‘Lead magnet’ is an awful term, I know. It makes me wince, too. But a good lead magnet does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a really powerful way for businesses to bring in new leads and customers.

As a copywriter, I’ve seen how a lead magnet can help generate new business. Just this month, one of my legal clients saw 400 downloads in 24 hours for a new lead magnet, which led to follow-up enquiries for her flagship training programme.

This was for a niche offering from a very small business. The reason for this success? Everyone loves a freebie, particularly a high-quality one that delivers real value for the reader.

In this blog, I’ll be taking you through my seven top tips for creating a lead magnet that delivers the goods for your copywriting clients and also for your own marketing.

What is a lead magnet?

In basic terms, a lead magnet is a free offering that you give away in exchange for readers’ contact details. This can take a variety of forms, such as a guide, white paper, report, webinar, survey, e-book, template or an e-newsletter.

Actually, it’s not really free at all because you’re giving the item in exchange for these contact details.

A lead magnet can help you build your credibility as a thought leader in your field and raise awareness of your business services or products. It also allows you to build an email marketing list, which is pure gold for any marketer.

But, these days, we’re all suffering from email fatigue. People are very wary of giving away their contact details. So, you need to think carefully about what you offer.

Getting in front of new customers

For my legal client, the lead magnet has helped her build a list of ‘warm’ leads – in other words, people who have shown an interest in her business services and may wish to buy from her in the future.

How else could you build a list of business prospects at such speed – short of buying a list of direct mail prospects (not so great) or investing in Google Ads (potentially pricey)? Certainly, social media will not bring you these high-quality leads in a short space of time.

Creating a lead magnet that does the job

So, here are my top tips for creating a lead magnet that helps get your or your client’s business in front of the right people.

Some of these tips are content-related and others are more practical tasks. As a copywriter, I always like to be involved in the whole lead magnet campaign, not just the copywriting. That way, you can ensure that there are no last-minute technical hiccups that could scupper the campaign.

1. Invest time in creating a high-quality lead magnet. Make sure that the lead magnet meets a specific need for the target audience. Does it improve readers’ skills in a particular area, offer insights they can’t find elsewhere or help them save time and money? You want readers to keep the lead magnet and share it with others. So, it must deliver value for your community. Lead magnets can take time to create. But that investment will pay dividends.
2. Don’t give away too much. It’s a fine balance between creating a valuable document and giving away too much information. Use the lead magnet as a teaser to show what the business can offer. I wrote a report-writing guide as a lead magnet for doctors. We wanted readers to book my client’s report-writing course as a follow-up. So, the lead magnet needed to give a flavour of the course – not replace it.
3. Collect the right contact information. You’re asking readers for their contact details. So, this is a great opportunity to get more detailed insights on your customer base. As well as asking for readers’ names and email addresses, you might also want to know their job titles or where they found out about you. But take care not to overload readers with questions. Importantly, always make it clear on the form that your readers will be signing up for future business updates by registering. Include a link to the company’s privacy policy.
4. Make the process simple. Don’t make readers jump through lots of hoops to access the lead magnet. Make it clear what they need to do and make this process as easy as possible.
5. Test, test, test. Ensure that a few people have tested the lead magnet form before you go live. If it doesn’t work, this will only frustrate readers and potentially lose you valuable leads.
6. Get the message out there. There’s no point creating a lead magnet if you don’t promote it. Use email marketing, social media, word-of-mouth, events and your website to promote your offering.
7. Follow-up on the campaign. You’ve got your list of new leads, so what next? Whatever you do, don’t just ignore your new contacts. If you’re managing wider marketing for your client, follow up with regular communications, asking for feedback on the lead magnet and let your readers know what the business can offer customers.

By following these tips, you’ll be on the right path to creating a lead magnet that really delivers the goods for your clients or for your own marketing.

First published on brightwords.co.uk