What is a Lead Magnet?

And more importantly, why do you need one?

A lead magnet is a “something” that you give away for free in return for a potential customers email address.  The theory is, they want what you are giving away therefore will become a customer and buy what you are selling.

So what is your something?

There are many, many types of lead magnet.

• Short Ebooks
• Quizzes
• Checklists
• Workbooks
• Discount Codes
• How to instructions
• Challenges
  To name but a few.

Why do I need a lead magnet?

Because it is easier to sell your product or service to someone who is interested in what you are selling. 

Your customers are literally coming to you for a freebie (or discount) and are willing to give their email address for it. 

Now, you need to be responsible with this email address.  Don’t spam the poor individual until they buy or unsubscribe.  You need to nurture the fledging relationship you have with this person.  And they are a person – not just an email address.

Send out regular content to your potential buyer which is informative and benefits them.  At the same time promote the products and services you have that you believe will help them.

How do I make my lead magnet?

Once you have decided on which lead magnet is likely to work best for you, you need to produce it.  I absolutely do not recommend outsourcing this as your lead magnet is your opportunity for a good first impression.  No one can sell your product as well as you.  It needs to be in your voice. 

The hard work is the design (unless you are a designer hahah!).  Canva is a website which is easy to use to produce documents even with little or no experience.  This 100 page Canva Ebook Template is a good starting point as it can be separated out into many of the types of lead magnet listed.  Pages can be deleted to make a short ebook or pages can be used individually to produce checklists, quizzes and challenges.

How do I decide what my lead magnet is?

Think of the conversations you have with potential clients.  What do they ask you?  When the words “can I pick your brains…” are spoken, the words after that are so important.  What document could you produce that answers the most commonly asked question?  They value your answer, so producing a document answering that question is valuable to them as they need the info and valuable to you because you need to sell to them.

Your lead magnet could be a checklist or a quiz, a simple one page document. The Canva Ebook Template I use has 100 pages of templates which can be picked out and used individually, such as the 30 day challenge page below. As long as you customize the template in Canva, you can use the designs (you just can’t sell them or give them away as a template!). The template is available for immediate use by purchasing on Etsy. I think you’ll be amazed at the price for such a large amout of content.

So what will your lead magnet be? Do a bit of competitor research. What are they giving away?