Updated January 2023

If you’re like me, you’re always looking to bring more customers into your business. You probably have a website, but I’ll bet it doesn’t bring in as much business as you’d like it to.

The problem is that not everyone who visits is ready to buy from you right now. Maybe they’re just browsing or researching.

How can you make sure that you stay top-of-mind so that when they are ready to buy in a few months, they think of you first?

One way to do this is to offer something of value in exchange for your potential customer’s email address so you can continue to build the relationship with ongoing emails. That thing of value is called a lead magnet.

Types of lead magnets

You’ve probably seen websites that offer a free PDF download like “13 mistakes that are turning off your customers”. That’s one type of lead magnet, but the possibilities are endless.

Here a few different types of lead magnets you can offer:

• A self-evaluation checklist

• Access to a free online course

• A series of helpful emails sent weekly

• Access to a single how-to video

• A 5-video daily series sent via email

• Free quiz with results sent via email

• Specialized interactive calculator

• Fill-out worksheets

• Access to a free webinar

• Cheatsheet

Lead magnet case study

We have another brand called StorySite where we build Storybrand-ready website templates. In February of 2020 we launched our first and only lead magnet, our Wireframe Tool. Within a month we hit over 100 downloads and our site traffic went from a few hundred monthly visitors to over a thousand. Now, almost three years later, over 4,500 people have downloaded our lead magnet and we continue to have a steady-stream of interested customers visiting our site daily.

Why It Worked

• We created something helpful and relevant to our audience

• We made it easy to download (little friction)

• We included a video to show the value and ease of use

• We added it to the footer of our site to make it hard to miss

• We created a detailed page that we optimized for search (SEO) to help increase site traffic

Deciding on a lead magnet

There are so many types of lead magnets that it can be overwhelming to choose one. Here are a few principles that will help you narrow down what kind of lead magnet to create:

1. Make sure it’s something that your audience wants

Make sure that the content of your lead magnet is something that is genuinely useful to your audience. Run a few ideas by your existing customers to see which ones would have been useful or compelling when they first found your website.

2. Make sure it’s closely related to your services/products

Often it’s a good idea to offer a lead magnet that solves a problem that potential customers encounter right before they hire a company like yours.

For example, StorySite’s free wireframe tool allows potential customers to write the copy for their website, which is the step they take directly before purchasing a template from us.

3. Make sure you have the skills/resources to do it well

If you’re a video production company, creating a video series might be a great way to go. If you’re a copywriter, maybe a PDF would help you leverage your existing skills.

Keep in mind the ROI of the time you spend. It might be a good idea to start with a few simple PDFs and see which one takes off. Then you could build out an online course or video series around the most successful lead magnet.

Next Steps

In a future post we’ll dive into detail on what to do with the lead magnet you’ve created. And what to do with the list of email addresses you collect.

Here’s the short version:

• Create a compelling title and graphic for your lead magnet that makes it feel valuable

• Set up an auto-responder in your email system that includes a link to your lead magnet (we recommend using something like MailChimp or HubSpot)

• Embed the signup form on your website (If you’re on Squarespace and need help with this, contact us)

• Continue to send valuable, relevant content to your email list regularly so you stay top-of-mind

Have you seen any great examples of lead magnets in the wild? Let us know in the comments below.