Building a Better Lead Magnet
Have you ever used your email address to sign up for a newsletter or get 10% off your next purchase? If you have, then you have seen a lead magnet.
Lead Magnets are a marketing staple. As the name suggests, lead magnets are campaigns, pages, or offerings that ask for information in exchange for goods. This generates qualified leads of individuals already searching the products you offer.
However, the growing popularity of these campaigns has consumers increasingly selective where they submit their email address. Below are some tips on how to add value to your magnet and ultimately convince clients to take the plunge and opt-in.
Why Custom Lead Magnets are Important
Many business owners don’t initially understand the importance of building lead magnets from scratch. This process sometimes seems like more effort than it’s worth, especially when pre-packaged emails lists are up for purchase at a fraction of the cost.
Unfortunately, store bought leads come with a major downside: poor engagement.
Store bought lists are the digital age’s version of cold-calling. There is no way to know which of those individuals are in need of your product. You similarly don’t know if the emails are active, frequently in use, or are a low-priority junk inbox.
Building a custom lead magnet, on the other hand, cultivates a system where leads come to you. Because the clients opting-in are already interested in your service and offering, it automatically makes them a qualified lead with a high probability of converting into a paying customer.
While there are several ways to earn these leads, building dedicated lead magnets that provide value to your customer is the best way to start.
An Exchange of Value
Lead magnets are a special kind of trade. You have a valuable piece of information for your client (your offer) and your client has a valuable piece of information for you (their email). An effective lead magnet results in an equal exchange of value on both sides of this equation.
While finding what is most valuable to your client depends largely on your target audience, many popular offerings include:
- Free training sessions
- E-books
- PDFs and explainer content
- Subscriptions
- Webinar and conference attendance
As you can see, the nature of these offerings is usually to offer information driven solutions to your client. This means it must not only contain information which is useful and correct, but information that is ultimately valuable to the needs of your target audience.
Top 5 Types of Lead Magnets
There are several different forms a lead magnet can take. This versatility is endless as it allows you to bring your audience value in the way most meaningful and accessible. Below, we will go over the main types of lead magnets you can create, and some tips to ensure their success.
#1. The Blitz Campaign
A blitz campaign is a specific type of lead magnet that focuses on high-impact, high-energy, short-term engagement. These campaigns often only run for a limited time, offering a high end product, thus creating urgency in the eyes of your client.
The emotional impact of blitz campaigns is the bedrock to generating leads. Your audience does not want to miss out on a deal and is thus less likely to second-guess parting with their email address during the process.
For instance, a marketing company blitz may offer a reduced cost comprehensive package, but only to those who sign up within the 7 days campaign. This places your target audience in a bind– they have to act quickly to take advantage of the offer.
Blitz campaigns are best when coordinated across multiple platforms including email, social media, and dedicated site pages. Pay close attention to the types of social media your audience is most likely to use and give that platform extra funding for targeting ads and sponsored posts. This high-intensity strategy allows for your campaign to maintain a viral quality, making it easy to share and easy to get wrapped up in.
When you find a campaign that works for your company, you can reuse your format in the future– creating a template and course of action for your future campaigns.
#2. The Squeeze Page
The difference between squeeze pages and other pages on your site is the intent. While other site pages might have copious internal linking to lead your reader to page after page, squeeze pages have the opposite function.
Developing a squeeze page for your site can be both part of an existing marketing campaign or a stand alone endeavor. These highly focused and optimized pages are made with the express purpose of guiding your reader to parting with their email address.
Commonly, a good squeeze page will not have any external or internal links. The text is Focused on a single issue, normally one that aims to solve a problem your reader was searching. Finally, the only interactives on this page will be a CTA, often offering a freebie product or subscription that your reader sees value in.
For example, let’s say you are building a squeeze page for a company offering SEO services. Your page would first focus on what SEO is, how to have better SEO, and finally end with resources to help you take the necessary next steps. However, the most valuable information you offer is only available if you provide an email address or use a signup form.
When your client completes that form, it is a warm lead for your company. They are interested in your services, ready to learn more, and you can reach out to see in what way you can help.
#3. The Freebie
Using freebies as part of your marketing strategy is one of the most successful ways to engage an audience and generate leads. The point of a freebie is to give your client a test run of what you can offer while still leaving them wanting more.
Freebies are unique as they are easy to offer, sometimes with minimal overhead, while presenting your client with a zero-risk opportunity to experience your brand. This cost-benefit analysis makes it more likely they will opt-in, especially if your product is something that offers them immediate value.
Depending on your audience, these freebies can take the form of templates, lesson plans, samples, or anything in between. Here are just a few examples on what your freebie can include:
- The Ultimate Guide to Boosting SEO
- 5 Great Templates for Content Writing
- Content Marketing Webinar for Start-Ups
What you offer ultimately is up to you, giving you the power to make your offering meaningful to your ideal audience.
To ensure that your clients get the most value, be sure to put yourself in their shoes and imagine the various challenges you can solve. This will allow you to better target your offerings to the individuals who are already searching similar products and services on the internet. By taking this approach, you boost your chances of being discovered by the individuals who need your service most.
#4. Written Materials
eBooks and PDF resources are common opt-in materials lead magnets use. Not only do these resources offer useful information to your potential clients, but they show you are a leading and trustworthy source of information.
The downside to these materials however, rests in the fact that not all companies will put their best foot forward. As such, consumers are often unsure if your offering is going to really make a difference in their lives.
Combat this common challenge by making the other areas of your site, especially pages and blog posts, as honest and informative as possible. This will help build rapport and trust, making them more likely to download your PDF.
#5. Webinars, Conferences, and Consultations
The old adage, time is money, is particularly pertinent when discussing live formats for lead magnets.
When you choose to invest time into your clients and your own expense, they tend to invest time back into you, often sparking the beginning of a working relationship.
Due to this, webinars, conferences, and one-on-one consultation calls are a great way to generate leads and gain valuable contact information. Through interacting with your audience, they can gain a better sense of you, your company, and your values. This builds a sense of trust, making it much more likely that they will want to continue a professional relationship in the future.
Now, there are a few different ways to collect the leads themselves. For one, the signup page to the event can be a source of collection for email addresses. This is particularly useful for online events and webinars, as it doubles as a method of RSVPing.
Where applicable, there can be raffles and silent auctions. These offer the incentive of gaining a free product with the barrier to entry being only an email address.
Hiring an Expert Pays for Itself
As you can see from the article above, formulating an effective marketing strategy is a full-time job.
The truth is, most business owners don’t have time to properly research, compile, and analyze the data necessary to develop effective lead magnets. There is even less time to organize and manage the leads they end up acquiring. This results in a loss of time and money when trying to do a DIY approach.
Unfortunately, most business owners never seek marketing help because they are afraid of the cost. What they don’t realize is that when done by experts, marketing is an expense that pays for itself.
At Platinum Passport Marketing, we have a proven track record of making custom digital marketing materials that rank, grow your audience, and ultimately sell your service. We monitor your conversion rates, analytics, SEO, online reputation, website design & development for single pages or dynamic site, and lead generation though a lead magnet.
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With the strain taken out of your marketing, you can go back to doing what you do best: running your business.
Contact our digital marketing agency today to learn more.
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