A lead magnet is a popular tool to help you grow your email list, for good reason. (Here’s a reminder why that’s important, but we’ll take it as a given that it is for this post.) But if you haven’t created one before, or you haven’t had any success with the ones you have created, then it can feel daunting and a bit like a waste of time to even think about starting.
In this two part series I’m going to show you how to plan an effective first (or next) lead magnet, understanding WHAT your ideal customer would give an arm and a leg…or just an email address for! So you’re not just stabbing in the dark coming up with random ideas that don’t really attract the right people to you.
Then, once we’ve got that sorted, we’ll look at HOW to create said lead magnet so you can get it done and up in front of your prospective audience in no time!
It’s all about them!
When you’re creating your lead magnet the first thing you need to do is put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer.
Imagine what’s going through their head when they stop by. Think about what problems they’re grappling with, what aspirations they have for this stage of their life and/or business, and what they’re feeling during all of this.
Now that you’ve got a good handle on how they feel start thinking about what you know or do that can help solve one of those problems, help them reach one of those aspirational goals, or help them feel better in general.
You see how it starts with them? It doesn’t matter what you want to give them. It matters what they need to get from you.
What should your lead magnet do?
Now that you’re fully focussed on them here’s the things you want your lead magnet to do:
Solve a need
The key way to get people to sign up to your list is to give them something that solves a problem they have right now. That solves a need.
And, if you can give them something that is actionable, that helps them take the next step past something that was blocking them, then they will be falling over themselves to give you their email address.
Be relevant to what you offer
It should always be relevant to what you sell or the services you offer.
A free iPad might seem like something that lots of people will want, but it won’t attract the right type of people, unless you run a technology company that sells iPads!
You want people on your list who will want more of what you’re offering, both on your list and in your business. So growing a list of the right kind of people is much more important that just growing it.
And not only should it be relevant, but a great lead magnet also leads people towards your paid products or services. So you’re priming them to want more and more of you, including anything you have to sell.
Give quality
You and your services and products are on display anytime you give away free content. It’s kind of a like a job interview. You want to give a great impression of who you are and what you have to give as soon as possible
The end goal is that people will think, “Wow, if she’s giving this away for free, I can’t imagine how great her paid stuff is.” “Wow, I want more of this!!”
You can give away a lot of valuable information telling people what they should be doing. And for some people that will be enough. They will be motivated self-learners who can figure out how to do what you’ve told them to do themselves. For them, you have now become their go-to authority, showing them what they need to do to get started for themselves. (Even if this is just confirming what they already thought.)
For the rest of your audience, who may need a little more hand-holding, or just want to take the short-cut of having someone show them how to do things step by step, so they can get it done in a shorter amount of time, this will be a great segue into your paid product or services. Where you sell them the how.
So you can see that using this principle can be a good way to help you differentiate your content, and decide what you’ll give away for free and what you’ll charge for.
Keep its promises
If you say you’re going to help them solve a problem then help them do that.
Make it worth their while to sign up, and once they’re signed up make it worth their while to stay signed up. Don’t make them regret signing up. This will leave a bad taste in their mouth that you may never be able to take away!
Show off “your awesome” (or make people like you)
You know that there’s hundreds of people offering the same services you’re offering. Selling the same products as you. Teaching the same information.
But there is a reason why an individual will be attracted to you over all of them. And that is YOU!
You have a unique outlook on life. You have a unique way of putting things, of explaining things that resonate. You have had similar experiences, or look at life in a similar way to them. You use stories and examples that make sense to them, that they can see themselves in.
They will be attracted to you because of this. And they will stay with you because of this.
So don’t be afraid to show them the real YOU.
Let them see the you behind the business. Don’t try and be someone you’re not. Don’t think people will be impressed if you’re some big corporate company. More and more people are choosing to do business with smaller businesses, run by real people they can relate to. Like you.
Let them know you, so they can like you. And once they like you they will want to support you and work with you, in ways that people who don’t know you from Eve won’t.
Give without expecting anything back
You know those people who give you stuff, and you just know there’s a catch. That they’re reaching out their hand to give you something, but at the last minute they’re going to snatch it back and say, but I’ll only give you this if you do x, y and z.
Don’t be that person!
Give without expecting anything back. Give because it helps someone else. Give because when you help someone without expecting anything from them in return it feels great, and they like you for it so much that they want to give back to you.
And they may never buy from you. But they might recommend you to a friend. Or they might put you in touch with someone who can help you out with something. Or they might add value to your world in some other completely different way that you never would have expected.
But don’t expect this from the start. Be the first to give, and keep on giving. Generosity is attractive. In life and in business.
Put it into practice
To help you put this into practice and start to plan a lead Lead Magnet Planning Worksheet | Nadine McMahonmagnet that will knock the socks of your audience I’ve put together a planning worksheet to help you dig into the problems your potential audience has, and help you identify ways to solve these for them.
You can download this worksheet now, and then come back next week for my round-up of how to create your lead magnet. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as you might think! And it won’t cost you a fortune!
