I’ll be honest with you: Bad lead generation is rarely the #1 issue blocking businesses from success. Most often, the problem is churn rates, poor sales systems, no systems or processes, or something else along those lines. But there are exceptions to every rule. Sometimes the thing your business needs most really is more leads! So what do you do?
Don’t Make This Mistake!
The first step in getting more leads is to review what you’re asking your lead to do on the home page or landing page of your website — wherever they first arrive at. I just reviewed a landing page for a client, and the call to action was to schedule an appointment. This is a common mistake, and it comes from days past.
Think about how business was done in the 1990s. When someone walked into or called your store, they were interested in getting info to buy. That’s just not the case for someone hitting your landing page today. The website visitor is nowhere near the buying stage, so asking them to go from “This is interesting. Let me check it out” to “I want to schedule an appointment with a salesperson” is a massive jump, and it simply doesn’t work.
To be a great marketer, you have to slow your process and be willing to help others get what they need to make a buying decision (mostly) within their time frame.
The easiest way to slow the sale down — which ultimately results in more leads and more sales — is to make a lead magnet offer on your website or landing page.
How to Create Strong Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are simple in concept, but so many people get them wrong. The #1 mistake I see entrepreneurs make is making their lead magnets too narrow.
For example, I have a mastermind client who is in functional medicine. He is advertising in a gym and does amazing things to help people lose weight. One reason people get stuck and can’t lose weight is because of their thyroid. Originally, his team wanted to make an ad all about getting your thyroid in check, but this approach was way too narrow.
If he’d gone that route, he would have literally eliminated the 98% of people who have no clue whether they have a thyroid issue. So, even if 1,000 people had seen the ad, only 20 of those people would have known they had this condition. That would have been the best-case scenario. Of those 20, how many do you think would have responded? Not many. The offer was too narrow, just like most lead magnets.
To come up with a great lead magnet, you need to go broad, not narrow. Remember we want more leads, not less. You can use other marketing and methods to filter at a later time. When I need to create a new lead magnet, I ask myself, “What is my prospect thinking about or worrying about 30, 60, and 90 days before they buy from me?”
In the case of my mastermind client, leads are thinking about getting into shape and losing weight. After all, they’re at a gym. It is 100% guaranteed that a weight loss lead magnet would get a far better opt-in rate than a lead magnet about thyroid issues. Plus, even if the prospect didn’t have a thyroid issue, they may still want supplements and/or other treatments to get them into shape.
Other lead magnet ideas that might work would include services that help people who have plateaued on gains or people who have too much stress, which is generic enough to appeal to a large portion of the population. Either way you slice it, fixing the thyroid isn’t a good lead magnet idea in a cold lead-generation setting.
I use a book on newsletters as one of my lead magnets at Newsletter Pro. It works well, but with totally cold traffic, it sucks. When generating more leads in cold traffic, we have to switch our message to “Stop Losing Customers” or “Get More Referrals.” If we don’t educate leads on why they would even want a newsletter, people disqualify themselves because they don’t know that if they lower the number of lost customers they have each month and get more referrals, they’ll grow faster. Again, when it comes to lead magnets, broader is better.
We live in a time when people want facts before they make any major buying decisions. With that knowledge, we can provide prospects with the information they want (how to lose more weight or how to lose fewer customers) while educating them on the information they need (how to get their thyroid tested or how sending out newsletters and relationship marketing helps them make more money by decreasing churn, increasing referrals, etc.).
Even More Lead Magnet Tips
There is one problem with going wide: When you create your lead magnet, you have to seed it with information that both, directly and indirectly, educates people and leads them to the conclusion you would like them to draw.
If I were writing a lead magnet on losing fewer customers, I would point out that the #1 reason a customer leaves is that they feel like the business is indifferent to them. The best way to overcome this obstacle is to build a relationship with your customers and let them know more about who you are, both personally and professionally. Once they feel connected to you and feel like they know you on a personal level, that perception of indifference will go away, as long as you nurture the relationship.
I would then tell people that there is one huge issue with building customer relationships: distribution. How do you build a relationship with someone without communicating on a regular basis? I would point out that direct mail has a 90% open rate, so newsletters are an effective vehicle for building relationships and, in turn, lowering the number of customers you lose each month.
Of course, the above example is a very abbreviated version. If I were creating a real lead magnet, I would have gone way more in-depth. But hopefully, that example drives my point home and helps you see how to pivot the message of your lead magnet when you go wide.
Many people overcomplicate lead magnets. I used to do just that, so I understand. The good news is that they don’t have to be complicated, they don’t have to take weeks to create, and they can have a profound impact on your company’s success. Once you have this lead generation tool in place, you can use strategies like print and digital newsletter campaigns to turn those prospects into clients.
Still want more lead generation tips? Check out this recent list from Forbes.
One More Thing …
Lead magnets are a great place to start, but have you ever wondered if a newsletter would make sense for your business? Do you want better relationships with your customers so they stay longer and spend more? Would you like to get more referrals? If so, chat with a Pro. We have some exciting new options that can take your relationship marketing game to the next level and boost your profits to new heights. Just click here.
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