Seasoned digital marketers or lead generators continue to churn out massive data for their marketing list or email database. How do they do it? They offer prospective subscribers or buyers a lead magnet. If you check out their opt-in forms or welcome letters, you always see a prominently displayed sign announcing freebies, sign up offers, and the like. These are called lead magnets.
Lead magnets, essentially, are incentives that you promise to give to prospects in return for their personal information. A free offer can come in many forms – it might be a free white paper, training video, digital gift certificates, and even an offer for free consultations.
Lead magnets increase subscription rates and are simple to create. However, you need to make sure to make effective lead magnets in order to make the most of their use. How to do it?
- Place yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Figuring out what customers want is the first step, and thinking like your potential leads can help you create an efficient lead magnet. Ask yourself what topics interest your target and the most convenient format for the magnet. Check out what your target audience likes by creating a survey, generating discussions on your social media page, even trolling relevant blogs and forums.
- Promise specific value. Generic headlines like “Unlocking The Secrets of The Internet” or “Make More Money Online” not only sound phony, it will make your lead magnet seem like a phishing expedition. Offer concrete values like “Make $500 Easily in 2-3 Hours” or “Your Inbox Can Get You Free GCs”. List down different headlines and go with the most compelling ones.
- Make a killer call to action. Get something better than just having a “Subscribe” button. Even if prominently displayed, people will still likely miss it if it doesn’t stand out from the rest. “Watch the video” or “Get the tickets here” will be more likely to get you twice as many subscribers.
- Display lead magnets prominently. For website opt-in forms, a pop-up lead magnet works best. Make sure though, that it pops up sparingly as it not only tends to distract, but annoy prospects if it keeps on popping up on every click.
- Stack them up. If you already have a lead magnet, don’t just stop at one. You can add a couple more, and vary the focus. You can use a free pdf for the first one, a video for another, free coupons, etc. You can even test lead magnets against each other and maintain the most effective ones.
Just asking people to enter personal information and subscribe to a newsletter will not work anymore – especially nowadays where an overwhelming number of free newsletters is often mixed up with spam content. People are wary of giving out their information, and so you must give them a reason to join your email list. A lead magnet with a valuable, particular, and actionable content is an effective way to lure prospects and increase leads.