Learning how to write a lead magnet is one of the most important parts of building your sales funnel. We’ve already touched on the usefulness of a lead magnet in a previous entry, but let’s do a quick recap of what it is and why you should definitely use them in your marketing efforts.
A lot of people in your company’s email list are leads, which is what we call those who have already shown a level of interest in your brand and products by sharing their contact information with you (name, phone number, company name, or email address).
Once in your list, you can develop their interest and trust in your brand through the use of a nurturing sequence of emails, which aims to engage and educate your audience about the benefits of your products, thus making them much more likely to make a purchase once they are eventually redirected to the landing page mentioned at the start of this blog post.
Since this whole process can be easily automated and left to run in the background, that draws a clear connection between lead generation and profits: More leads = more sales.
Now that we have established the benefits of having a large number of leads, you may have guessed that the purpose of learning to write a lead magnet and implement it is to attract these people to your email list. While the purpose is the same, the shapes it can take are virtually endless.
Lead magnet ideas can include, but are not limited to:
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Exclusive advice/story/interview/article
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Checklist
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Content Calendar
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Quiz
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Template
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Curated list of books/online resources
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Challenge
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Cheat Sheet
It will probably be the first impression a prospective customer gets of you and your product, so when you write a lead magnet you have to consider that it needs to achieve several goals. This includes turning website visitors into leads and educating them about who you are and what you can offer them while establishing an appropriate tone for the rest of the sales funnel.
It’s no surprise then that it can be tricky to craft the perfect product for the job, so let’s go over a few things you ought to keep in mind if you want to write a lead magnet that will send your conversion rate skyrocketing!
Lead Magnet Types & Buyer Persona
We’ve seen how diverse lead magnets can be, so choose one that plays directly to your strengths – if you have a knack for writing, consider an e-book with information/advice that can help you establish a connection with your audience, letting them get to know you better. On the other hand, if you have a lot of data, diagrams or tools, consider offering those and letting the value you provide speak for itself.
Moreover, while still at the planning stage, choose a buyer persona, a fictional profile of your ideal customer. Trying to make something appealing to everybody can end up diluting the message and leaving less of an impact on potential fans, so narrow it down to a few characteristics that will help you make the right decisions when writing your lead magnet. Would they rather sit back and be entertained by a piece of content, or do they prefer technical information and getting straight to the point? You should keep all of these things in mind when designing your lead magnet.
How to provide real value when you write a lead magnet
You should strive to make your content as valuable as possible to your audience. Describe a problem people might have so that they can relate to your writing, and then offer up the solution in the form of the lead magnet, ensuring that it is in fact helpful. While you may have heard lead magnets being referred to as “freebies”, don’t forget that you are not just giving them away for free, but are exchanging this content for their contact details, so offer real value in return, don’t just slap together a rushed product as an afterthought.
This not only sets you up as an expert in the field, but makes it more likely for people to remember you and engage further if the advice or tool you gave them actually helped them out. It also works to set the tone for the whole sales funnel, positioning you as a gift giver, making leads look forward to what other high-value content they can receive from you.
Bio & Call To Actions
If you are able to establish a connection with your audience, any future interaction they have with your marketing materials will go much more smoothly, since they remember, like, and trust you already. The way you get there is by introducing yourself briefly at the start of your lead magnet, helping them put a face on the person behind the content they enjoy. This is the perfect place to add some social proof, increasing your credibility in their eyes.
Conversely, the ending of your lead magnet should consist of a call to action (CTA) meant to move prospects further along the sales funnel or direct them to take some other action like following a social media page, checking out a blog, filling out a survey, etc.
This is where you take full advantage of the interest and trust built throughout the lead magnet. Make sure this CTA is clear and compelling. It should be a one-sentence summary of the previous paragraphs describing problems and solutions.
For example, if you are offering a “How To Start a YouTube Channel” PDF checklist/guide, your buyer persona is most likely someone who has no prior experience in the field, is looking for knowledge and is anxious about the process being too complicated or taking too long. Thus, a possible CTA might read “Get Your YouTube Channel Up and Running in Two Hours!”
Still, knowing how to write a lead magnet is only part of the battle. The rest of the sales funnel needs to be running on all cylinders as well if you are to scale your business. If you would like a helping hand with setting up or fine-tuning and optimizing your sales-funnel, you can contact us right here and we’ll gladly have a chat about how we can make your vision a reality and help you scale!
