There's not much point in getting all the traffic in the world to your website without the ability to create any conversions. Different marketing strategies are plentiful in this space. “Give first” adds value to your brand and business. That brings us to lead magnet.

What are lead magnets?

These are offers you can give to prospective customers in exchange for their email address or patronage. You could also get other forms of information such as name, phone number, and additionally, personal information such as hobbies, personality, and lifestyle.

It sounds like a good deal, right? Well, this depends on what resources you are giving up in exchange for such information.

Lead magnets are by no means a new trend in the business world. For decades now, business owners have been employing this trick in their quest for customers. To make your lead magnet successful, you must ensure you put in the work to make them serve their purpose.

Here's what makes a lead magnet successful:

Value

You are offering these prospective clients something in exchange for something else. Whatever you're offering should be something that piques their interest enough to get them to click on your link or give up their information. This varies depending on the nature of your business. Think of what people in your customer pool will perceive as valuable.

Quick results

The world is fast-paced. No one wants to give up an email address or other information and deal with numerous messages from a business only to get more work in return. Making them wait for a long time before receiving your "gift" will not entice most people into patronizing your business again.

For instance, unlike an eBook, a PDF checklist is such a juicy offer because it proposes to give people all the necessary information at a glance. Give them something instantly beneficial, and you can rest assured of building your dream email marketing list in no time.

Make it convincing

Lead magnet is a popular approach; lots or even most businesses do it, so why should a customer go with your offer instead of your competitor's? You have to ensure your offer makes more sense. Figure out how to do this based on your industry.

That said, here are some popular lead magnets you can offer to your clients:

Samples

Many people agree to receive a sample option before going for a full product. The same goes for your digital knowledge business. Samples are literal customer magnets. And it's often a no brainer for them. Most times, it's just an email address in exchange for some FREE samples...sign me up, please!

Trials

Before you expect someone to pay for a few months or a few classes, you should offer them a free trial period to get a feel of your business. Without these, no one would want to take the risk. Ask people to give up their email addresses or patronize your business in exchange for free trials, and you will get them hooked.

Freebies

Who doesn't like free stuff? We're sure everyone does. Offer freebies such as coupons or discount codes and watch people fall over themselves trying to get in on some of the action. Want to make this even more effective? Make it a limited-time deal.

Quizzes

Now, this is an effective option for converting leads. It's often fun for people; besides, basic human psychology dictates that they will want to get to the end once they start answering the questions. You can make this more effective by ensuring the questions are interesting enough. Also, add a call to action at the end of the quiz.

Templates

It is like giving your clients a piece of the cake before the deal is finalized. It's beneficial to your clients as it will get their creative juices flowing. It would be best if you didn't offer the full package here. Please give them a part of the templates. Once they see how beneficial it is for them, they're likely to go for more.

Training videos

A surefire way of converting leads is via the creation of engaging and exciting content in video format. One survey showed that viewers confirm the retention of 95% of the information they get from a video instead of the 10% they get from text files. [2] Sounds crazy, right?

Regardless of how crazy it sounds, use it to your advantage. Convert that engaging content of yours into a video and offer potential clients a bit of it. Make sure that this video is excellent, and watch them come back for more.

Webinars

These are some of the most popular promotional tools that can be used to market an online course or digital products. Unlike training videos that can be watched any time the client desires, these are often delivered live.

Masterclasses, interactive training, or web-based seminars, as they are often referred to, play a huge role in the field of digital knowledge. It also requires dedication on the part of the creator and the potential clients. That's why it often results in conversions. After all, it's a lot of effort to participate in a webinar and turn tail afterward, especially when there's the promise of more to come.

There are other lead magnets such as software, checklists, case studies, eBooks, white paper, spreadsheets, etc. There's tons of choice for what to go with here, and you could certainly combine a few of these options.

How to make your lead magnet work

You've seen the different examples of lead magnets you could go for, but that's just the first step. While it is a step in the right direction, you have to put in a little more effort to make them useful.

Start by defining what your objectives for the lead magnet are. Yes, you want to ensure people visit your website for nothing. You also want to convert leads to actual customers.

The objectives here are the exact things the lead magnet must do to achieve your final goal. It's simple. Your lead magnet should be tailored to the right people. Once it attracts them, it should be able to convince them. A lead magnet fails when it doesn't result in this outcome.

Here are a few quick tips you can implement to ensure yours are successful:

• Make it clear what you're offering to them and make sure they know exactly what they're getting. If it's a sample in exchange for an email address, say it.
• Target the right people – think demographics and psychographics.
• Make it juicy. Outline any benefits they stand to gain from 'doing business with you.'
• Include a call to action. These prompt/encourage an immediate response from a prospective client. Leave them for too long, and you could lose that client.
• Avoid making your lead magnet vague, being specific leads to increased confidence.
• Put your best foot forward. Don't try to play smart here and think to make it the lowest quality possible because you don't want to lose entirely if it fails. In this case, there's every tendency this magnet will fail to convert any lead. No one wants to pay for a product when the sample is insufficient. Make your lead magnet an accurate representation of your brand.

Lead magnets are not new by any chance. But this old dog certainly has some neat, new tricks. Use them well, and you'll be sure to gather relevant insight into your clients, generate organic leads, and fully convert them.

References

68 Personalization Statistics Every Digital Advertiser Must Keep in Mind. Ted Vrountas. Instapage. https://www.google.com/amp/s/instapage.com/amp/personalization-statistics. Accessed: 31-12-2020.

55 video marketing statistics for 2020. Biteable. https://biteable.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics/. Accessed: 31-12-2020.