How To Create A Great Lead Magnet For Your Business
A ‘lead magnet’ is something you offer as an incentive for people to opt-in to your list. White papers, webinars, books; even entire products or services.
A few years ago the trend was to create a lot of lead magnets.
A lead magnet is a potential route into your world. So in theory the more you have, the more people you should attract!
What Makes A Great Lead Magnet?
Only, it doesn’t really work that way…
In my business, my most successful one has been my ‘Ultimate Infusionsoft Apps’ book. That one lead magnet generated more email subscribers than anything else I’ve ever offered. (Plus a steady stream of client work, too).
So no, I don’t think you need tens or even hundreds of lead magnets. You only need ONE dialled right into what your ideal customer currently needs.
That doesn’t mean you only ever need to create just one. You might need to kiss a few frogs before finding your prince. But statistically one of your lead magnets will be a runaway success compared to the rest. That’s the fractal nature of the 80/20 principle at work.
When you create a successful lead magnet, the temptation is to drop it and create another. (I’ve heard this called the ‘Creator’s Curse’). It’s important to stick with it. Just because YOU are bored of your lead magnet, doesn’t mean everyone else is!
The Most Successful Lead Magnets
The most successful lead magnets my clients have created share the following characteristics:
- The lead magnet should be a subset of your main product or paid offer. If you offer a free iPad, you’ll attract people who are only interested in a free iPad.
- The lead magnet should be fast to consume and provide an immediate benefit or solution. Books and PDFs should be fast to read and action-orientated. Webinars should be 30-60 minutes and equip the viewer to solve one immediate problem.
- Your lead magnet should be of high value. In my business, sending out a physical book delivered better results than offering a PDF eBook. For speed of delivery, I sent people the PDF version too, but the physical book delivered the best results. Often a more premium giveaway will deliver better results. Think: how can you take your lead magnets ‘up market’? For ideas on this, read Whale Hunt In The Desert, by Deke Castleman.
Placing ONE at the heart of your marketing simplifies your marketing automation. You can build systems to remind and segment every person who requests it. Nobody should ever fall through the cracks.
Of course, you shouldn’t rest of your laurels. No lead magnet will perform well forever. So it’s sensible to view your successful lead magnet as your control and always have an experiment running.
But your automated marketing systems should be built around your current control. Your paid media spend should focus on your control too. Spend more on the one thing you know is working.
Interested in applying this in your business? Book a quick call by clicking this link now
