5 Lead Magnets Any Enterprise Can Use
By now you have probably heard that we have spoken a lot about lead magnets. In the event that you are not familiar, a lead magnet is an irresistible bribe that offers a potential customer or visitor a certain value in exchange for their contact information. Let's summarize that …
This definition contains some VERY keywords: specific and value
Specificity is critical when developing a great lead magnet. You don't need to create a comprehensive guide or white paper (white papers are generally terrible … they feel like homework). Instead, you want to offer something that solves a particular problem.
This makes the content very consumable and more targeted.
Think about it – what if you created something like an organization chart template? There is an incredible value here. It is a template / swipe file created for you AND shows you that your customer is likely to have a team. Win win.
Value is the other important part of the lead magnet recipe, and this is twofold. You want the perceived value to be HIGH, and then the actual value must be that high. If you market something that sucks, you will just convince someone that you suck faster.
In our YouTube series Marketing championship with DigitalMarketrI am talking about my 5 favorite types of lead magnets that ANY company can use.
Number 1: cheat sheet and checklists
Talk about easy to consume and very valuable. The cheat sheet or checklist is undoubtedly one of the best types of lead magnets. Nobody wants a PDF or eBook; They just don't have time, BUT they do have time for this kind of content.
Cheat sheets are great for any niche where reference points are required. This is perfect for business and marketing. You can create a glossary, buzzword or keyword cheat sheet for newbies, or even a list of simple calculations that everyone forgets.
The best way to create a cheat sheet for your audience is to find out the questions that need to be answered, put all the answers together, and include them in a nice and easy-to-use reference book.
Checklists are a little different, but can be even more effective. At DigitalMarketer, we believe in giving tactical, step-by-step advice and that everything else is fluff.
Checklists are the best way to ensure that a task is done correctly the first time (and then every second time). Regardless of your industry, there is a useful checklist that you can create.
When compiling a useful checklist, make sure it describes a task that users are actually performing, and then run the "Peanut Butter & Jelly" test.
This test is a great way to teach you step by step how to explain something. So if I asked you, "Can you tell me how to do a PB&J?" and you start with "First distribute the peanut butter". I'll quickly say, "Where did you get the peanut butter from? Where do I spread it? Where did you get it from?"
You can see how many accepted steps there are and can handle them in a short and sequential order.
Number 2: templates, templates, templates
PEOPLE LOVE TEMPLATES. You see them as lead magnets and absolutely go bananas.
Templates are the ultimate link for your audience.
You don't have to be in the email, landing page or website builder to create templates for your target audience – we do this at DigitalMarketer all the time.
You want to ask yourself: "What could my audience simply fill out and then implement in their business?" It's like a MadLib business!
We have created plug-and-play email templates, ad templates, marketing scorecards and customer avatar / persona templates.
Number 3: video training
Note that I didn't say a "webinar". Don't get me wrong, webinars are a phenomenal way to generate leads and sales, BUT …
A webinar is meant to be an event. If someone says "No" to your webinar, they may say "No" to the date, time, or content.
On-demand video training with limited time has changed the game at DigitalMarketer. We're no longer using a lot of evergreen webinar funnels these days, we're taking a piece of video content out of our vault (we have a lot of it) and asking people to register within a certain period of time to block access.
We never take access away. That is the key.
If you get to the landing page now, don't consider your options and check your calendar. However, you value your content and its value. So do it well.
Oh, one more thing. The limited time nature is really just the cherry on top to spark action. If you plan to have this content immediately available, just enter it.
Number 4: Free shipping or discounts
I know we said vouchers aren't really lead magnets, but you can position discounts and free shipping so that they become lead magnets (or at least tick most boxes).
If you run a brick-and-mortar store or an e-commerce shop, you may be a little interested in lead magnets. Even if they're available on your website, you probably don't want to dissuade them from making a purchase.
Enter discounts or free shipping in exchange for their contact information.
Yes, it's that simple. Target new visitors to your website and try to lower the entry barrier. Make the buying decision even easier (either right now or in the inevitable follow-up emails you send).
The unfortunate thing is that most e-commerce and retailers run this game book, so quite a lot is at stake. You will want to find a way to stand out in an amount of "10-15% discount for new visitors".
Number 5: delete files
Ah, the good old swipe file. If you're something like me, you have an email folder with swipable emails, a bookmark folder with swipable pages (for design, copy, and content), and a Slack channel dedicated to cool swipable examples.
If you're not like me, you should (in this case) probably be. Get obsessed with your industry (including your tangential ones) and you'll be surprised at what you can learn!
Even better, when you start building, you can create one of the most powerful lead magnets in EXISTENCE: the swipe file.
There are two truths that make swipe files so useful and desirable:
- There is an abundance of valuable information that is readily available
- People are lazy
If you do all the curation of swipe files correctly, you can do a significant amount of competition research AND summarize what you've found in a single document that you can exchange for contact information.
In fact, I've seen swipe files that weren't just used for lead magnets (I bought swipe files for a few hundred dollars)!
At DM our most successful lead magnets have ALL SWIPE FILES:
- FB ad templates
- Social media swipe file
- 101 blog subject lines
All are examples of lead magnets that have produced hundreds of thousands of wires for us.
To sum it up again:
- Cheat sheet / checklists
- Templates, templates, templates
- Video training
- Free shipping or discount
- Wipe files
If you want to delve deeper, you can read more examples on the DM blog, 4 more ideas for lead magnets and a super helpful checklist for lead magnets (hey, remember how much I like checklists ?!).
Visit our YouTube channel for more marketing championship tips with me, Justin Rondeau.
