One of the best ways to get subscribers for your newsletter or other email sequences is by creating lead magnets.
An effective lead magnet must solve a real problem quickly for your ideal customer. It should be very specific, easy to digest, and include actionable content. The idea is to give your ideal audience a taste of what to expect when they choose to work with you or purchase your full products.
When you are creating lead magnets there are a few essential steps to follow to ensure that you will have the best chance at attracting the customers and subscribers you want.
Here are 7 steps to creating lead magnets that work:
Step #1 – Know the customer avatar you want to attract
Having an understanding your audience’s buying journey is essential to creating lead magnets that work. You need to choose whether you want to attract people at the top of your funnel, middle of your funnel, or the bottom of your funnel. Maybe you want to teach people who have already bought from you something new and start marketing different things to them on a whole new level. It just depends on the goal you set for this lead magnet and who it’s meant for.
Step #2 – Know what problem you are solving
Your lead magnet must solve a pressing problem for the customer that you’re trying to reach. It should provide immediate value but can also provide long term value depending on the audience and the issue. The main thing is that you want to get them on your list, and you want them to be happy about it.
Step #3 – Your lead magnet should have a compelling title
When you name your freebie, choose a name that is straightforward and tells the customer exactly what will be accomplished. This is not the time to try to be clever with words. Name your lead magnet based on what it does for your customers using action verbs and terms they understand and that attract their interest.
Step #4 – Decide on what format your lead magnet will have
Once you know what problem you plan to solve, it will inform the format the lead magnet should take. You can choose to use video, webinars, podcasts, PDFs, and more. The important part is to choose the form that your audience will most enjoy and use. Here are 5 common lead magnet formats that might give you some ideas.
Step #5 – Create your lead magnet or outsource your content creation
Once you have gathered all the information in the first four steps, it’s time to create your lead magnet.
You can also hire someone to create it for you, or you can get a head start by using private label rights content. If you are in the personal development or coaching niches, a PLR provider like Tools for Motivation* offers a huge selection of content that can easily be turned into lead magnets for your audience.
Step #6 – Create a landing page for your lead magnet
Once you have your lead magnet created, it needs to live somewhere. This is usually called a landing page, or an opt-in page. A landing page is just a page devoted only to the thing you’re trying to promote. Some people love creating the landing page first, then create the freebie based on their promises.
This is a two-step process that requires you to have an autoresponder to create an opt-in form for collecting the names and email addresses of the people who sign up for your lead magnet.
Companies like Convert Kit* make this a seamless process with their opt-in forms and landing page templates.
Step #7 – Create a delivery page for your lead magnet
In addition to a landing page, you need to set up a download page so that your subscribers can access the freebie after they’ve opted in to your email list and confirmed their intention to subscribe. While you can easily deliver your lead magnet via a file-sharing service like Dropbox*, it’s better to use a delivery page because it brings people back to your site where you can share more information, products, and services with them.
Wrapping Up
Once you have finished creating your lead magnet, it is time to get it on the download page and start marketing to your audience on social media, through paid ads, and even by sending it to your own email list that you have already. Write a blog post about it and share it with everyone so that you’ll get more people on your list. It won’t attract any new customers if you don’t tell anyone about it!
*Note: This post includes affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission should you make a purchase.