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Let's start at the beginning! A Lead Magnet is nothing more than free and valuable content offered by a business to a user with the aim of making them take an action. The action can be, subscribing to a blog or a website, answering a survey, accessing a platform, among others. It is basically an exchange, where the user agrees to do something (usually leave their data) in exchange for getting something that interests them.

The Lead Magnet is used in most Inbound Marketing strategies, since it is a simple way to capture the user's email (among other data) to continue in contact with them and eventually convert them into leads. Hence its name, which translated into Spanish is “lead magnet”. 

Why are they so important for small businesses?

As we said before, the main objective of a lead magnet is to attract potential customers by offering them relevant content about your brand. In other words, if the Lead Magnet is well thought out, it will allow you to segment your target audience from the first moment, since only users who are really interested in its subject will access it.

Once the person completed their personal data and accessed the material, you will receive the necessary information to add this contact as a lead to your database and from that moment on, the potential client enters the sales funnel and will only receive information according to their need and interest. In this sense, the lead magnet allows you to expand your list of contacts in a qualified way. 

In turn, being quality content, the lead magnet will also help in the loyalty process. Creating varied content, of an informative nature, that explains your product and its usefulness is an excellent way to capture the attention of a potential customer and also to retain it, since they will find in you a valuable source of information and consultation.

As for its preparation, the lead magnet is not very expensive and will also help you improve the chances of being found in search engines, thus increasing your organic traffic.

What are the 12 best types of lead magnets?

There are as many types as you can imagine, but the requirements that these contents must have is that they must be free and, of course, be delivered after the user fills out, for example, a form.

Some common examples of lead magnets that you can find every day on the web are: 

• E-books
• PDF Guides
• Editable templates
• Infographics
• Demos of products or services
• Studies
• Checklists
• Online courses
• Special discounts
• exclusive videos
• freemium access
• Exclusive offers and discounts

These are just 12 ideas, the type of format you use will largely depend on the business you have and who your target audience will be. Think that you can practically offer any type of content that may be attractive to your audience. For example, in an e-commerce, the most useful thing could be to offer discounts. However, if you offer a service through a program, a demo or freemium account could be the ideal lead magnet.

How do we create lead magnets?

The truth is that creating a lead magnet can be a bit complicated and many times you may not know where to start. The first thing I recommend is to create a list of different topics that you can offer, keeping in mind that the contribution you must make has to be important. It is not about getting subscribers for no reason, but about getting the data of those who can really become your customers.  

So pay attention to the following 5 pointsthat will help you create the Lead Magnet that really works...

1 - Think of a specific title that describes what your audience will receive when they consume it.

It is important that your Lead Magnet refers to one of the main problems of your buyer person but it is even more important that the solution and benefit that you are offering is seen in the title. That is, the end result.

2 - Choose a suitable format

You have already chosen the ideal content that your buyer person wants to receive. Now, think about that profile: In what format do you think they would like to receive the content? 

The Lead Magnet can be presented in different formats: text, video, audio, template, image. You should think about your audience and what is the right format for them depending on the type of content.

3 - Request little information 

Remember, it is your first impression. Normally asking for the email and the name is enough.

4 - Include your lead magnet in your funnel 

Another important aspect will be to place your Lead Magnet in strategic places and locations, places that catch the attention of your audience, such as the header and footer or that appear on your blog.

5 - Do not forget about email marketing

A Lead Magnet is your chance to start having a conversation with your customer. Think that at the same time you publish it, you must have a sequence of welcome emails prepared for your subscribers. The important thing is that you have the sequence created and that it goes automatically.

How do we interpret the results of lead magnets?

Now, you have already published your first Lead Magnet, but how do you know if it is working and that you are on the right track? It is important to clarify that there are no good or bad results, but rather good or bad figures for you and for your business and growth plan. 

The goal of a Lead Magnet is always to attract a person to buy your products or services, so if your Lead Magnet does not generate subscribers who buy, it does not work. Although it has thousands of downloads. 

That is why the way to know if your Lead Magnet works is by taking into account the relationship between 3 fundamental aspects that are: visits, the number of downloads and the number of sales. 

The objective is to have a Lead Magnet who is interested and who sells. You will be able to know if it is of interest by analyzing the relationship between the visits to your website/presentation page/landing with the number of downloads. While to know if your Lead sells you need to know how many people buy with respect to the number of people who download your Lead magnet.

How can we optimize our lead magnets?

Digital marketing bases many of its strategies on performing non-intrusive actions to interact with users and guide them through the conversion or sale process. Attracting users with an ideal profile is essential to reduce the effort, time and cost of converting them into customers, so using attractive elements that add value to them is the best alternative.

Defining a lead magnet is a process that must be carried out properly to obtain maximum performance and ensure that a greater number of visitors end up sharing their contact information.

Simplicity is essential to be successful in using a lead magnet. The user must be able to quickly and clearly understand what are the benefits that he obtains in exchange for sharing his data. 

Without a doubt, another point that optimizes the lead magnet has to do with the fact that the call to action must be easy and attractive. It is important to eliminate any distractions on the landing page where the lead magnet is used, for example so that the visitor focuses their attention on the call to action. It is better not to include links that lead to other content and it is even advisable to remove anything that diverts your attention. 

Are there any tools that help us in the creation, diffusion and optimization of lead magnets?

We have already seen that there are different types of lead magnet that you can use and today technology is simplifying many tasks that were previously complicated. Things like recording videos, editing them, recording audio, creating layouts, making e-books. In other words, what you need to create a lead magnet.

There are many free tools you can use to make a lead magnet, here are some of the best tools you can use to get started.

canva

It is an amazing design service that allows you to create simple graphics and is very easy to use. You could practically say that everything is mostly drag and drop. You don't need to learn any complicated software or memorize hex codes for colors.

You can use Canva to create: Infographics, ebook images, guides and checklists, PDF headers. 

For those who have an advanced knowledge of design, there are the typical tools that you can use, such as: Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator.

Prezi

It is a presentation software that makes it easy to design engaging talks. Instead of just using "slides" like PowerPoint, Keynote, or Google Slides, Prezi gives you more flexibility in how you design things.

Once you've designed a presentation, or even an eBook, you can export it as a PDF to use as a lead magnet.

Tools to spread your lead magnet

Once you have done the first steps (having the content of your lead magnet done and its subsequent design), you will need a lead capture tool. That is, you will need a program that you can integrate into your website to make different types of forms in which you promote your lead magnet. Let's look at 2 options:

Bloom (WordPress Plugin)

It can be said that it is one of the best plugins to attract subscribers. It's easy to install and configure, easy to use, and comes with predefined layouts that you can adapt and customize. 

It allows you to create different types of forms (pop-ups, flyin, inline) you can develop tests and A/B tests and, in addition, it has a very simple and visual statistics section that will help you perfect your forms to obtain better results. Bloom is paid. 

Thrive leads

Without a doubt, it is a super complete tool. It is perhaps more complicated at the management level, but once you start using it and understand how it works, you see the potential it has. It has many options and combinations and you can do really cool, original and creative things with it. Thrive leads is also a paid tool.

Tools to optimize your lead magnet

Once you have the capture form, it is interesting that you combine it with an email marketing or marketing automation tool. In this way, once a user fills out your form to download your lead magnet, you can automatically send them an email with the resource. Let's look at some tools that can help you.

MailRelay

It is an e-mail marketing tool that will allow you to send an email with your lead magnet once a user leaves you their data. It has a fairly powerful free version and its use is easy and intuitive.

You can configure autoresponders, A/B tests, it has an interesting statistics panel and very good technical support in Spanish. 

GetResponse

It is an automation tool. Not only can you create forms and send emails, but you also have the option of autoresponders and automation of emails for campaigns based on data and behaviors. It is a very powerful tool, easy to manage, that will allow you to adjust your campaigns and adapt them 100% to the needs of each of your clients or potential clients.

As a last piece of advice, remember: the Lead Magnet should be a way for users to relate quality content and solutions to their problems with you and your brand.

Therefore, it is very important that the design you use for your Lead Magnet is recognizable by your audience and that it is consistent with the rest of your website. 

And, in addition to a visual issue, keep in mind what is the language and tone of voice that you usually use for your commercial messages, and make sure that the Lead Magnet follows the same pattern. At the end of the day, it is about surprising the potential client with impeccable content. It all adds up to engage your audience, help build trust, and get better quality subscribers. 

Do you need help with this or any other topic of your business? Follow me on @grlbuzz or write to me at: dahlia@grlbuzz.com