4 Essential Features of a Seriously Effective Lead Magnet (And How to Implement Them)

Lead magnets serve as a bridge between curiosity and commitment.

Done well, they not only attract the attention of your potential customers but they convert that attention into a desired outcome (join your subscriber list, buy your product/service or simply move further along your sales funnel).

Here are four essential features that effective lead magnets have in common.

1. Relevance

Does your lead magnet offer a solution or helpful information that directly addresses the needs or challenges of your audience AND relates to your core service offering.

No matter how snazzy the lead magnet is, it won’t convert to sales without this link.

Example: If you ran a holistic Wellness business that sold online courses, “30 Days to shredded 6-pack abs” is a tangentially related lead magnet that although is helpful is unlikely to translate into sales,

Whereas “10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Health NOW and enjoy clearer skin, a leaner body and more energy” will better appeal to your target audience and allow you to sell your services.

Action Steps:

• Review your lead magnets — do they align with your core product or service offering directly? Do the meet your audience with where they are at on the buyers journey?
• Implement customer surveys, market research and A/B Testing to refine your lead magnet’s focus, ensuring it meets the specific interests of your target audience

2. Authority (Established Through Educational Content)

Authority, trust and credibility go hand in hand with sales.

After all, people make purchases based on their prediction of the value they will get from your product.

Educational Email Courses (EECs) are an excellent lead magnet for demonstrating your expertise and providing ongoing value to your audience.

This is especially true for high-ticket items. Most consumers won’t hand over hundreds or thousands of dollars unless they REALLY understand why they need your services and how it will help them.

Using an EEC is the ultimate way to properly inform your audience and in the process, demonstrate your credibility and trustworthiness.

Action Steps:

• Give away something truly helpful — non-valuable fluff will actively turn customers off
• Consider implementing an automated educational email course. See this FREE guide to creating your own.
• Use case studies and current research to back up your teachings, which not only educates your audience but also solidifies your position as a trusted authority in your space.

3. Desired Outcomes

Good lead magnets relate to your core product or service and highlight the benefits of these.

GREAT lead magnets properly understand what your audience truly wants as outcomes from a purchase and highlights these as benefits of your offering.

Think of a car advertisement — its usually less about the car and more about the places you will go and the person you will be, if only you buy!

Example: Ivy Ink recently worked with a wearable health brand that was outlining the benefits to health from their wearable and the amazing data they could show customers.

We changed this messaging from talking about data to discussing outcomes. In this case, that the insights provided by wearables help people look better and feel better.

The customers didn’t actually want the data, it was just a means to an end. They wanted the outcomes which in this case was looking and feeling better.

Action Steps:

• Truly understand what underlying outcomes would drive a consumer to purchase from you
• Remember that the three main buckets for outcomes that people chase are Health, Wealth and Relationships
• Convert your existing lead magnet messaging to highlight outcomes rather than process

4. Gives Away True Value

For a lead magnet to be valuable to your business, it has to be valuable to consumers.

If you want to establish trust with your audience, you have to provide them with something that is genuinely helpful.

Lead magnets aren’t just an extended sales pitch, it is a means of proving to potential customers that you are an expert.

Putting generic boring information into a lead magnet will not convert to sales.

You should feel slightly worried that your lead magnet is giving away all your secrets and knowledge if you want it to be a success.

Action Steps:

• Review your lead magnets and ask yourself “Does this give genuine value to a customer?” (Your conversion rate will also indicate whether it is truly helpful or not!).
• Employ a No-Fluff rule. If it is just taking up space, remove it.

Conclusion

Lead Magnets are an essential marketing tool that allows customers to ‘try before they buy’. By focusing on relevance, authority, desired outcomes and giving away value, you can ensure that your lead magnets not only capture attention but also fosters meaningful engagement and ultimately more sales.