Lead magnets (aka freebies or opt-ins) are the best way to grow your email list. They provide your ideal client with a valuable piece of information so that they can ideally take action to solve part of their problem.
Lead magnets come in all shapes and sizes and can range from checklists and workbooks to 5 days challenges and how-to videos. There’s no limit to your imagination! But there’s so much more to lead magnets than simply creating ‘the thing’. You also need to take into consideration the tech, creative and promotion so you can grow your email list. Here’s the steps that you’ll need to take to create your lead magnet.
Decide on your email marketing platform
Mailchimp and MailerLite are your best free options. MailerLite is free up to 1,000 subscribers and can handle automations with multiple emails and allows you to schedule your regular emails. Mailchimp is free up to 2,000 subscribers. Once you start paying for your email marketing platform then a whole raft of options become available! Active Campaign and ConvertKit are popular options. If you’re looking at building out courses or memberships, then Kajabi is also worth researching.
Create a landing page
A landing page is where you will drive your audience to sign up for your lead magnet. The landing page can be built on your website or if you’re not a techy kind of gal then you can use your email marketing platform. Both MailerLite and Mailchimp have free templates that you can customise and make the process super simple. The beauty of using these landing pages is that subscribers are easily added to your email list and you can use tags to start to segment them.
Write the copy for your lead magnet
I always encourage you to write the copy for your lead magnet (or a rough script if it’s a video or audio) before stepping into the creative side. It’s so important for your content to shine so I find it easier to build the creative, ‘pretty’ side once you’ve nailed the content.
Turn it into a work of art
If the creative is not your zone of genius, then I highly recommend using a template. Canva has plenty of options or you could purchase a great design from Creative Market that you can re-use across various brand elements. You can even purchase a bundle that contains social media templates too.
Set up your automated emails
Someone has signed up for your lead magnet, now you need to get it to them! You will need to set up an automated email to deliver the lead magnet to them. With Mailchimp, this is an easy process as they host the document for you. All you need to do is upload it to the platform. With MailerLite you will need to find somewhere else to host the document. This may be a cloud based solution (such as Dropbox or Google Drive), on your own website (on a WordPress site upload it to your content library and then copy the URL) or you can use a third party solution such as Amazon.
Your automated email should deliver your lead magnet, but also give your subscriber a bit of an introduction to who you are and what you do. I always follow this email with a second one a few days later to check in with the new subscriber and see if they have any questions.
Promote
Lastly you need to let people know that you have a lead magnet. You can do this by promoting it on:
- Your website: put it in the top bar, footer, core content page
- Core content: Weave it into every blog, podcast or vlog that you do (see how I’ve managed to include mine below 😉)
- Facebook: On your page and in groups on the appropriate theme days. Use it as a basis for Facebook Lives
- Instagram: Use stories, your feed and even IGTV or Insta Lives
- Collaborate: find businesses with similar audiences and offer to promote each other’s lead magnets. Why not go a step further and put together a training series where you can all promote your lead magnets?
- Guesting opportunities: your lead magnet is a great value add for pitching guest podcasts or guest blogging
Next steps
Now you’ve encouraged your ideal client to subscribe, the next part of your client journey together is to nurture them. Typically, this is a series of 5 emails that continues to provide your subscriber with information and value so that they can move closer towards becoming your client. For more information on exactly what type content to use at each stage of the client journey, download The Content Roadmap here.
Your lead magnet is an important part of the Subscribe phase of your client journey. By understanding all the items that you need to cover on your lead magnet checklist, you’ll be organised and growing your email list in no time.
