Creating a great lead magnet can result in floods of prospects entering your sales funnel. You just need to make sure you’re offering something that your audience actually wants.
You have a clear purpose in mind whenever you create a lead magnet.
Your goal is to create a piece of content that’s so amazing your audience needs to have it. That means they’re willing to give you something, often an email address, in exchange for the content.
When done well, a lead magnet will generate tons of potential business for your company.
But there’s a problem… Creating lead magnets that work can be a real struggle. You can end up putting time and money into ad campaigns and landing pages, only to find that your audience isn’t interested in the magnet.
And if nobody wants the magnet, it’s useless to you as a lead generation tool.
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at what a lead magnet needs to offer to be successful. These are the eight elements that your lead magnet can’t do without.
Element #1 – It Solves a Key Problem for Your Audience
Every business solves problems for its audience.
The people you’re appealing to aren’t concerned with your product features and all the reasons why your service is so great. They have an issue and they’re looking for somebody to solve it.
That’s the key idea you need to remember when creating your lead magnet.
Consider your target audience and the problems they want to solve. Highlight one of those key issues and build your lead magnet around it. Your goal is to show the prospect that you have the answers to their questions. And that’s what your lead magnet should do for one of those questions… Then, if they want to get the rest of the answers, they need to come to you.
What’s important here is that you don’t pick any old problem to solve.
The problem has to be something that resonates with your audience on an emotional level. It’s got to be a problem that causes them pain, because the pain makes it a priority for them.
This sense of urgency leads them to seek out solutions. And that’s where your lead magnet comes in.
Element #2 – The Magnet Offers an Easy Win
If a problem is causing somebody a lot of pain, they’ve likely struggled with it for a while. They’ve carried the weight of that problem and probably feel like they’re making no headway.
They’re looking for a win and they want it as soon as possible.
That means you’re making a mistake if your magnet is all about what they need to do to achieve something several months from now.
You’ve got to offer a quick win. You’ve got to help your prospect take the first step towards solving a problem they’ve struggled with for ages.
That quick win doesn’t have to solve the entire problem. It just has to create a tangible sense of progress that feels like a reward for downloading your lead magnet. And now the prospect knows that one thing you’ve offered works. That means they’re more likely to trust you with the rest of their problems.
Element #3 – It Confronts Something Specific
The more general your lead magnet, the more likely it is to fail. Your magnet has to zero in on a very specific problem and provide a solution to it.
For example, let’s say your audience struggles to create email sequences for following up with customers. Your magnet could offer a template for a sequence they can use. The prospect gets a quick win and confronts a specific challenge they’re struggling with.
On the flip side, imagine that your magnet just talks about structuring emails on a general level. There may be some nuggets in there that your audience will find useful. However, that magnet is too general, and doesn’t confront the specific problem of creating an effective follow-up sequence.
That means you haven’t solved a specific problem, and that means the magnet won’t convert as well as it could.
Element #4 – It’s Free (And Better than What Your Competitors Offer)
This is a concept a lot of business owners struggle with.
You hate to give anything away for free. You know that all of your content has value, and you struggle with the idea of giving it to somebody for nothing.
First, you need to reframe how you look at your lead magnet.
Yes, you’re not asking for money in exchange for your content. However, you are asking for something, such as an email address. That means you’re receiving an opportunity to engage a prospect and work them through your sales funnel.
Your lead magnet isn’t actually free. You’re getting something very valuable in return for providing it.
Now that you’ve changed how you think about your magnet, you can revisit what the magnet actually offers. Your goal is to offer something for “free” that’s better than what the prospect gets when they pay your competitors.
This is a bit of a psychological trick. If a prospect sees that you’re giving something super useful away, they’re going to assume that the stuff you charge for must be amazing. This creates curiosity and brings the prospect closer to buying something from you.
Element #5 – Deliver on Your Promise
You’re promising a solution to a very specific problem with your lead magnet.
You absolutely have to deliver on that solution.
A lead magnet is not the place to talk about how great you are and why the prospect should buy from you. It’s the place to build trust and showcase exactly what your product or service can offer to somebody who has a problem.
If you break the promise you made to convince a prospect to download the magnet, you lose their trust.
And when a prospect doesn’t trust you, they’re no longer a prospect. They’re somebody who’s never going to give your product or service a second glance again.
Element #6 – It Looks the Part
Typically, a lead magnet forms part of your first impression.
A prospect sees your ad, hits your landing page, and downloads the magnet. That constitutes their initial interactions with your business.
Consistency between those three touchpoints is crucial. Your ad makes the promise of a professional solution to a problem. Both your landing page and your lead magnet have to look professional to create a great first impression.
That means content formatting is almost as important as the content itself.
If you need help with some of the design elements of your landing page or lead magnet, we can help you. Send a task to our Concierge Service today.
Element #7 – It’s Easy to Digest
Ditch the technical jargon before you even consider creating your lead magnet.
Your audience isn’t looking for a document that’s going to baffle them with a language they don’t understand. They want something that’s easy to both understand and follow.
Think of your lead magnet like the starter of a large meal. It’s tasty, it fills a gap, and it’s really easy to eat without thinking about it.
That sense of ease is one of the reasons why cheat sheets and checklists make great lead magnets. They’re simple and get to the point, which makes them useful to the prospect.
Element #8 – It Showcases Your Style
Ultimately, your lead magnet is there to build trust with potential customers. This is the piece of content you’re using to get somebody into your funnel. That means you want to use it to establish your personal style, as well as to solve a problem.
That means using the language you usually use for your clients. It means focusing specifically on the problems that demonstrate your expertise.
It means injecting your personality into the piece.
The quality of the information you provide is only part of the equation. People need to like and trust you before they buy from you. Your magnet is the perfect place to establish who you are.
Doing this early also means that the magnet acts as a qualifying piece. If a prospect doesn’t gel with your style, they’d be a poor fit as a client if they signed up. This is your chance to weed out the bad fits before they become bad clients.
Create a Magnet That Attracts
It’s time to stop creating generic lead magnets that don’t convert.
With these tips, you’ll create a lead magnet that people actually want to download. That means you’ll have more leads pouring into your funnel, which creates more opportunities to sell.
Automation Agency can help you with several of the supporting tasks. We can design your landing page and create the images you need for your magnet. The Concierge Service is ready and waiting for you to send a task.
If you’re not a member of the service yet, talk to our Right Fit Chatbot. You’ll find out if we’re well-suited to work together.
