Finding new customer leads online can be tough. Whether you are an online business or a traditional brick and mortar shop, online marketing offers many opportunities for attracting new clients to your business. Social media sites are one of the most useful resources for small businesses. However, social media ads are most effective for building your email list, and not actually selling products on. In order to grow your email list using social media sites, you will need to create lead magnets for your business.
A lead magnet is item that you give away for free to a potential customer in exchange for their email address. The idea is to later use the email address to continue to build the relationship, and market your products to the potential client. Email marketing is 40% more effective than other types of digital marketing, including social media.
So, how can you create a lead magnet that stands out and attracts the right customer to your sales funnel? Here are a few tips to help you create your next lead magnet and grow your email list.
Types of Lead Magnets
There are many different kinds of lead magnets you can use to attract potential clients to your business. The type of one you should use depends on the type of business you have, as well as your target markets habits and preferences. Remember, the perfect lead magnet will offer tremendous value to solve your reader’s issue within 5 minutes of opting in. Here are a list of a few:
Guide/Report
A guide or report is the most common types of Lead magnets. This type of lead magnet is similar to an ebook. It offers valuable information, in a quick and easy to read format, on a specific topic. For example, if you are have an auto detailing business, you may want to create “How to Winterize Your Car” Guide. This guide should give readers a few quick but important tips for preparing their car for the winter months. Try creating a guide that answers a common question or addresses a common issue your potential customers have.
Toolkit
A toolkit is a great list of “tools” that can be used for a specific task or issue. For example, if you create introductions for YouTube videos, your potential customers may be new to creating YouTube videos. You can create “A Getting Started on YouTube Toolkit”, that includes all of the gear you would need to have t actually get started shooting your YouTube videos, for example, a camera.
Resource list
A cheat-sheet or resource list can be a great way to do very little work. An effective resource list would include at least 10 other resources, and contact information those places, including websites. Make your resource list really helpful by hyperlinking to the website and email address (you can use the ‘mailto:’ feature to create an automatic email when clicked). If you help people start home daycare services, a resource list may include contact information for local police district, public pools, poison control, the local library, the health department, etc.
Video Training
Video trainings and webinars are one of the most popular ways to grow your email list right now. By offering a potential client a free webinar that addresses an issue they are facing you position yourself as an authority on the topic. Additionally, once you complete the free portion of the webinar, you can sell your potential clients an “upgrade” or a chance to work with you more. Offer discounts, packages and other deals for people who attend your webinars.
Free trial
If you offer a service or have a software product, a free trial may be a good way to get your potential clients into your sales funnel. During this time, you can wow them with your product or service and offer exceptional support. Make sure your use key words like “risk free” to describe your free trial. This can help increase your opt in rate.
Discounts
Discounts work best for product-based businesses. Offer your customers free shipping or a discount on their purchase in exchange for their email address as your lead magnet.
Template
This type of lead magnet is very good if you are a service based business. You can create a template of something that you for your clients. For example, if you manage email marketing accounts for your clients, you can create a email blast template.
Checklist
Checklists are great and easy to create, as well. You can create a checklist for pretty much anything that your potential clients would be interested in. If you are a car dealership, create a “New Car Checklist” of things to check out and review when you buy a new car.
Now that you know the various types of lead magnets that you can create, there are few additional things that you will need to know to attract more customers to your business with your new lead magnet.
Check out examples on our Start Here Page.
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Save Your Lead Magnet as a PDF
Whatever type of lead magnet you create, save it as a PDF. This will limit the number of people who copy or steal your document. Yes, some people still will steal your work but you can limit that by saving it as a PDF.
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Be sure to add your logo and copyright to every page.
At the beginning and end of your lead magnet there should be a copyright statement, but on every other page of your lead magnet include your logo (or website, if you don’t have one) and © your name or website.
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You’ll need a landing page generator.
You will need a landing page generator for a few reasons. This service will take your potential new client to a new information page once they click on your lead magnet. The information page, or landing page, will provide additional details about the lead magnet that you are offering. This is also the place where the potential client will enter their name, email address and other contact information. Even if a potential client is extremely interested in your product or service, you will want to share with them as much information about what they will get, as possible. The best landing page generator we love to use is Lead Pages (aff. link).
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You’ll need an email service provider.
In order to complete your sales funnel, which is necessary to make the sale, you will have to have a email service provider. Your email service provider will connect to your landing page generator. It will send all the emails into your “list” and then it will automatically send both your lead magnet and auto-responders to your new subscribers. An auto-responder is an automatic email that will send to your clients after they subscribe to your list. These emails are designed to build your relationship with your new subscriber and ultimately, sell your product. Aweber is one of the best email service provider because of their affordability and high delivery rate. You can learn more about Aweber here.
Now you know the basics of creating and setting up your lead magnet. One of the best and easiest ways to create your first lead magnet is by repurposing old content from your blog. Take some of the older content from your blog and update it or expand on it to make it more valuable to your audience. Since you’re using your lead magnet to attract people who aren’t familiar with your company, you don’t have to worry about someone “recognizing it”. Besides that, even if a person has read the old blog post before, adding fresh new content, and some other additional features such as a checklist or audit, makes it appealing again. Once you officially create your first lead magnet, use social media ads to get it in front of your target audience.
Hopefully you can start producing lead magnets effortlessly, and successfully leading more clients through your sales funnel than ever before.
