Three ways to create an effective lead magnet
When it comes to lead generation, simply asking for people to give you their names and contact information will result in few, if any, leads. You need to make it a win-win scenario by offering a valuable item or opportunity (such as a free white paper or consultation) in exchange for their name and email address.
If you’re trying to generate more leads for your brand or clients, then even the most spectacular landing page with flawless copy and appealing imagery will fail to convert if you don’t have a solid lead magnet to seal the deal with site visitors. If you’ve struggled with boosting your conversion rates with previous campaigns or you simply want better results than you’re currently getting, here are three factors to consider while creating a lead magnet your target audience actually wants:
Craft Eye-Catching Titles
If your lead magnet is a free white paper, the title is one of the most important factors influencing your conversion rates. Similar to email subject lines, a title can make or break your white paper’s chances of success when it comes to conversions. A boring title with no adjectives, no numbers, and no clear outcome will drive visitors away because they won’t feel compelled to spend a minute typing their information into your lead form.
You should strive to include a blend of numbers, emotionally compelling adjectives and a clear message about what the reader will get out of your white paper, such as “Four surprising facts about investing in rental properties” or “Six reasons why you should never buy a kitten” or “Three secrets about DIY auto repairs that your mechanic won’t tell you!”
Offer Something Truly Valuable
The problem with lead magnets is that they need to offer genuine value to site visitors, but oftentimes marketers create artificial value instead. Artificial value may include: slapping the word “free” onto something even though this offer is free elsewhere (e.g., “FREE consultation” when free consults are already standard practices in your industry), promising a valuable informative resource that’s poorly written and offers little insight (especially if they could’ve found that information through a simple Google search), and a false sense of urgency (e.g., writing “sign up today before time runs out!” without an actual expiration date for the offer).
A truly valuable lead magnet entices visitors with information or an opportunity to access something they can’t get anywhere else (at least not for free). Don’t trick your visitors into giving you their contact information in exchange for a hastily-written research paper or free consultation (if your competitors already offer this), because once they realize they’ve been duped, they’re significantly less likely to seek out products/services from you in the future.
Include Evidence and Multiple Perspectives
White papers are some of the most effective lead magnets out there, but you can’t just throw it together in a hurry and hope your target audience will want it. Your white paper should include:
- A stellar headline
- Eye-pleasing formatting and images
- No grammatical or spelling mistakes
- A few citations of research from a variety of credible sources
- Genuinely useful information that can’t be discovered in a simple web search
Ultimately, maximizing conversions on your landing pages comes down to the quality of your writing and quality of your offer. It needs to have real value to entice people to sign up because if your visitors think they can just find that information or offer elsewhere, then they’re less likely to go through the extra steps of inputting their names and contact information into your lead form.
