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Your Ultimate Guide to Lead Magnets

A lead magnet is a marketing tool used to attract and capture potential customers (leads) by offering something of value in exchange for their contact information, typically their email address. Lead magnets are commonly used in digital marketing strategies to grow an email list or database of prospects.

Lead magnets can come in many forms, such as:

    1. Ebooks or Guides – Informative downloadable content that provides value or solutions to a specific problem.
    2. Checklists or Templates – Easy-to-use resources that help potential customers with tasks or processes.
    3. Webinars or Video Trainings – Live or pre-recorded video content offering valuable insights or education.
    4. Free Trials or Demos – Limited-time access to a service or product to entice users to try it out.
    5. Quizzes or Assessments – Interactive content that provides personalized results or feedback.
    6. Discount Coupons or Free Samples – A direct offer for savings or free products in exchange for contact details.

The key to a successful lead magnet is ensuring it resonates with the target audience and addresses a pain point or need, making them willing to provide their contact information in exchange.

What is a lead magnet?

What Are Lead Magnets?

Lead magnets are simply an incentive for opting in to your list.  It can be anything of value.  I built a list  of 42,000 giving away a free audio sample of our complete product.  Ideally, work with what you have but in the event you need to create something new we’ll help you along the way.

As already stated before, lead magnets come in many forms to include:

1.  Checklists:  Give people a checklist to work from so they can assess their progress.

2.  Resources:  A list of useful sites, books, Facebook groups, etc

3.  Flow Chart:  Give a macroscopic or microscopic view of the subject.

4.  Step by Step:  Take them by the hand and show them how to do something.

5.  5-Lesson Course:  I built an affiliate list of 12,000 using 5-Lessons.  I got the idea from someone who built a list of over 100,000 offering a free five-lesson course.  Basically you do 4 lessons and lesson 5 segues into a sales pitch.  It’s very effective.

6.  Special Report:  Do you have some insight to offer on your market?

7.  The One –  What’s your biggest question about . . .  Focus on answering one question or solving one problem.

As I pointed out above, a lead magnet can be anything of value – it’s not limited to the six items above.  Just ask yourself, “What would my ideal subscriber be excited to receive?”

 

Lead Magnet Objectives

Our objective with creating a lead magnet is to keep it simple.  We want to focus on ONE big idea.  Or one problem.  And we want to focus on one ideal subscriber 

We also want to recall the 80% Approach – done is better than perfect.

If you need to create a lead magnet from scratch it’s important to include actionable content.  This is so that your reader can do something and feel they’ve gained a win.  That win will score big points for you.

Help them to fill in some blanks – help them to see what they know and what they do not know.  This process of filling in blanks helps to clarify confusion and frustration for the reader.

 

Lead magnet objectives
Lead magnet brainstorming

Who Is Your Lead Magnet For?  And What’s Its Promise?

Is he pressed for time? Is she retired? Does he have specific books he reads? Rich Dad, Poor Dad? The Four-Hour Work Week? Gone With the Wind? Is she health-conscious? A vegan? Who did he vote for in the last election?

These are the types of questions you need to ask if you want to truly understand your customer. If you’re not sure, go to Facebook and examine your competitors’ followers. Or, if you’re an affiliate marketer, look at the merchant’s followers.

To be clear, this step requires you to visit multiple websites and scroll through Facebook (or other platforms) to find relevant ads. Simply imagining your ideal prospect won’t be enough.

Once you know who you’re targeting, you can move on to the next key question: What do you do for them?

For example:

    • I teach AFFILIATES (who) how to BUILD EMAIL LISTS (what).
    • Or, here’s another approach: Write a guide for what, for whom?
    • A guide to email marketing for affiliates.
    • A guide to prospecting for accountants.
    • A guide to knitting for cat lovers.

This exercise can be incredibly helpful. For instance, when I started focusing on list-building, as a market, I wasn’t sure who it was for. But after working through this, it became clear: it’s for affiliates.

Focus Your Lead Magnets on Two Key Emotions: Frustration and Confusion

The next step is to tap into two emotions that play a major role in your prospects’ mindset: frustration and confusion.

People express their frustrations all over the place, and it’s pure gold for you. It shows you exactly where they’re struggling and what they need—a new solution.

Frustration and confusion are closely linked emotions. Frustration happens when someone is trying the same thing over and over without getting the results they want, while confusion happens when they’re unsure about what to do next and feel paralyzed.

By addressing both these emotions, you can position yourself as the hero who provides the answers they’re desperately seeking.

Analyze the Data

Finally, always pay attention to analytics wherever available. As you dig deeper, make sure to bookmark valuable insights that will help with your traffic strategies later on. Watch for keyword phrases that you should aim to rank for, and keep an eye on popular posts and categories on the sites you’re studying. These will provide crucial information for your marketing efforts.

Putting Your Lead Magnet Together!

The key to creating an effective lead magnet is keeping it simple and actionable. It really boils down to one question: How can I be helpful? The answer could be anything of value you have to offer.

Remember, 80% done is better than waiting for the perfect 100%. We want to get you into the game. Start with what you have, and improve it based on feedback from your audience.

Many successful gurus have made fortunes by telling people what to do, and then selling them the how to do it. Your lead magnet should follow the same principle: Show them what to do, and provide the tools to help them do it.

Have fun with it! Give your subscribers and newsletter a name that fosters a sense of community and inspiration. For example, I call my subscribers “Rockstars” and “Profit Makers.”

Think in terms of Be, Do, Have. Who will your audience become when they follow your advice, and what will they achieve? Bring them into this world, and they’ll be grateful.

Oh, and one more thing: Feel free to borrow ideas, just make sure to put your own unique spin on them.

Putting your lead magnet together