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“Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?" my grandmother told me when I was a teenager. My Mommom, in her wisdom, was talking about premarital sex. She was concerned that her granddaughter might not “find a husband and live happily ever after.” She may have been right regarding marriage, but the words are just the opposite regarding marketing your business.
You could offer a freebie to entice clients to work with you. I’m not suggesting “giving away the farm,” but instead, a small sample of your products or services.
Freebies are everywhere. At the supermarket, you can taste bites of cheese to decide which to purchase. There are bottles of perfume open at the beauty store for you to spray and smell. Many makeup companies give you samples when you are buying to encourage future purchases of other full-size products.
These freebies in the digital world are called lead magnets.
Why you need a lead magnet
A lead magnet is your audience’s first real encounter with you. Even though it’s free, it positions you for future sales. A lead magnet begins to tackle one of your prospect's biggest challenges and builds their trust in you.
Your lead magnet is not just an incentive to gain someone’s email address. It's the foundation of building a nurturing relationship. You exchange your freebie for an email address, and your future clients will get something that will help them. This email relationship allows you to provide them with valuable information and updates. It gives you a direct line of communication to potentially convert people on your list into paying customers.
Email is 40X more effective in obtaining new clients than social media.
By nurturing your prospects using email, they see your additional value, gain awareness of your expertise, and determine that you are the perfect person to help them take the next steps to transform their life or business.
Choose the lead magnet topic
To select your lead magnet, start with the end in mind. Just like you can’t reach your destination if you don’t know where you are going, the same is true for creating a lead magnet.
Consider one specific service you offer and how you take clients from Point A to Point Z. There are many steps along the way. But what’s the first step they need to take on their journey—to get from Point A to Point B?
To help you brainstorm, identify what questions you get asked all the time. Think about where you would start a conversation with a potential client. What do your ideal clients fear, and what keeps them up at night? What can you offer that is a “quick win” to help them build momentum?
Here are 6 steps to determine your irresistible lead magnet.
Start by writing down all the steps your prospect takes to reach the ultimate outcome.
Arrange the steps into a logical sequence.
Identify an “early problem” that can be easily solved, unlocking the rest of your process.
Create a lead magnet that solves that early problem.
Give it away for free.
Offer your prospects the opportunity to purchase the remainder of the process inside your lead magnet.
For example:
Let’s say you are a branding photographer. One product you offer is photo packages for women in business who need photos for their website. Your clients always want to know what to wear for their photoshoots. You could create a lead magnet to help someone decide what outfits look good and what to avoid.
As a potential buyer, I might not be ready to purchase my photoshoot. In the meantime, I could use the lead magnet to look more professional in candid shots I take with my phone for my social media. This will take me (as the potential client) from Point A (wanting to look more professional) to Point B (looking more professional).
You send me emails consistently over time, and I learn more about who you are, what you can do, and how you’ve helped others. The emails keep you at the top of my mind, so I book the photo shoot with you when I'm ready. This takes me to Point Z in your process, where I get the photos I need for my new website.
Your lead magnet should solve a problem your potential client has and serve as a teaser of what they could gain by working with you or buying your products. Providing value through your lead magnet sets the tone for your future relationship with the prospect.
Decide the type of lead magnet
An irresistible lead magnet can come in a variety of formats. You have the freedom to choose the format that best suits your audience and your expertise. You give your future clients a taste of what you offer.
Your lead magnet doesn’t have to be a long, in-depth document. In fact, it should be something that your audience can digest in 5-10 minutes.
It could be a guide that gives information, like in the photoshoot example. Or if you are a professional baker, your lead magnet might be instructions, like how to bake the perfect cheesecake.
A business coach might offer a workbook for a potential client to help with time tracking or daily planning. A travel agent could create a checklist of items to pack when traveling. A cheatsheet of a '5-minute morning routine' or a '5-minute end-the-day-with-gratitude' could be perfect for a life coach to give potential clients quick, actionable steps for starting or ending the day. These lead magnets provide value to potential clients and encourage them to engage further with your business.
Discount codes and coupons can also be lead magnets. How often have you given your email address to get 10% off your first purchase? Now, the business has your email address to send you information about all their future sales.
As a financial planner, you might have an expense-tracking template for your clients. Could this be simplified or given to prospects to encourage them to work with you? You may have industry information and research that you can pass along to your audience. Real-world insights and results might be interesting for your future clients.
Your lead magnet could be a video or audio file. Do you have a short meditation that your audience could benefit from? Or a video of a few yoga positions? These would be suitable lead magnets for a yoga instructor, a wellness coach, or a stress management consultant.
Webinars are also effective lead magnets. People who attend get a micro experience of what it’s like to work with you.
People digest content in multiple ways. While some prefer reading, others absorb information better through audio or video.
Select what works best for you. If you don’t like to be on video, then choose either an audio or written lead magnet.
Creating an irresistible freebie/lead magnet
Your lead magnet is a future client’s introduction to who you are and how you can help them.
Your prospects will see what you offer, building trust and credibility. You develop an authentic relationship with potential clients and establish yourself as an authority in your field. It shows you understand their needs and can help them on their journey without asking for anything in return (except their email address.)
Don’t worry about giving away “the cow” or “the farm” for free.
Instead, you want your audience to think, “If this is what I get for free, imagine what I get if I pay.”
And they’ll happily be signing up to work with you.
Meet the expert:
Annette Mashi is a magical copywriter and content strategist who assists female business coaches, consultants, and design professionals by writing enchanting content to increase their visibility and attract clients they love. Escaping from an international corporate high-tech company, she's been casting spells for individuals and companies looking to stand out and tell their unique stories. With her mystical process, she captures your authentic voice, so her writing resonates with your readers as if it were conjured by your own hands.
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