Has creating a lead magnet been a constant source of difficulty for you and your business? I know it used to be a struggle for me. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be hard to make, and it doesn’t have to be perfect to work.
Everyone wants a perfect lead magnet, but any lead magnet is far more effective than no lead magnet at all.
If you don’t already know, a lead magnet is anything of value provided for free or at a very low cost that allows a prospect to engage with your company before they buy, and it gives you the opportunity to get their contact information.
Why Do I Need a Lead Magnet?
Every business should have a lead magnet. End of story. Your potential customers or clients aren’t going to hand out that information to just anyone. They’ll need some incentive before they give it to you, and lead magnets are an essential piece of generating that incentive.
Let’s compare two hypothetical businesses. They both have a blog post on the top 10 ways to generate referrals that is available for free on their website. The first business asks readers for their email to receive “more great content.” The second business tells readers that if they give them their email, they will receive a free list of testimonials from businesses who have used the 10 ways and seen their referrals increase.
Which business do you think receives more emails? You guessed it: business No. 2!
A free list of testimonials is just one example of a lead magnet. A real life example that we at The Newsletter Pro use is my book, “The Ultimate Guide to Newsletters,” which we send out in that big orange envelope. It’s available for free on our website’s homepage in exchange for a potential customer’s contact info.
Other businesses might hand out some sort of “cheat sheet,” “resource list,” or “toolkit.” You can call your lead magnet whatever you think will be most appealing to your potential customers.
Too many businesses go straight for the sale instead of first offering something of value to their prospects in exchange for contact information. But once you have that contact information, you can educate and follow up with your prospects so your business is fresh in their minds when they do make the decision to buy.
The 10 Steps to Creating a Killer Lead Magnet
Now that we’re all on the same page about what a lead magnet is and how to use it, I’ll share 10 steps to create a valuable lead magnet.
- Write down the top 7–10 questions you get from prospects before they buy.
- Write down the top 7–10 questions prospects should ask before they buy, but typically don’t.
- Come up with 1–3 bullet points that will help you easily answer those questions.
- Grab your phone and record the questions and your answers to the questions. Use the bullet points to remember what you wanted to say when answering those questions.
- Go to Upwork.com, or a similar freelance contracting service, and have the recording transcribed.
- DON’T READ THE TRANSCRIPTION! Send it to someone else on Upwork.com to be edited into a story.
- Read the edits and add or subtract as you see fit. Make sure you add clear next steps and calls to action where they are needed.
- Have the document edited one more time.
- Give this lead magnet a name.
- Have a designer create a cover and layout, and format the document so it can be emailed and printed as needed.
That’s all there is to it.
Once you have your lead magnet, you can use it to educate customers in the office and through your website. You can drive traffic to it from AdWords, Facebook, your newsletter, direct mail, and a variety of other sources.
When you get the leads, follow up with them via online and offline marketing. In no time, you’ll see more sales rolling in.
