Last week I talked about the end of your lead generation funnel, the welcome sequence emails.
(Well, okay, I talked about templates and gave you a set of welcome sequence email templates.)
This week I want to look closer to the beginning of your lead generation funnel.
The lead magnet or opt-in bribe.
This is the piece of information you offer in trade for someone’s email address.
And in order for it to attract your ideal audience, it needs to be something they actually want.
But first, we should answer an important question…
What Is a Lead Magnet?
As I said above, it’s the piece of information you offer in trade for someone’s email address.
It is typically downloadable or quickly accessible and is usually short.
Common lead magnet formats include:
- Tip sheets
- Checklists
- Coupons
- Book chapters
- eBooks
- Spreadsheets
- Templates
- Infographics
- Video series
The list goes on and on.
Here’s the thing…
Your lead magnet needs to accomplish certain things to attract and convert your ideal audience. It needs to:
- Be relevant to your ultimate offer.
- Contain information that your ideal audience wants.
- Give your ideal audience a small, quick win.
If your lead magnet doesn’t do all three of these, it’s not going to bring in leads like crazy and it’s not going to result in those leads buying from you in the long run.
Don’t worry, I’m going to cover all three of these points and show you exactly how come up with and create an awesome lead magnet your ideal audience will love.
Make Your Lead Magnet Relevant to Your Ultimate Offer
Let’s face it. You’re collecting leads to drive people to a sale.
Everyone who opts into your lead magnet knows this. It’s the unspoken part of the bargain. Some people will say yes to what you’re offering, some will walk away with your lead magnet and be quite content, thank you very much.
Since you want people to pay for your product or service, you need them to know what they’ll be getting if they stick around for the full ride.
That’s why your lead magnet needs to be relevant to your ultimate offer.
As my wonderful friend and automation master, Chris L. Davis always says, think of what you’re offering as a loaf of bread. You need to give them the best slice of that bread so they have a taste for it.
Then you lay out the trail of breadcrumbs (welcome sequence, nurturing sequence, webinar, sales page, etc.) that leads them to the full loaf of bread.
When you’re creating your lead magnet, start with your product or service.
What is one piece of wisdom, one useful nugget from your product or service that will solve an immediate problem your ideal audience is having?
How can you take that useful nugget and package it on its own so you can offer that “slice” to your ideal audience members in exchange for opting into your email list, so you can continue to lay down that trail of breadcrumbs, leading to your “loaf” where they can purchase your product or service?
“But what if I don’t quite know what my product or service is yet?” I hear you cry.
That happens. I get it.
Find the one piece of what you have that you know will appeal to your ideal audience. That one nugget that will excite your ideal audience and give them a taste for everything else you have to offer.
You don’t want to give away the whole deal. What would be left for people to buy?
But you do want to give them a crucial piece of what they’re looking for.
Then, your sales videos, sales page, webinar, email nurturing sequence etc. all show the other pieces they’re missing and how they all fit together (again, without giving everything away) so there is a compelling reason for them to click on the “Buy Now” button.
Your Lead Magnet Should Contain Information Your Ideal Audience Wants
I know, we just discussed this.
You want to share that one useful nugget that will solve a problem your ideal audience has.
Here’s the thing.
It’s rare that your ideal audience has a single, tiny problem.
They usually have a cascading series of problems that all build on each other. That’s where your product or service comes in. It solves the larger set of problems.
Your lead magnet should solve the problem that seems to be a “tip of the iceberg” issue.
Why?
Because as soon as your ideal audience member opts into your lead magnet, downloads it and discovers how to solve their problem, they’ll also discover there are more problems that they’ll need to solve in the long run.
Then they’ll read your email nurturing sequence or sign up for your webinar and see that your product or service helps solve those problems too.
One thing leads to another, and you have a sale.
Next question: How do you figure out what that first “single, tiny problem” is?
Research!
If you’ve already done your research to find your ideal audience you will know what they consider to be their number one problem.
During this process, you will have asked people who fit your idea customer “avatar” questions like:
- What is the biggest frustration you have with (Insert the problem your product or service solves here)?
- How does this problem affect your everyday life?
- What would your life look like if you had a solution to the above problem?
- What solutions have you tried in the past?
If you didn’t do this step, go back and do it now.
If you don’t personally know people who fit your ideal customer avatar or you haven’t found places online to have these conversations, online forums and groups are your best friends.
Go into online forums and groups that are focused on your niche or industry and search for references to the problem your product or service solves.
You’ll find a wealth of information there and you’ll get the exact words your ideal audience uses to express their frustrations.
Take screenshots or copy and paste some of these comments because they’ll be great fodder when it comes to creating your lead magnet, landing or “squeeze” page and your sales page.
Now that you know the main problem your ideal audience is trying to solve, pick the piece of your product or service that will give them the most bang for their buck and package that up as your lead magnet.
Your Lead Magnet Should Give Your Ideal Audience a Small, Quick Win
The concept of the “small, quick win” was first introduced to me by the fabulous Pat Flynn.
The idea is, you want to give your new email subscribers an immediate success, so they want more.
This should be a simple action your new email subscriber can take that results in a positive outcome. That way, they see your ideas work and are more receptive to getting more information and ultimately buying your product or service.
You know the immediate problem your ideal audience is having.
You know the piece of your product or service that solves this problem.
Take those two pieces of information and create a simple process your new email subscriber can follow to solve that immediate problem.
This can be something as simple as:
- Problem: My cat scratches my couch.
- Immediate solution: Deter the cat with a quick punishment, then reward them when they use their scratching post.
- Small, quick win: When you catch your cat scratching on the couch, reprimand them or squirt them with a spray bottle. Then encourage them to scratch on their scratching post by giving them a treat when they do so.
(Okay, this process needs to be repeated several times to actually work, but it’s happening at my house right now, so it’s top of mind. But you get the idea.)
Whatever the process may be, you want it to be something they can achieve at least once in under an hour and that they’ll see a result from in short order.
Set the expectation for how long it will take for someone to complete the assigned task and to get their desired result.
For instance, if you’re showing someone how to set up the perfect squeeze page to promote their lead magnet, it will take a little longer to go through the process and get a result (their first few opt-ins) than it will to persuade the cat to scratch on the scratching post in return for a treat.
Once someone achieves that “small quick win,” they’ll be hungry for more.
Make sure your welcome/nurturing sequence directs them to where they can find more, whether that’s your blog, your webinar or your sales page.
I also recommend that you ask them to share your small, quick win either by emailing you (these become testimonials) or by sharing on social media with a hashtag you create for your small quick win. This shows others that your methods are working for people like them.
Encourage your audience to share your lead magnet so you build your audience faster and get more exposure.
Your Own Small, Quick Win: Creating Your Perfect Lead Magnet
Now that you know what goes into the perfect lead magnet to attract and convert your ideal audience, it’s time for you to create one of your own.
Click on the button below to download the Perfect Lead Magnet Creation Process, which outlines the steps to follow as you create your own perfect lead magnet.
Now go find that easy problem to solve and give your ideal audience a solution, then show them that small, quick win!