What Is a Lead Magnet? 10 Useful Examples You Can Apply

What Is a Lead Magnet? 10 Useful Examples You Can Apply

Nalin Senthamil
April 29, 2022
8
min read

Lead magnets are one of the most effective ways to collect email addresses from leads. To create an effective lead magnet, you need to understand what makes customers tick. Asking for emails without offering value won't get you very far in 2022.

Let's look at what makes a good lead magnet and explore some successful examples.

How Does a Lead Magnet Work?

People are more likely to give away their email addresses if they believe they'll receive value.

Lead magnets are incentives you offer potential customers in exchange for their contact information. These incentives can take different forms, but the most effective ones provide immediate and obvious value.

A good lead magnet supplies knowledge that leads want. It generates a need for, and engagement with, the product or service you are selling.

Why Use a Lead Magnet?

When you offer a lead magnet, you provide something of value in exchange for the contact information. It's one of the most effective ways to collect email addresses from leads.

It helps reduce the friction associated with getting people to sign up for your email list. And because you're offering something of value in the product or service ecosystem you're creating, your leads will be of higher quality.

Qualities Of a Good Lead Magnet

There are a couple of factors that you need to consider when creating a good lead magnet.

It Needs To Be Relevant

The lead magnet needs to be relevant to the interests of your target audience. If it's not, they won't be interested in it, and they won't provide their contact information.

To determine the relevance of your lead magnet, you need to understand what your target audience wants. You can do this by conducting market research on your current customers.

A lead magnet serves its purpose only when it can solve the problems of its target audience. What are their specific pain points? Is it easy for them to solve those elsewhere? Are you offering something unique and necessary?

Customers are more likely to provide their information if you understand their needs. For example, instead of showing them the main benefits or solutions of your product or service, tell them the pain points you can solve or the problems you can help them with. Real customers value real solutions to their problems.

Lead Magnets Should Have High Perceived Value

A lead magnet must provide some immediate value to the recipient. You're on the right track if you think you can offer something equivalent to $100 for free.

Providing something with a high monetary value isn't always necessary. You can also offer something of less tangible value, such as exclusive access to a new product or service.

It Sticks To Your Promise

The lead magnet should adhere to the promise that you made to your customers. For example, if you said that you would give them a free guide on starting a home business, make sure that the guide is free and helpful.

Or if you told them that they'd get free answers to the quizzes they take in exchange for their email addresses, then make sure that you send them the answers.

Don't create clickbait. Everybody hates clickbait. And in 2022, everyone knows clickbait when they see it.

A good lead magnet should also be easy to redeem and download. That said, the value you provide to your leads is in the exclusivity of your lead magnet. If the answer to a specific pain point is easily found elsewhere, you're not delivering real value.

The lead magnet shouldn't give up the whole solution to a pain point. A little mystery is good. Leave something for leads to look forward to even after gaining access to the lead magnet. This can make leads more likely to convert.

Lead Magnet Examples

There are several types of effective lead magnets.

White Papers

A white paper is a document that provides in-depth information about a particular topic.

A white paper helps your reader understand complex problems and how your company can solve them. It's typically most useful in B2B marketing, but it can also be used in other applications.

Case Studies

Like a white paper, a case study provides in-depth information about a specific topic. The difference is that a case study offers proof that your product or service works to solve a particular problem or set of problems.

It shows real-world examples of how real customers used your product or service. Leads see others in situations similar to their own having success with your product or service. It's a great way to convince leads that your product or service is worth trying.

You can hide a case study for an email | Source: HBR
You can hide a case study for an email | Source: HBR

‎Ebooks

An ebook is a digital book, usually considerably longer than a blog post. Ebooks can range from just a few to a few hundred pages.

Ebooks provide your target audience with valuable information. You can include case studies or any other type of content that you think will be helpful.

Getting an email for an ebook | Source Page: LeadSquared
Getting an email for an ebook | Source Page: LeadSquared

‎Ebooks can be less formal than white papers and case studies. Given their length and the fact that they can contain the content of both case studies and white papers, ebooks can take longer to produce.

Interactive Demos

Interactive demos are live embedded working product demos that visitors can play around with. They give your audience a good idea of what your product does without the friction of signing up to set up a workspace.

For example, Letterdrop, a content marketing platform, uses a Storylane interactive demo to showcase their product in their blog posts.

An interactive demo embedded in a blog post
An interactive demo embedded in a blog post

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Webinars

A webinar is a live online seminar. They are perfect for demonstrating how your product or service works. You can also answer any questions that your audience may have.

Since they are live, you can also get feedback from your audience and see how they react to the content you're presenting.

Provide a recording of the webinar so those who couldn't attend can still watch.

Keep your webinar focused on a specific topic. Don't try to cover too much information in one session. Simpler is better. Landing one idea with an audience is better than confusing them with five.

Sales webinar | Source: RevGenius
Sales webinar | Source: RevGenius

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Training Videos

Training videos explain how to use a product or demonstrate how something is done. Since they're visual, training videos can be more engaging and provide more clarity than text-based content. Advanced software tools like Adobe Photoshop or Blender use videos to explain how to use their product. You need to register to view them.‎‎

Product Samples & Trials

Product samples and trials introduce your product or service to your target audience, especially if you engage in a product-led growth (PLG) strategy.

This approach allows leads to experience your product or service before purchasing it.

Makeup companies are a traditional example of this. They often give away free samples of their products so that people can try them out. Product trials help connect with leads, increasing their chances of converting to sales.

Templates

Templates help your target audience get started with a project. They can be used for anything—from designing a website to creating a presentation.

Since templates are usually a PDF or a Word document, they're easy to download and use.

Templates show off your skills and help people immediately get the result they want. Applying templates to solve problems is very "hands-on" for leads, and they can experience the value in an unmediated way.

Customer Persona Templates | Hubspot
Customer Persona Templates | Hubspot

You can also include a video tutorial to help people learn how to use the template. Sometimes a multi-faceted approach can add leverage to your lead-magnet strategy.

Quizzes and Polls

Have you ever encountered a free quiz to discover your personality? Chances are you have, especially on social media.

Quizzes and polls engage your target audience. They're fun, easy to take, and can be used to collect data from your audience.

You can also use the results of the quiz or poll to create content that is tailored specifically for your audience, and you can even A/B test different quizzes easily.

Automated Evaluations

Automated evaluations encourage your target audience to improve their skills.

For example, you can provide a free assessment for a language course. This allows people to test their skills and see how they compare to other people.

You can also use automated evaluations to help people find their strengths and weaknesses, discover pain points, and demonstrate your product or service as a solution.

Real-World Evaluations

Like automated evaluation, real-world evaluation encourages your target audience to develop skills.

The difference is that providing your customers with real-time audits can be time-consuming and costly.

This type of lead magnet is ideal for smaller businesses looking to increase their customer base. You'll probably find that automated evaluation is the way to go at scale.

What's the Best Lead Magnet?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The right lead magnet for your business depends on your target audience, the type of product or service that you offer, and your budget.

The best lead magnet should present your product or service in an interesting and engaging way. And it should also highlight the benefits that your target audience will get from using it.

You can also combine the features of several lead magnets in an approach that's customized to the specific problem you're trying to solve.

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