Lead magnets can also be described as offers or hooks or “bait”. They are fundamental for any digital sales funnel – they are precisely what motivates people to join you, your brand or your company.
In this article we are going to discuss what are lead magnets, what makes a good lead magnet, types of lead magnets and what the purpose of the lead magnet is.
What is a Lead Magnet
What is a lead magnet? A lead magnet is, by definition, something you offer for free that has high perceived value associated with it. In other words, is something you create that other people will aspire to get. There a few more things that can be said about a lead magnet.
Its an irresistible bribe offering a specific chunk of value. By norm the lead magnet should be a small chunk of very specific value for a specific problem. It is therefore not complete.
Some people make the mistake of giving away everything about their product or service in the lead magnet. Wrong. Lead magnets should introduce your product or service to your potential customer but never give too much away.
Therefore, a lead magnet is a chunk of high perceived value that is going to remove the pain or provide a solution immediately.
What’s the Purpose of the Lead Magnet?
There are fundamentally 4 main goals for your lead magnets:
First it aims to generate leads and grow your list. This is the “top of the funnel” goal and basically the idea here is to for you go give something of incredible value so a potential customer (also called a lead) joins you and joins your conversion machine.
Second, in this exercise the lead magnet should also qualify leads. Therefore one can say that if you give something of value away you also need to start segmenting your public from the get go. A lead magnet is one powerful tool to segment and qualify audiences.
Third, the lead magnet engages people with you and your brand. It therefore aims to build trust and rapport.
Finally, the lead magnet aims to setup your lead to the sale – set the stage for an engagement/conversion that should follow. The lead magnet solves one problem, but explain it’s just a piece of a bigger problem … one that your product/service solves. Therefore the lead magnet leaves the lead wanting more and specifically describes what will come next.
Types of Lead Magnets
There are basically different types of bribes that can be used in digital marketing to grab a lead. But, broadly speaking, I tend to separate them between sales-driven lead magnets, content and gamification lead magnets.
Typical sales-driven lead magnets include discounts, vouchers or promotions. They are really powerful and can be used in different funnels to galvanize the interest of the lead.
Content lead magnets include ebooks, checklists, swipe files, cheat sheet.
Gamification lead magnets include quizzes or surveys.
What Makes a Good Lead Magnet?
There are basically 5 main characteristics that make a good lead magnet:
First, the lead magnet is highly related to your product/service. The purpose of any lead magnet, as was said above, is to qualify leads. So it needs to be related to whatever product or service you aim to sell.
Second, the lead magnet needs to be super specific. The more specific the better.
Third, the lead magnet should bring immediate gratification (not over time). It should be something that appeals to a potential customer and because of the high perceived value associated with it, it also brings immediate gratification.
Related but a bit different, the lead magnet needs to be consumed quickly. Powerful lead magnets can be 2 pages long.
Fifth, the lead magnets need to promises “one Big Thing”. One of the most powerful tools in digital marketing is to show “the after”. Actually this is so powerful that most millionaires in digital marketing basically just do this – even though most of the times the statements are fake or false. But building the aspiration is part of the game. And should be included in your lead magnet.
The lead magnet gets the lead them closer to their goal. It should speak to a known desired end result.
Finally, the lead magnet introduces the lead to a “the continuum of belief”. It specifically tells the potential customer that there is more ahead for him to consume and potentially buy.
