Do you worry that your website doesn’t do a good job of turning prospects into sales leads? Would you like to keep visitors coming back after their initial visit? What you might need is a lead magnet.
Lead magnets offer something of value in exchange for contact information. Marketers use that contact information to push people further down the funnel towards a sale.
Read on for more about what lead magnets are, how to use them, and why you should have one.
What Are Lead Magnets, Exactly?
Most people don’t want to sign up for marketing emails. Nor do they want to get followed around the web with retargeting ads. So, if they’re going to consent to further outreach, marketers need to make it worth their while.
Lead magnets come in many shapes and sizes. Generally, they’re some kind of high value, premium thing. But what kind of thing?
- Quiz
- Case study
- Free trial
- Template
- Coupons or discount codes
- How-to guides and ebooks
- Free shipping
- Raffle or sweepstakes
Any business that offers one of the following in exchange for contact information is using the offer as a lead magnet. With that information, they’ll be able to email further offers, display ads, send paper mail, or even call. Once a lead is identified with a magnet, the organization can market at will whenever and wherever they want.
How to Use Lead Magnets
Lead magnets are remarkably easy to use. Here’s a general idea of how they’re deployed:
- Create your lead magnet. It should be something valuable that people might reasonably pay for—except they’ll be paying with information. Think about what problem(s) your prospects want to solve, and then find a way to help them solve it with your lead magnet.
- Feature the lead magnet prominently on your website. A site visitor should be able to see or find the lead magnet from any page on the site.
- Keep the lead magnet easy to obtain. The more information requested for the “free” thing, the harder it is to obtain it. Keep it simple.
- Follow up after someone downloads your lead magnet. Sending a simple nurturing sequence is a great way to stay top of mind while nudging towards a sale.
Working with lead magnets can be more complicated, of course. But the basics above show how to quickly turn anonymous site visitors into warm leads who have shown enough interest to hand over their contact information.
Why You Should Have a Lead Magnet
Lead magnets work for every business. They’re fantastic in the B2C world, where things like free shipping, discounts, or other limited offers incentivize people to complete a sale—and to receive further offers in their inbox periodically.
But they also shine in B2B environments. Case studies, ebooks, white papers, and other major marketing collateral help prospects make buying decisions. Even things like marketing email templates, checklists, and quiz/survey results can help to bring in potential leads.
Lead magnets ensure your email list never gets old. After all, at some point, you’ll find that marketing to the same people over and over just isn’t very effective. Adding new prospects to your list will ensure that your contacts—and your sales—keep rolling in.
Additional Reading
Lead magnets get much more powerful when used in conjunction with marketing automation. The ability to track site visitor behavior, trigger nurturing sequences, score leads, and more all help to push prospects down the sales funnel.
Ultimately, every business should develop at least one lead magnet. They’re very effective tools in the content marketing repertoire, and they contribute massively to inbound lead generation.
Does your fintech need help finding more leads? Check out our lead generation and fintech marketing services here!
