Lead Magnets: Can They Help Grow Your Email List?

You’ve spent two weeks crafting an ebook and a few more days building a landing page to promote it. The moment you see 100 downloads, a proud smile spreads across your face. Fast forward two months, and your manager asks, “How many conversions did we get from that ebook?” You quickly check your reports and feel disappointment: Zero.

So, is creating lead magnets worth all that effort? While they can be ideal for boosting brand awareness, what about actual conversions?

In this post, we’ll dive into the world of lead magnets and reveal how to create resources that align with your goals. Discover some of the most effective types of lead magnets and tips to boost conversions.

What Is a Lead Magnet?

A lead magnet is a free, valuable marketing item, such as a worksheet, guide, or case study, offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact information. By adding those leads to their email lists and nurturing them with helpful content, marketers position themselves as thought leaders in their field and boost their conversion rates.

A good lead magnet resolves a pain point prospects face. With a dedicated follow-up strategy, it can also gradually introduce them to your products or services. It should be credible and up-to-date, full of valuable information to gain people’s trust and move them down the funnel.

Lead Magnets Pros & Cons

Lead magnets often pose a dilemma about their usefulness among marketing professionals. Some claim they help collect emails you wouldn’t get otherwise, while others say that they don’t bring qualified leads, and instead brim email lists with disengaged contacts.

To clear the air, let’s explore some pros and cons:

Lead Magnets Pros

• Help businesses build their email lists fast and gradually nurture leads through valuable content.
• Inform marketers about the interests and pain points of their target audience to capitalize on them in the future.
• Lead to high conversion rates if they align with consumers’ pain points and needs, when combined with smart lead nurturing actions.
• Help marketers spread the word about a brand to people who aren’t aware of it.
• Position businesses as industry experts to win people’s trust.
• Stand out among competitors through original content.

Lead Magnet Cons

• Need time and several resources to create, such are graphic design skills and tools.
• Have a short life span and need to be updated regularly to stay relevant.
• Need to set up a dedicated nurturing strategy to turn those leads into customers and prevent low engagement.
• Potentially hinder email engagement rates and brand reputation when they don’t fulfill subscribers’ expectations.
• No guarantee that people are interested in similar content, and that they’ll engage with the brand.

So, are lead magnets effective? The correct answer would be: It depends.

eCommerce and SaaS businesses can benefit hugely from lead magnets if they appeal to their target audience. Plus, considering what customers would like to see in each customer journey stage can lead to higher success rates.

However, if you don’t have the resources to create lead magnets or lack lead generation expertise, maybe you should try other techniques instead. Besides, if you have a long sales cycle, lead magnets may get lost in the noise, compared to other targeted customer acquisition tactics, such as retargeting ads.

Best Types of Lead Magnets with Examples

Here are 10 popular lead magnet ideas most brands use to grow their email lists. Plus, explore top lead magnet examples for each case to get inspired:

1. Ebooks/Guides

Create free ebooks and guides to share in-depth information about a topic potential customers would love to explore. While they take time to create, they show prospects how much effort you put in for them. Audiobooks and gated podcasts can also fit in this category.

For instance, HubSpot offers various digital marketing ebooks to gradually introduce website visitors interested in their platforms to their assets and eventually convert them.

2. Templates

These premade resources not only help potential customers resolve a specific pain point but also save valuable time during working hours. For example, a worksheet or a roadmap can do the trick.

Here’s a marketing calendar template by Moosend helping users complete important strategic tasks, such as SWOT analysis and budgeting:

3. Checklists/ Cheatsheets

Help prospects keep track of a certain task related to your offers, hinting at them how your product or service can elevate their performance or experience. You can also create an infographic to make it more interactive or a ready-made spreadsheet.

Check out this amazing checklist example by Calm helping prospects to grow their mindful management skills:

4. Quizzes

Interactive quizzes help businesses collect email addresses from potential customers and offer a highly targeted experience to them. And a personalized marketing approach can be powerful for a business.

Here’s a relevant example by Gentleman’s Gazette to put ideal customers in their sales funnel:

5. Webinars

Get your potential customers’ opt-in by hosting free webinars–or even online courses–that will grab their attention. These new leads will get to know different aspects of your business straight away. From viewing you as a thought leader in your niche to learning about your assets, it’s easy to win their trust faster.

Check out this lead magnet by Zoom targeting healthcare business owners and professionals:

6. Free Trials/Demos

If you’re in the SaaS industry and want to give prospects a real-time experience of your product or service, set up free trials or demos. Most businesses provide free trials for 14 or 30 days to increase the chances of converting those leads. Or they offer demos to clients with high revenue potential, providing them with a more enhanced experience.

For example, Prime Video has a 7-day free trial, followed by an automatic renewal to gain more customers.

7. Case studies

Social proof plays a key role in attracting new customers. Show them how other businesses met their goals with your products or services. This way, they’ll understand how your offers work and will be tempted to join you.

If you target different industries, it’s best to create different case studies or ask them to clarify their niche in the lead capture form. Check out how Dreamfuel approached it:

8. Whitepapers

Conducting original research can put you on the map of thought leaders and innovators in your field. Give access to potential customers interested in gaining your latest insights and let them learn more about your products and services, including how they will benefit their work.

Have a look at this research report by Sitecore and Deloitte to get a better grasp:

9. Free tools

Some businesses go the extra mile and create free tools to get new leads in their pipeline. Create an asset highly relevant to your product or service that will help website visitors complete a specific task and want more from you to excel in their work.

For instance, AnswerThePublic gives website visitors three searches per day, aiming to nurture visitors searching for more:

10. Free consultations

For certain services, such as coaching or counseling, you can offer free consultations–usually up to thirty minutes–to promote your work and set the right expectations. You can connect your website with your calendar to simplify the process or ask for more information before booking a slot to ensure that leads are qualified.

Growth Center invited prospective clients to book a clarity call to introduce them to their service:

There are more resources a business can use as a lead magnet, such as libraries, free courses, or even access to a private community group. It’s up to you to decide what type of content your target audience needs to convert and how to serve it to them.

How To Create an Effective Lead Magnet Strategy

Do you believe that lead magnets would be a great addition to your existing content marketing strategy? Follow this quick step-by-step guide to remove potential blockers and promote your brand wisely to meet your goals:

1. Define your target audience

One of the first steps to creating lead magnets that will boost your conversion rates is defining your ideal customers. Try to figure out what their biggest pain points are and why.

But how will you source that information? Well, in multiple ways.

For example, you can send a survey to your existing customers to gain insights into their preferences, needs, and habits. Or use social listening tools to watch online conversations and discussions related to your industry. Plus, if you have an online blog or send newsletters, you can do performance analysis to get a clear indication of what your audience needs.

Finally, look for relevant market research and reports to understand trends in your industry. Overall, collecting information from various sources will let you reach safer conclusions and create powerful lead magnets that will resonate with your audience.

2. Create the lead magnet

And now it’s time for the creative part; crafting the lead magnet. Select the format of your lead magnet and gradually bring it to life. Think of what your audience would love to read. For example, C-level executives would be more interested in a whitepaper while individual contributors may find a cheatsheet more useful.

If you’re a small business owner with limited resources, you can start with a simple spreadsheet or pdf. Ensure that the content is high-quality and add your logo. To build something more elevated, use design tools such as Canva or Adobe Illustrator to build it from scratch. Use your brand colors and assets to create a consistent experience across channels.

You can also repurpose an existing piece of content that performs well and enhance it to make it more attractive. This will not only save you time but will also likely secure high engagement rates since it’s already tested.

Finally, make sure to optimize your lead magnet for mobile devices. Some of your visitors will access them from tablets and smartphones, so secure a great experience for them, too.

3. Design the download form

You’ve crafted a lead magnet and you’re ready to display it. The next step is to create an effective signup form to start collecting email addresses. Determine the type of fields you should add to gather important information about your leads. For example, if you’re in SaaS, you can ask the subscribers’ work email addresses and their job title.

Avoid adding too many fields as this might prevent potential customers from filling them in due to lack of time or privacy concerns. Adding links to your GDPR compliance page, or similar regulations based on your location, may take away some of those worries.

Then, decide where your lead magnet and form will reside in. You can try different approaches. For example, you can set up a pop-up form on your homepage or your highly performing website pages. Whatever you choose, help potential customers spot it fast. Place it at the top of a page or add it in an exit-intent pop-up to secure visibility.

4. Build a dedicated page

If you’ve created a lead magnet that can turn into a revenue-generating machine, such as a free trial and consultation option, creating a dedicated landing page is a must. When crafted effectively, a landing page can lead to a high conversion rate. You can also optimize it for SEO to be found through search engines by people with intent.

Include all the essential information visitors will need to decide if this resource is relevant to them and what they’ll achieve by getting it. Add the covered topics and benefits with bullet points to be readily visible. Plus, ensure navigation is easy through clear and attention-grabbing headlines.

Many tools offer dedicated landing builders with premade assets to craft effective landing pages. For example, Moosend offers ready-made landing page templates and subscription forms to promote your lead magnets in simple steps.

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5. Promote your lead magnet

Apart from promoting your lead magnets strategically through your website and organically through SEO-optimized landing pages, you can take additional actions for different customer journey stages.

Let’s explore some use cases. First, you can share the resource via email with qualified leads to move them down the funnel and motivate them to share it with their peers. Or share it on social media to nurture people who’re already aware of your brand and get them some steps closer to conversion if they fit your ICP.

Finally, if you have some extra budget to spare, you can promote your lead magnet through paid ads, especially retargeting. For example, you can promote an ebook via LinkedIn ads to attract professionals interested in your offers.

6. Build a thank you page

Building a thank you page for people who’ve filled in your form is not just polite. It’s a strategic move to start interacting with potential customers. An opportunity to express gratitude, provide value, and guide your leads towards the next steps in their journey with you.

So, what does a great thank you page consist of? Start with a heartfelt thank-you message and provide some next steps. For instance, you can invite them to your social media profiles, your eCommerce store or blog to increase the touchpoints.

Overall, incorporating a well-designed thank you page into your lead magnet process can enhance the user experience and bring opportunities for engagement and conversions. Here’s a great thank-you page example by Leadpages:

7. Send follow-up emails

Apart from a dedicated page, set up a thank you email with similar copywriting with the resource attached. But don’t leave it there. Create a drip campaign series with relevant content to keep nurturing your audience while they’re still warmed up.

To streamline your email marketing efforts, use an automation software tool to save time. Services like Moosend offer premade automation workflows to set up these follow-up emails in simple steps.

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However, avoid overwhelming your new subscribers with more free content and unlimited messages. Instead, stick to a few follow-ups and consider nudging those who don’t convert down the line to see if they’re still interested. If they’re not, remove them from your lists to secure high deliverability and brand reputation.

8. Monitor the performance

Keeping track of the performance of your lead magnet is essential to meet your goals. Otherwise, it’s more like a leap of faith rather than a strategic decision. The performance doesn’t rely solely on the lead magnet quality, but on the means you use to promote them.

Let’s imagine that you’re promoting a webinar through a landing page. Apart from the number of registrations, the attendance rate, and conversions, you should also track the performance of the landing page. Check out the time spent on page, bounce rate, landing page views, and similar information to evaluate its functionality.

By monitoring performance metrics, you’ll find the weaknesses and strengths of your lead magnet strategy to make much-needed improvements. For example, you can create a shorter sign-up form version or alter your conversion pathways. Tools like AB testing can help you make more correct decisions.

Will Your Lead Magnets Turn Out Successful?

To create effective lead magnets and meet the brand’s goals, you need to work on them mindfully, before and after setting them up. But first, you need to decide what success means to you.

So, if you want to promote your products or services to win more customers, it’s worth taking the time to build something big, such as an ebook and set up a dedicated nurturing strategy to convert your leads. But if you just aim for more traffic and awareness, simple but helpful templates can do the trick with fewer resources spent.