Lead Magnets: How to Use Them to Get Prospects
Growing your business requires turning your prospects into leads that you can then nurture into customers and brand advocates—this is where the importance of list building comes in. It is essential to build up an email list of prospects and customers that you can consistently provide value to and to whom you can promote. So how do you effectively build up your email list? How do you go beyond just offering your audience the opportunity to subscribe to your newsletter? Lead magnets.
What is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is an offer that you can promote to prospects and customers in exchange for their essential contact information, including email address, name, company, and phone number.
What makes a good lead magnet?
A good lead magnet will have one or more of these 7 factors. The more factors, the more irresistible your lead magnet will be.
- It is high in perceived value (not your newsletter) AND actual value.
- It delivers on one quick win immediately and easily.
- It solves a real problem your customer has (it must fill a gap).
- It is ultra-specific, with the specific benefit clearly spelled out.
- It is easy to digest, meaning the content is snackable, short like a checklist versus a lengthy eBook (though eBooks do have their place).
- It offers instant gratification, meaning it is instantly accessible, and your customer doesn’t have to wait to receive it.
- It demonstrates your unique selling proposition, so your target audience is convinced they should be doing business with you instead of your competition.
Pro tip: Use these 7 factors as the litmus test for your lead magnet. How many boxes can you check off? The more factors you provide, the better the conversions.
Why do lead magnets work?
Lead magnets help you connect with and qualify prospective customers through a small commitment.
10 high-converting lead magnet examples you can use today:
- Checklists (high-converting because they are easy to consume)
- Cheatsheets (similar to checklists in that they give a list of guidelines or a process with a specific benefit)
- Templates (quickly helps to fill in the blanks, such as with blog or email templates)
- Toolkits (everyone wants tools to make their life easier)
- Resource lists (huge time-savers for customers as it keeps them from having to do the research)
- Worksheet or Workbook (used to complete a specific exercise or solve a certain issue)
- Gated premium content (a.k.a. the content upgrade)
- eBook (must provide high value and specific benefits, as content length can be overwhelming)
- Guides (are longer-form content, so use in the nurture stage of your sales funnel to educate prospects on why they should buy from you)
- Video (have a high perceived value, includes audio + visuals and potential connections)
You can create your own high converting lead magnet for Cybersecurity awareness month. Here are two examples:
Basic lead magnet:
A cybersecurity checklist to help businesses get started with assessing and understanding their cyber risks.
Toolkit lead magnet:
Create a Cybersecurity Prevention Toolkit that your customers can use throughout their organization. Ensure it is easy to understand by using non-technical language and that it helps them educate their employees.
Some materials to include:
- Cybersecurity checklist
- Cybersecurity posters
- Cybersecurity tips
- Short, engaging educational videos
- Cybersecurity work from home policy
Here are 3 ways to put your lead magnet into practice:
- Place on your home page and other high traffic website pages
- Post it across all your social media channels, including groups you participate in
- Send it out in your email campaigns and newsletters
As an example, take a look at our Cybersecurity Awareness Toolkit.
Lead magnets offer a mutually beneficial way to obtain important information about your prospect. Consistent communication is key when nurturing prospects into valued clients. While you offer something relevant and handy for your audience, you gain the necessities to take charge and generate leads.
Like what you see but don’t have the variety of assets you need to create lead magnets that help you attract, engage, capture, and close more business?