How to create a lead magnet that converts

Your blog is going well, but you have a secret. Something you’re almost embarrassed to admit……The kind of secret that would make some bloggers recoil in horror….

You do not have an email list…..

I know, I know, you meant to set something up, but you just didn’t get round to it. Now you’re realising that you really need one…..

Maybe you want to make more income from affiliate products. Or you plan to write a book, launch a product or you just want to develop a deeper relationship with your audience. Whichever resonates with you the time in now. It’s time to embrace email.

It’s totally up to you which service provider you use to ‘house’ your subscribers. Some have free plans up to a certain number of subscribers, which would get you started. Personally, I use Convertkit (affiliate) and although I had a brief spell with Mailerlite, Convertkit has my heart.

You’ve taken the plunge, set up your account and now you need to get people onto your list. How? With an lead magnet (also called opt in freebie, content upgrade, opt in bribe) of course!

A lead magnet is something of value that you give to people in return for their email address. With the advent of GDPR you need to ensure your opt in forms (where the person puts their email) state clearly that they will receive further emails and be marketed to. I’ve chosen to offer my lead magnets as a welcome gift to people joining my email list, so the emphasis is on joining my list. You must research the rules and regulations yourself and decide what is your preferred way of handling the GDPR permissions.

Now you need to create your freebie. A ‘subscribe here’ box on your site is not going to entice people to join your list. You need to solve a problem, make their life easier and generally add value.

Let’s go on a virtual trip round Waitrose

Let me take you on a virtual trip to Waitrose, yeah I know posh! You’re wandering around and there’s a little stand offering samples of some cookies you’ve never tried before. You try one and they are so yummy that you throw a couple of packs in your trolly; even though they aren’t your usual brand. This is exactly how opt in freebies work, you’re giving people a taster of what your content is like.

Where do you start? Well, you need to begin by thinking of your ideal reader. Are you picturing her? O.k; right, what keeps her up at night? What stresses her out and what problem would she like to be solved? This is exactly where you need to start. Do you already have a blog post about this pain point? If so, is there anything that would make sense and be helpful to follow on from this post?

For example, you give someone a recipe. The lead magnet which could lead on from this might be printable recipe with the shopping list on the back. You are making your readers life easier. Or potentially you have a recipe for one amazing cheesecake and the freebie could be 10 awesome cheesecake recipes. Although often this is information people can Google, they like the convenience of it being emailed to them and/or they want your twist on it.

What types of lead magnets are there?

Here are a few common types of lead magnets:

• a workbook
• an email course
• a checklist
• a cheat sheet
• a video tutorial
• a discount code/coupon
• a template
•  access to a digital library
• a spreadsheet
• a live webinar
• a workshop
• a PDF guide
• an audio file
• a quiz
• an assessment

There so many possibilities when creating your lead magnets. Make it’s something you know will help your audience and which adds value.

How do you decide on the perfect lead magnet

Step 1: Listen to your audience

Don’t create what you think your audience wants, but instead listen to what they actually want and need. So often there’s a mismatch, even if we think we know our audience well. You can listen and ask questions in Facebook groups or send out a survey. You need to know what their goals are, their pain points, issues and struggles. Then you can set about trying to create something which will help them.

This research will really pay off and will signal to your audience that you are listening to them.

Then once you have this information you need to decide which is the most pressing issue that you can help with and focus your attention there.

Step 2. What’s popular in your niche?

You can do this my checking out these sources;

• Pinterest

Search on Pinterest your niche or a blog post topic and see the most popular pinned posts. This will help you narrow down the specific topic people need help with.

• BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is a free tool that ranks popular content based on social media shares. Search your topic or keyword and you will see a list of the most popular posts. It shows popularity on Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest, which can be a great jumping off point.

Step 3. What are your competitors doing?

Now you don’t want to replicate anyone else’s freebie, that would suck. However, looking at your market will show you if webinars are popular at the moment or if there is a push to know more about a specific sub topic.

Step 4. Analyse the madness your research

Before you start collecting all this market research you need to devise a system, which will keep it all organised. You could use Airtable to send out a survey (which is free) and Airtable pops all of the answers into a spreadsheet for you. However, you can use Typeform, Google Forms or Survey Monkey for your surveys and Excel, Numbers, Trello, Asana; Google Forms or Google Drive as your organisational hub.

Step 5: Nail down the best idea

Draw your conclusion from your analysis. Make a decision and go for it!

Step 6. Decide on the most appropriate format

Which format would suit the content better? Also think about your ideal reader, which content form suits them better? Are they struggling for time? If so, then a 78 page ebook is probably not going to deliver them the quick win you hope!

For example, if you’re teaching design or something technical then it’s probably best to format this as a screen recording.

Step 7. Pick a name

My first piece of advice is be clear over clever. There’s no point in a clever name if people haven’t a Scooby what it is. Ideally you want to pick a catchy name that also makes it obvious to the reader what they will be getting.  E.g. 5 days to your most productive morning ever.

Step 8. Actually create the thing

How you create your freebie will depend on what format you’ve decided on.

If you’re creating an email course then simply your email service provider and Canva if you want to add in some branded graphics. If you’ve decided on an ebook then you have so many options, Illustrator, Canva, Word, Pages to name a few. Maybe you want to create a video and again you have lots of choices for editing, iMovie, Camtasia, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere etc.

Make sure your freebies all follow your brand colour scheme and you put your logo/url on them. It would also be advisable to put a copyright statement on them. Create graphics highlighting your freebie for social media promotion and create a couple of different pins.

It’s really important that it looks good. People will be less inclined to hand over their email for something that looks like it was knocked up in a rush. So take the time to create something aesthetically pleasing. If you’re not design savvy think about getting a VA to create it for you. You can use stock images to give a more professional appearance.

Step 9. Delivering the lead magnet

As mentioned, you need a way to capture all the emails that are going to be flooding into your inbox. You also need a form for the person to fill in with their details. All email service providers have forms built into their software, or you could decide to use a programme like LeadPages to be the form. Leadpages then send the information to your email service. The pro is that LeadPages forms are designed by professionals with conversion in mind. The con…. it isn’t cheap.

If you’re just starting out you’re probably well advised to stick with the forms your email service provides.

How I deliver most of my lead magnets

As said I use Convertkit. You will need to create a form (this is the box people put their names and emails into) and a sequence to go with it. The sequence are the emails that you will send to the lovely new subscribers to help them get to know you and what you do. You can get Convertkit to deliver the lead magnet  or you can store it online and provide the link in your welcome email sequence.

Step 10. Promotion

Now is the time to get your promo on! There are so many ways to promo your lead magnet. Here are some possible options;

• Social media bios
• Social media posts
• Blog posts
• Forums
• Your sidebar or a hello bar on your site
• Adding it to the end of blog posts
• Facebook groups (when allowed)
• Pinning it on Pinterest (your board and group boards)
• Guest posts or podcasts
• Doing a Facebook ad
• Placing it in the header of your blog
• Asking other bloggers to share it
• During Facebook live broadcasts
• Creating a dedicated landing page
• Your social media cover photo
• Using it as a URL when commenting on other blogs

Creating lead magnets that convert can take a fair amount of effort, but it is worth it. When you’re building your email list you are building an asset for your business. Have you created a lead magnet? Which lead magnet converts the best for you?