What is a lead magnet?… It’s an offer of value that attracts prospects in order to convert them to leads.
Once your prospects become leads, you can build a business relationship with them that can drive them to becoming paying customers.
When a lead magnet is perceived as highly valuable, it becomes highly desirable. Whether it is a free trial, membership, consultation, discount, or download, if it’s irresistible they will be happy to exchange their details for it.
So how can you make lead magnets irresistible?…
Use the Element of Scarcity
One thing you can do is limit your offer.
If you look at the principle of supply and demand, you’ll notice that when supply is limited, demand goes up. Scarcity has a psychological influence on us, making us want something even more if there isn’t enough to go around. Indicating scarcity creates a fear of shortage, and thus a sense of urgency.
Limited Time Offers
Limited time offers are among the most popular in the scarcity category. You see it used every day in advertising.
“Offer ends…”
Limited Quantity Offers
When an offer is limited by numbers, or ‘while stocks last’, it suddenly becomes more unique or exclusive. In some studies, limited quantity outperforms limited time offers. Why? Because it’s hard to tell when an offer of limited quantity will suddenly become unavailable, while a time-based offer has a known end time.
“For the first 100 callers…”
The Bandwagon Effect
It’s a natural tendency for humans to copy one another, even without realising it – we like to be a part of a tribe and social communities. We tend to believe it must be the thing to do if many around us are doing it.
Supporting evidence for your offer can include things like awards, celebrity connections, social media popularity, reviews.
Proof in Numbers
An effective way to indicate how popular an offer is, is to mention the number of people who have purchased, downloaded, signed up, or donated.
Just make sure your claims are not only true, but believable.
Leverage Newsjacking
What’s newsjacking? Here’s an example…
When Prince William and Kate got married in April 2011, the masses were talking about Kate’s dress. Within hours after the wedding, other clothing companies began making near-identical copies of the Stella McCartney-designed wedding dress – and they sold like hot cakes.
When something is buzz-worthy, companies will often leverage newsjacking.
Focus on Creating An Amazing Title
“You can have a great offer with a bad title and no one will download it. But if you have an amazing title, suddenly everyone wants it.”
– Brian Halligan, HubSpot CEO and co-founder
People do judge a book by its cover.
If your offer is, for example, an ebook, presentation or seasonal deal, put plenty of effort into creating an amazing title.
For an experiment, a leading software company changed the title of an ebook and ran an A/B test to see which one would perform better. They took the original title “The Productivity Handbook for Busy Marketers” and changed it to “7 Apps That Will Change the Way You Do Marketing.”
As you can see, the revised version outperformed the original by 776% at generating leads (first time submissions). Not only that, but it resulted in more customers as well.
Never settle for your first idea for a title. Try and come up with at least 10 ideas, then narrow them down. Read them out loud, test them on people around you, sleep on it. You’ll be amazed with what you can come up with.
Avoid Industry Jargon and Textbook Terminology
“Confuse them, and lose them!”
While a professional impression is necessary, you need to avoid obscure industry terms that your prospects won’t understand.
Take note of how you would speak to your customers in person. What type of language and words would you use to connect with them?
You might think you are impressing readers with big words, but it can just confuse them, or bore them, and drive them away.
Create Offers For Different Buying Stages
The most common offer you see on websites is “Contact Us to discuss your needs”. Sure, you want all your prospects to talk to sales, but not everyone is ready. You need to cater for all buying stages to keep their interest.
Buyers are more likely to do their own research 57% of the way through the decision process before even engaging with a sales rep.
Prospects will arrive at different stages of that exploration. Meaning, some may need more educating and hand-holding, while others are ready to reach out. That’s why it’s important to develop different offers at different buying stages.
Use High-Value Lead Magnets
Not all offers are created equally.
Some formats perform better than others at converting leads. For example, what’s more valuable for your particular prospects?…
A report or a calculator?
Types of offers that generate the most leads include:
- Ebooks or Guides
- Workbooks and Checklists
- Templates or Presentations
- Research & Reports
- Whitepapers
- Kits (multiple items packaged together)
- Live Webinars
- On-demand Videos
- Demo Requests
- Consultations
It’s important to test different types of offers with your particular audience to determine what works for your business. While ebooks score high on most lists, you may find that reports, videos or other formats do better for you.
What’s next?
Look over any promotional material you already have. Do you have pieces that can be reworked to use again?
Brainstorm ideas for what your customers and prospects would find helpful.
You should be able to come up with one or more items that you can use as a lead magnet.
Need help getting ideas?
Arrange a call with me via https://www.thinkinternet.com.au/contact/ and I would be happy to take you through what you have come up with.
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