signup form on your website to start collecting leads.
You can also promote your lead magnet on social media and link directly to a landing page where people can sign up for your free offer. If you upload the file to your email, you won’t have to worry about sending the file manually each time you get a lead.
Add Leads to Your Sales Funnel
When someone signs up for your free lead magnet, you should automatically add them to your mailing list. That way, you can capture their email address and market to them in the future.
You can send a monthly or weekly newsletter to share updates on your products or services. Or you can create automations that lead people into your paid offers. You just write the set of emails once, and they’ll go out based on when someone signs up for your free offer.
Even if someone isn’t ready to buy from you now, you can stay on top of their mind. Then, when they’re ready to buy what you sell, they will think of you before your competition. Over time, you can get more leads and sales without a ton of work.
Creating a Valuable Lead Magnet
Whether you just started your business or have been operating for a while, you need a lead magnet. Not only that, but you need a lead magnet that will capture good leads so that you can grow your business.
Whether you create an eBook or give a webinar, the right lead magnet can make converting fans into customers easy. You can then save a lot of time and money on marketing without sacrificing your profits.
Do you need help creating a lead magnet that converts? Sign up for the Lead Magnet Virtual Summit.
Get Our Ebook on Lead Generation
Lead generation websites are ideally suited to the small local business owners as it doesn’t require selling any products online and doesn’t take an immense amount of time like other forms of online marketing do.
It is based on generating online leads through targeted Internet marketing tactics and then turning those leads into new customers.
