MODULE 1 – WHAT IS A LEAD MAGNET?

A lead magnet is a valuable product, solution, or benefit that you give to a prospective customer in exchange for their contact information. You may also hear the words ‘freebie’, ‘opt-in gift’, ‘buzz piece’, ‘lead gen offer’, ‘squeeze page bribe’, or similar terms to describe a lead magnet. Whatever you call it, an effective lead magnet will evoke trust and encourage your audience to exchange their information, usually their name and email address, for the offer.

A properly designed lead magnet can convert any relevant prospects into subscribers, leads, and then eventually into customers. The goal of your lead magnet is to bring people into your sales funnel so that you can convert them to customer status. To accomplish this, your lead magnet needs to be so much more than a freebie. It must be a truly valuable offer that acts as a magnet to pull in your most ideal target customer.

The ideal lead magnet will:

• Demonstrate Your Value – An exceptional lead magnet will show how valuable your products and services are, which will help build trust.
• Position You as An Authority – When someone uses your lead magnet successfully, they will start seeing you as someone who knows what they’re doing.
• Build a High Quality Email List – If your lead magnet is laser focused on only your target audience you’ll build a list full of people who need what you offer instead of people who just want free things.

An effective lead magnet will provide a specific solution for one particular pain point for your ideal audience. In addition, it should offer a sense of immediate gratification and help your prospect start believing in your ability to solve more of their problems. The lead magnet should have a very high value and be available to use and put into action within minutes.

Key Parts of the Lead Magnet Funnel

While we’re going to be focusing primarily on the actual lead magnet in this course, it’s important to understand how it fits into a basic sales funnel. There are several components to this funnel:

• Traffic Source – Where will your traffic come from for the lead magnet? Social media, blog posts, articles, emails and pay per click ads are a few potential sources.
• Opt-In Page – This is the page where you ask for an email address, and possibly other information, in exchange for your lead magnet. It explains the benefits of the lead magnet and offers a form to fill out to be able to obtain their gift. You’ll also hear this page referred to as a ‘squeeze page’ or landing page.
• Autoresponder Series – The opt-in page form submission triggers an automatic email series to be sent to the subscriber. Most people will have their autoresponder service first send a confirmation email in which the subscriber must click a link to confirm they want the lead magnet. The autoresponder will then send whatever emails you have pre-written, in the order and schedule you’ve set. It should start with a welcome email that sends people to their gift.
• Thank You / Download Page – This is where the lead magnet lives and where those who provide their information get sent to retrieve their gift.
• Upgraded Offer – You can offer something for sale after people have retrieved their gift. This could be on a download page, as an add-on that enhances the lead magnet, or as an upsell to the lead magnet.
• Remarketing – You can also use this opportunity as a way to ramp up your email marketing by asking people to share your lead magnet with others. For example, you can ask people to ‘like’ or share a link to your opt-in page with others.

What Does a Lead Magnet Look Like?

You’ve probably seen lead magnets all over the place and not realized what they were called. In fact, whenever you’re asked for your email address, you’re typically given some sort of gift as a result. Examples of lead magnets include:  

• EBooks
• Free Shipping
• Free Trials
• Step-by-Step Guides
• Templates
• Checklists
• Free Consultations
• Coupons
• Free Assessments
• etc.

Now that you know what a lead magnet is, give some thought as to your own products and services and how you can create an effective lead magnet. This could involve using something you already have, or creating something brand new to offer in exchange for an email.

Here’s a simple series of steps you can follow now to help you understand lead magnets.

1. Identify lead magnets that exist.
2. Decide which kind of lead magnets you like most. Why?
3. Think of your audience and which types of lead magnets they like most. For example, what currently gets the most attention now on your blog or social media networks? 

Action Steps:

1. Think about some lead magnets you’ve signed up for recently from companies or people.

1. Which ones did you like most? Why?
2. Which ones did you actually use? Why?
3. Which ones did you NOT use? Why?  

2. Take a look through your Facebook newsfeed and look for sponsored ads for freebies. Which ones stand out and look enticing to you? Why?