A good lead magnet is an essential piece of the puzzle in a value-first, content-driven online marketing strategy. Its purpose is to provide real value to your prospect before you ask them to pull out their wallet and buy anything. It’s how you build a list of prospects interested in your products or services.
Instead of “lead magnet,” some online marketers call this valuable piece of content a freemium, a free gift, an opt-in bribe, and I’m sure many other terms or phrases as well. Call it what you will, it’s at the heart of an effective lead generation funnel.
A good lead magnet is a piece of content that will:
• provide real value and get your prospect excited to become a client or customer, and
• help you focus your time and energy on the hottest prospects — the ones most interested in what you have to offer.
Easy, peasy … right?
But what, exactly, should your lead magnet be?
You want your lead magnet to be easily consumed by your prospect in a single sitting — think appetizer rather than a full 7-course meal. It should highlight your expertise and position you as a trusted authority, and it needs to provide real value to your prospect … even if they never buy anything from you.
Figuring out what to offer as a lead magnet can seem like a daunting task. But it doesn’t have to be.
Here are 13 ideas of things you can turn into Lead Magnet downloads that you can give away to generate leads for your business:
1. Checklists
2. Resource Guides
3. Lists of Tools You Use
4. Templates
5. Special Reports
6. Videos
7. Transcripts
8. Audio Files
9. Bonus Content
10. Worksheets
11. Top 10 Lists
12. Infographics
13. Presentation Slides
Whatever format you choose, you should be giving away content that provides the solution to a problem that your audience wants to fix. It needs to be information they WANT …
It needs to be something irresistible that they want enough that they’ll give you their contact information to get it.
To give you real examples, here are some of my lead magnets (you may have already downloaded one or two of them yourself!):
3 Essential Tools, 3 Easy Steps for AUTOMATED LEAD GENERATION & FOLLOW-UP
The 16-Point Checklist I Use To Make Sure My Sales and Marketing Copy Produces Results
Editorial Calendar Template and Roadmap
‘Scope Like a Pro resource guide
So what about YOU? What can you give away that will generate leads for your business? What would your prospects find valuable and irresistible?
You probably have ideas for several different lead magnets. That’s GREAT! Create a document on your computer or a note on your phone and WRITE THEM ALL DOWN! Add to your list of potential lead magnets whenever another idea pops into your head.
Because the more lead magnets you create and are able to offer, the more leads you’ll generate, and the bigger your pool of potential clients and customers will become …
And the more money you’ll make as they buy more and more of your products and services!
