A Business Guide to Capturing Leads
Prospective customers visit your website every day. You spent plenty of time and money getting them there through web development, design, advertising, social media, search engine optimisation, and outreach efforts. The leads you worked so hard to attract are now clicking around your website, thinking about whether to become your company's customer.
And then, many of them vanish without a trace. If those website visitors don't turn into buyers, you may never know who they are, how to contact them, and what you could have done to follow up and earn their business. That's why attracting and capturing leads is essential—ideally, using a lead magnet. A lead magnet is an offer compelling enough that a prospect would provide her contact information to receive it. It could be a piece of content (like this e-book—a lead magnet about, yes, lead magnets). Or it could be a free trial, a discount, an entry to a contest, or any other offer that your prospective customers would find valuable.
Lead magnets are a win-win for your company and your prospective customers. A lead magnet assists prospects with the problem that brought them to your business, whether it's a tutorial video that helps them develop a skill, a quiz that helps them determine what to buy, or a sample of a product they want to experience before purchasing.
In return, your company will receive a prized possession: access to the email inbox.
The real value of the lead magnet is in the follow-up, just as it is in networking. Getting contact information allows you to start a conversation that can turn a stranger into a customer and a fan of your business. It's great to meet people at an event, but the relationship can only continue if you get their business cards and then call or email them.
But if you emailed the lead magnet to each prospect individually and later followed up with them one by one, those tasks could start to consume your day. That's why lead magnets are used most effectively and efficiently when paired with marketing automation software.
A tool like HubSpot, which combines marketing automation with customer relationship management (CRM), allows you to deliver and follow up on lead magnets without thinking about it. When a prospect completes a form on your website requesting the lead magnet, the software automatically sends the asset via email while storing the information on the prospect's CRM contact record for future reference.
The software can then send automated emails in which "you" ask prospects for their thoughts and questions in the following days. Meanwhile, the software tracks her behaviour, recording which emails she opens and links she clicks— allowing you to evaluate her interest and determine your next move.
Any small business can use a lead magnet to capture leads, especially with the added help of automation. In this email series, we'll explore how to choose a lead magnet offer, share twenty ideas for lead magnets, and explain how automation can help you convert those new leads into customers.
3 Steps to Choosing a Lead Magnet
Before you start writing, filming, speaking, or offering, consider these three steps to strategically create a lead magnet that helps you convert leads into customers.
Define your target audience
Do you know who you are trying to attract with a lead magnet? The answer shouldn’t be “everyone.” Just like a real magnet, lead magnets should both attract and repel.
Your lead magnet should target your ideal customer, not anyone who happens to come across it. Attempting to sell someone who isn’t qualified for your business only wastes time and effort for both of you. For example, an estate agent specialising in luxury homes could attract leads with a guide called “10 Steps to Selling Your Home”,—but a guide called “10 Steps to Selling a Million-Pound Home” would produce leads that are much more qualified for her services.
Think of a compelling offer
Think about what would compel your prospect to give away his email address. The chance to get more marketing emails isn’t exactly a rare opportunity. The prospect will be more likely to sign up for your lead magnet if she sees it can help solve her problems. Write down a list of common customer questions, then brainstorm ideas for various lead magnets that answer those questions.
Planning to follow up
A prospect downloads your lead magnet. Then what? Don’t simply hope she decides to buy. How you follow up on a lead magnet and what you offer should be part of your strategy from the beginning.
Your lead magnet should eventually guide people toward a product or service you’re selling. The nature of your lead magnet depends on your business and your customer's buying journey, considering the time, money, and information they need to buy.
Businesses with a short buyer’s journey might offer a lead magnet like a promo code or a free trial, quickly inspiring prospects to become customers. But when the buyer’s journey involves weeks or months, it’s better to offer an educational lead magnet, like a piece of content, than push the prospect to decide.
For example, a prospect considering a yoga studio might only need to experience one free class before purchasing a package of classes. But someone considering a six-month diet and fitness program—a purchase involving more time, money, and research—might benefit from educational guides or videos that help her understand whether the programme is right for her.
Your lead magnet should do more than collect email addresses. It should also offer as much benefit for your prospect as possible, whether the lead magnet consists of content, a freebie, experience, or valuable information. Here are twenty ideas for lead magnets to use in your business.
E-book or guide
Create a guide or e-book that helps prospects understand a specific topic related to a problem your company can solve. Content helps illustrate your company’s expertise while providing the information prospects need to make an educated purchase. Create it as a PDF to ensure readers can’t make accidental changes and that the design and fonts remain consistent across devices.
Creating your eBook
The eBook should be exported as a PDF file. If you need help producing your eBook - we can help you with the content and design; contact us for assistance.
Checklist
Like working with your company, starting a new endeavour might involve a to-do list for prospective customers and helping with the homework by creating a downloadable checklist that educates them on the tasks ahead. A completed checklist can help in your sales process, too. For example, a financial planner could offer a checklist that outlines documents to prepare and goals to identify before the initial consultation.
Cheatsheet
Do you have a list of tips worth saving for future reference? Compile them into a cheat sheet that can serve as a preview of your services or the downloadable companion to another content piece. For example, a nutrition specialist could offer a cheat sheet about calorie counts, meal timing, and healthy snack ideas that prospects could save and reference regularly.
Case study
No matter how compelling your website and marketing materials are, some prospective customers will always wonder, “But how would you help someone like me?” Show them through a case study on one or some of your customers. Describe how the customer solved a problem by working with your company, including any pertinent statistics illustrating her success. Create a PDF or video requiring an email address to download, then follow up to ask questions and feedback.
White paper
You’re an expert in your field. Prove it to prospects by creating a downloadable white paper, an in-depth report on an issue facing your industry. You ask if that is an e-book. A white paper is more detailed and research-oriented—the marketing equivalent of an academic paper. Use this lead magnet if your goal is to present yourself as a subject-matter expert while helping prospects understand a complex topic.
Quiz
A good quiz is irresistible. When asked engaging, thought-provoking questions, people can’t help but click until they reach their results. That’s why a quiz is also an effective lead magnet. With a hosted quiz, participants must enter an email address to see the outcome. Not only are quizzes fun, but they can also be educational for you and your prospects when they help both parties learn whether your company is the right fit. The answers from quizzes can assist your salespeople by providing valuable qualifying information without asking.
How to create it:
Use a platform like LeadQuizzes or Qzzr to create a custom quiz that captures email addresses.
Video
If your product or service could benefit from visual learning, shoot a video showing your top tips, a tutorial, or a demonstration of what you do. Videos also introduce prospects to you and your staff, helping you build relationships to encourage them to become customers. To make a video into a lead magnet, use a hosting platform that captures email addresses or sends prospects a link to the video after they request it.
How to create it:
Use a tool like Animoto to turn photos and video clips into professional-looking videos. Then, upload them to a video hosting platform like Wistia to control where your videos are watched and capture email addresses from viewers.
Webinar
If only you could give a real-time presentation to customers outside your local area or even on the other side of the world. With a webinar, you can. Webinars effectively share a tutorial, presentation, or interview with an expert— valuable content worth trading for an email address. After learning about you and your company through a webinar, prospects may be more ready and inclined to buy—especially when you send follow-up content.
How to create it:
Use a platform like Goto Meeting or GoToWebinar to host a webinar with audio and screen-sharing.
Course/content series
If the information you want to share in your lead magnet would require thousands of words or hours of video, consider organising the content into a course or series that’s easier and less overwhelming for your prospect to consume. Using automation software, you can automatically email content in instalments over days or weeks. Each instalment can cover a different topic or become increasingly advanced.
Discount
But beware: Some consumers might immediately cash in on the discount—only to unsubscribe from the email it arrived, never to be heard from again. It’s the bribe that works on practically everyone: an email address in exchange for a promo code. In that email containing the discount, explain what your future emails will entail (like exclusive offers or helpful tips) so that customers understand the value of staying on your list.
How to create it:
Using an e-commerce platform like Odoo, create a promo code for a discount applied to a specific product or any product.
Free sample
Think of the ice cream shop employee standing on the pavement with a tray of free samples. Some people will grab one and continue down the street, but others will be drawn inside for more. Free samples can become sales, mainly when you collect customers’ email addresses and follow up with an enticing offer when you know the sample is spent.
Contest entry
Host a giveaway, entering those who provide an email address. You make the rules, so you might as well ask for more social media followers or demographic information that informs your future marketing efforts. If you can’t afford to give a discount or freebie to everyone, give it to one lucky winner. While some entrants will bail once they don’t win, others will decide the giveaway offer is worth paying for.
How to create it:
If you don’t want to draw a winner manually, a tool like Rafflecopter or Woobox can host your contest and collect entries through social media actions and entry forms.
Free Consultation
For service-based businesses, the relationship with a new customer might begin with a little free advice. An accountant might offer a free consultation, a personal trainer can provide a free one-on-one session, and a digital marketing firm could perform a free website audit. In each case, the prospect learns something from the company—but he’ll have to become a paying customer to make lasting improvements.
Free event
Some products and services are best sold in person. Invite potential customers to sign up for a free event, like a class, seminar, or open house. If your business doesn’t naturally lend itself to related events, host a social outing like a happy hour or dinner where you can start getting to know your prospects.
Free trial
The best way to experience something new is to try it. Give prospective customers a shot, whether you’re a gym offering a free class or a subscription service offering the first month free. Consider following up at the end of the trial with a time-sensitive offer that encourages the prospect to commit to more.
Demo
If prospective customers need to see a demonstration to understand the potential of your products or services, ask for an email address before you show them how it’s done in a screen-sharing call, video, or interactive experience.
Gated information
You likely have information all customers need to see before they buy, like pricing or a schedule. Rather than display it on your website for all to see, consider “gating” it so prospects can enter an email address to access the information. This move might discourage casual browsers from becoming buyers, but that's not necessarily bad if you’re looking to weed out unqualified prospects.
Work samples
In some businesses, prospects want to see your previous work before deciding whether to become clients. Create a collection of your best stuff—whether it involves photos, presentations, or content—combined with testimonials from former clients, and make it available for download in exchange for an email address.
Printed materials
Got a book, brochure, catalogue, or other printed item best experienced offline? Ask for email addresses in addition to mailing addresses, then follow up via email to see what thoughts and questions your prospects have after receiving the materials.
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