What Is A Lead Magnet?

Last updated: November 15, 2023 Written by:

Kinga Edwards

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A free ebook with up-to-date stats and useful information that you can download in just five seconds? It's an offer that is too good to refuse. You need to fill out a form with your data. No problem. Just five seconds and yes, you've got ready to download from your inbox!

...and this is how you fall straight into the lead magnet tactic.

What is a lead magnet, why should you implement it into your business strategy, and what are the benefits? Those questions and more are answered in this article. You will find here some lead magnet ideas and examples and learn how to build one that works.

Let's explore this win-win deal further.

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What is a lead magnet?

A lead magnet is a lead-generating marketing tool that increases a company’s chances of acquiring new customers. A lead magnet is a valuable piece of content that brands provide for free to potential customers in exchange for their email address or other contact info. Some examples of lead magnets are:

free trials,
ebooks,
samples,
white papers,
discounts.

If a lead magnet effectively reaches its target audience, you will be able to build a mailing list with existing and potential customers. As a result, you will have access to a valuable database of contacts that will be useful in further customer journeys. Why are lead magnets so effective?

Lead magnet benefits

# Mailing list extension

You can easily enhance your marketing database with many new prospective and existing customers. Each contact on your mailing list is already interested in what you have to say, so use this opportunity well and wisely.

# Exact target

Your audience's email addresses and contact information are precious, as they allow you to convert them into clients. Furthermore, it gives you a chance to target your audience more precisely during marketing campaigns and educate them about your offer.

# Expert perception

By sharing e.g. an ebook with the latest statistics and research about a specific issue, you can establish your credibility and become perceived as an expert in your field. This works even more effectively if you make such a report regularly, e.g. annually or quarterly. That takes a lot of work, but it will pay off in the long run.

# Streamlining work

After preparing a lead magnet, your job becomes much easier and more efficient. You will have a ready-made database that you can use and so you will likely notice the results of your marketing efforts much quicker than usual.

So now you know what you can get out of a lead magnet, have you decided to include one in your marketing strategy? Doing so is certainly a good idea! That’s why it’s now time to master the art of creating a lead magnet that works and has the potential to bring you the desired results.

How to create a lead magnet?

The problem is that increasingly more people are becoming extra protective of their privacy, and they are not too keen on sharing their data with brands. Even if they are familiar with and trust the company, they tend not to provide contact details as they believe doing so will lead to spam emails or intrusive phone calls.

It’s your job to give such people a compelling reason to provide you with their data. That is why your visitors need to be sure that your offer is valuable and can deliver to them what they expect. Offering something for free will increase their interest in the paid part of your offer, which in turn results in a positive conclusion.

What steps do you need to follow to create a lead magnet that converts?

1. Define the goal

Do not create a lead magnet until you have clearly defined its purpose. What do you want it to achieve? What benefits would you like to receive? If you know the answers and know precisely what to expect, you are ready to start.

2. Build a buyer persona

You should know how crucial buyer personas are in marketing. Every company, regardless of its business strategy, must have them figured out. The same goes for lead magnets. It is necessary to determine who they are made for. Keep in mind that the target audience is different to a buyer persona.

Target audience: a group of potential customers who your actions are aimed at and who might be interested in your offer.

Buyer persona: a model image of your ideal customer. It is not just about a person's attributes like gender, age, place of residence, but how they make buying decisions, their needs, and what problems they are trying to solve.
The better you know your audience, the easier it will be to deliver content that definitely interests them. It will also help you figure out which type of lead magnet will be most effective and how you should tailor the message to that specific audience.

3. Identify the value of your proposition

Once you have created your buyer personas and determined who you want to target, you need to develop ideas for lead magnets. You should find a way to encourage your target audience to take advantage of your offer. Think about their needs, identify their problems, and provide a quick solution. No worries, you will learn more about different lead magnet ideas later on.

4. Analyze the competition

You always need to keep an eye on the competition. Check what lead magnets they make use of in their strategies. It would be best to create something more accurate, more compelling, and more valuable for your shared potential customers.

5. Choose a type of lead magnet

This is the final step before starting to create a lead magnet. You must make the crucial decision of choosing the type of lead magnet to make. It may be a guide, free trial, cheat sheet, or video tutorial, for example. Whatever you decide, it should be well-considered and tailored to your target audience’s needs. Concentrate on your strengths and make them known to your prospects. A title that reflects the value of your lead magnet and how to implement it should be planned in advance.

Nonetheless, if you decide to use lead magnets to boost your business strategy, you need to know what elements make it unique and irresistible. What are the secrets of a powerful lead magnet?

A good lead magnet is:

Problem-solving. If it fails to solve a prospect’s problem or doesn’t give them what they want, it will fail.
High-quality. A good lead magnet should provide real value if it is to be well perceived and build up your reputation as an expert.
Instantly available. It’s best if a lead magnet can be delivered immediately, e.g., by downloading in one click, just after entering an email address.
Specific. Don’t create a lead magnet about something generic, as people want to benefit from precise information that they can actually use.
Showing your best points. The value that your lead magnet provides must convince your visitors to choose your offer over that of the competition.

Lead magnet landing page

After learning the basics, you need to understand the role that a landing page plays in distributing a lead magnet.

A landing page is the place where you will gather information from visitors willing to download a given lead magnet. Once a potential customer clicks on a CTA button, they will be directed to a landing page where they will fill in a form with their name, email address, and other information you thought essential to ask for. Such a form should be short and not require many fields to be filled in, which will make It easier to complete and might bring more leads as a result.

Source: https://landingi.com/design/template-gallery/e-marketing-ebook/

Using a landing page builder can be of great assistance with making such a page. It will help you to create a landing page without having any coding skills as you can choose from a wide range of landing page templates and tailor one to your brand identification. That’s all it takes, so the page can be ready in minutes.

However, building a landing page carefully is very important if you want such a site to convert well. Although a landing page creator can speed the process up, you should put some effort into making it.

In short, what should a good landing page contain?

Excellent design and UX – remember that a landing page needs to encourage potential clients to download your lead magnet, should work smoothly without any bugs, and should look as well as perform at the highest level possible. You can achieve it by following landing page best practices.
Clear and convincing message – get your visitors interested in the content and then convince them they will benefit from your lead magnet.
Form that converts – keep it short and only ask for essential information.
CTA – a short phrase that will encourage visitors to fill in the form.
Testing – run A/B tests regularly (find out how) and tweak your landing page accordingly to improve its performance.

Make your landing page as compelling as your lead magnet – it needs to be absolutely irresistible and valuable to every visitor.

Lead magnet ideas

No matter if your target market is B2B, B2C, or both – you can take advantage of these tried and tested lead magnet examples. Get inspired and choose the type of lead magnet that will work best for your audience.

1. Video tutorial

Valuable content in video format is the perfect choice, especially if you want to provide your potential customers educational benefits. Offering a free training video can be an excellent way to start a relationship with your potential client.

2. An excerpt from an online course

First lesson of an online course is a great idea for a lead magnet. You can engage potential clients by giving them educational value that can encourage them to continue your course. You can set up an email series - a sequence of messages sent directly to the customer's inbox, or just include a link to the video/text-based course in the message.

Source: https://landingi.com/use-cases/webinar-signup/

3. Template

Another popular lead magnet idea is a cheat sheet or template that can be sent right to email inboxes. It could be anything that provides a point from which your leads can start making something to use for their own purposes, e.g. a spreadsheet for managing household finances.

4. Toolkit

Such a lead magnet usually gives insights into similar solutions offered on the market. What are their differences, what kind of service does each tool provide? This kind of toolbox gives potential customers a broad view of available tools and helps them make a decision about which one to use.

5. Webinar

Another lead magnet example is a free webinar. A visitor needs to register to receive a link to your virtual event. It could be an educational webinar about a product that you offer or an interesting meeting with great guests.

6. Ebook/Guidebook

These are examples of lead magnets enclosed in files that your potential clients will have access to by leaving their contact details. It’s a type of lead magnet that requires a lot of work to be ready for launch. It’s a book that should provide your potential customers with information that they will not get anywhere else. Guidebooks are particularly useful when provided as a component of your sales funnel to educate prospects on why they should purchase from you.

To sum up

As you can see, a lead magnet is part of a carefully thought out marketing strategy – it's no coincidence that you adhere to a company's requirements in order to get access to their latest report, ebook, or free trial, for example.

A lead magnet can help you to achieve your marketing goals. However, like many other marketing activities, it needs to be preceded by research and solid data. Analyze your buyer personas and competitors, develop your ideas, and create an irresistible lead magnet. Don’t forget to prepare a good landing page either, then you'll be ready to watch your mailing lists grow bigger and better.