A lead magnet is a marketing tool many businesses owners and small businesses rely on to reach potential customers and collect their contact information. This strategy has been around long before the internet. Think about contest signup sheets, raffles and giveaways at your local store.
While these can and still work, there are plenty of other things you can gift your target audience in exchange for their contact details. We're going to explore some of the best lead magnet ideas you might not have implemented before that will get your website visitors eager to enter their email addresses.
Lead Magnet Ideas #1: A Swipe File
Traditionally, a swipe file is a document or even a folder of documents that contain tried and true pieces of writing. This is a great way to build your email list if you reach business owners, entrepreneurs, copywriters, bloggers and anyone who does some kind of writing for their work. It need not be confined to that at all.
We all need a little bit of inspiration. With a little bit of creativity, you can use swipe files for different niches. A great example is a creating lookbook for a fashion blog. Or let's go with a more modern twist, a list of AI text prompts for use with AI text or image generators.
Lead Magnet Ideas #2: A Resource List
In the very early days of my friend's career marketing online, he didn't have a product. What he had was a huge bookmark list (this was pre-2000's mind you), and so he sold this list and for the first time made some real money online.
Since then, the Internet has online grown larger. While search engines have improved greatly, getting to the right information is still not quite that easy. That is why curated content is popular. People simply don't have time and they need someone who understands a specific topic the same way they do to distill the information for them. A great example is this list of No Code Tools We Love.
Lead Magnet Ideas #3: Free Trial
According to Pew Research, in 2019, 66% of adults in the U.S. had tried a subscription service. That's a powerful reason for you to consider a free trial, especially if your product is subscription based.
Offering a no-risk, no-cost trial period allows prospects to get a feel for what your product or service has to offer before committing to a full purchase. Free trials also give people a taste of what your product can do and how it can help them. Additionally, it can help build trust.
There are some caveats to look out for. When introducing a free trial offer, it’s important to be clear about the length of the trial period and any associated costs. You should also provide clear, detailed information how to cancel and make the process easy and hassle free.
Lead Magnet Ideas #4: Cheat Sheets
Cheat sheets quickly provide information, such as outlining steps or summarizing key points in an easy-to-digest format. These concise resources provide a quick and easy way to learn about a specific topic. Because they often help people reach decisions, see the big picture or simply a process for them, this type of lead magnet is an easy yes. Also, if the cheat sheet is something people need to refer to again and again, when you brand your cheat sheet properly, people will be reminded of your brand, services or products every single time they refer to the sheet. That's a great way to keep your brand awareness on the forefront.
Expert Photography has a great set of free cheat sheets on… photography of course! They are well done, and super helpful for any pro photographer and is a great way to build their list to bring people back to their site and, sell them premium cheat sheets! That's the nice thing about them. You can always save some to sell.
Lead Magnet Ideas #5: Social Media Posts
Every business who wants to use the Internet to market their business need social media content. Entrepreneurs already have so much on their hands the last thing they want is to sit around and post content. Creating social media posts for your clients to use is a fantastic way to build a list of business owners.
But what if you reach consumers? Then try to create things like seasonal GIFs, profile image frames that show off a season, holiday, make a statement or take a stand.
Lead Magnet Ideas #6: Content Upgrade
Already have a blog? Content upgrades are especially effective for blog posts that cover a specific topic in detail, as readers are likely to be more interested in the additional content related to the topic.
The best way to go about this is to look at your stats. Identify blog posts that already have good traffic flowing through them. Brainstorm ways you can expand on the content to make it more valuable and create a content upgrade from it.
An alternative is to combine ideas. If your blog post already has step-by-step information and details, distill your blog post into a cheat sheet, or expand it into a workbook and use that as your content upgrade. Have you ever run a webinar surrounding the blog post? Use that as a content upgrade. The key is, you never have to start from scratch. Review your existing blog posts, video content and any other content you have put out for free and see where there is relevance.
Lead Magnet Ideas #7: Case Studies
Do you have clients or customers who love your product and are successful using it? Create a case study out of them. People often will say yes because we all love seeing our name in lights no matter how small. It feels great to be featured and they'd be more than happy to share when you publish. Interview them, let them tell other customers how they use your products, why they chose you, how you solve their problems and what kind of results they get from it.
Also, people are curious. They want to know what other people are doing right and what they are doing wrong.
Finally, you can repeat this process and do a monthly feature for example. Set up system so you automatically create a case study each month and your lead magnet will be done and ready for you. Remember. It doesn't have to be video or audio although doing one of those makes it easier to repurpose.
Lead Magnet Ideas #8: Early Access
People love to be special. Getting early access to something makes people feel special because they get something no one else in their circle has. People also like to be the first to find something to share. It makes them feel smart and knowledgeable. Giving someone early access covers all these points and because they feel special, they'll be more than happy to share it with others.
Giving people early access also has an added bonus. You can take the feedback from them to improve your product and launch with a better version than you would have.
Early access isn't only limited to software. If you sell a course, provide an early access with a few preview classes and outlines.
Lead Magnet Ideas #9: Educational Content or Free Course
Teach people to do something or learn a topic. Many people love to learn and educational content has a high perceived value. This is a great way to get quality leads because someone who wants to learn is usually more motivated and are interested in what you have to offer.
You could create a mini membership site for this educational content and keep adding to it. As the content library grows, it becomes an incredibly valuable resource for your ideal customer.
Lead Magnet Ideas #10: Free Tools
A free tool is one of the best lead magnet type you can create. Especially if you make it a useful resource. Some examples of free tools are:
- Calculators
- Generators (Image generator, Subject line generators, blog post generators)
- Simple graphic tools or profile makers
You don't have to be in the software business to use this as a lead generation method, but the do require more investment if you are not a programmer yourself. The rewards can be huge though so don't discount this because of a limited budget. Look for ready-made solutions out there, contact the developers to see if you can purchase a copy and have them install it on your website.
Lead Magnet Ideas #11: Discount Code
Offering a coupon or discount is a great lead magnet idea because everyone wants to save money. Discounts also help convert people to become new customers quickly, especially the coupon is only good for a limited time. Want to amplify your reach with this lead magnet idea?
Gamify it. Give people a good reason to share your discount code offer by rewarding them with another coupon code when they get other people to register for your lead magnet offer.
This is a list of some of the best lead magnets to create for your online business. You don't have to do all of them, but also remember, you don't want to only do one type either. It is always a great idea to create different types of lead magnets to cater for different use cases and ready different groups of prospective customers.
Don't discount this list of lead magnet ideas just because you've seen them before or you've implemented a few before. There are no perfect lead magnets. What's important is to ask yourself, which have you not implemented? Do those. And if you're already implemented all of these? Revamp your older ones ore create more!
