How do you know if your Lead Magnet is working?

Lead Magnet, Email Incentive, Bribe, Freebie…whatever you want to call it, you need one. And it needs to work its magic. But what is a lead magnet? How do you make one? And how do you even know if your lead magnet is ‘working’?

Let’s go!

What is a lead magnet?

The internet is a more discerning place nowadays. People don’t just give their emails to anyone anymore and they are much more particular about where they enter their info. With spam on the rise and inboxes being maxed out, you really need to incentivize getting people’s details. One of the best ways to do that is a lead magnet. A lead magnet is something you offer someone in exchange for their contact details. It can be a discount (although I don’t always recommend this, even if you are a product-based business), a checklist, a worksheet, a mini-series of videos, etc. Anything that will give your new lead enough value to enter their precious email address.

Anatomy of a lead magnet.

As I mentioned, there are so many different types of freebies you can offer. But, in general, here is what you want every freebie offer to consist of:

1) A ‘title page’ where you introduce yourself and your brand.

Think of it like a mini-bio so that the lead can get to know you right off the bat.

2) A taste of what it is like to work with you, especially if you are a service provider.

Give them an idea of your process and how you can go about solving their problem. If you solve a portion of their current problem that they were late-night Google-ing when they found you, they learn they can trust you as an authority.

3) A big Call-to-Action telling them what their next steps are.

Whether you want them to sign-up for a discovery call to see if you are a good fit or watch your more in-depth training or fill out an application or sign-up for your program, you have to tell your lead what you would like them to do next. Don’t just leave them hanging!

Why I don’t recommend a discount as a bribe.

I don’t recommend discounts as an opt-in. This is a personal opinion but also based on data. When you start the relationship off with a discount, you train your audience to wait for another discount or a sale before they buy again. This just leads to more discounting down the road. If you are a product-based business, I always recommend educational pieces. One of my clients runs a second-hand clothing shop for kiddos. We made her freebie an educational sheet on how to clean and prep clothes for resale to get the highest value from a reseller. If you know this is something your audience is seeking out, I would recommend free shipping over a straight-up discount.

The steps to building a lead magnet.

It can be super simple to build out a lead magnet and its delivery. But you want to make sure they are all there and test that they are all working before you shout from the rooftops that you have something to offer.

Step 1 – Decide on your freebie.

You know your audience best. What is the major problem they are looking to solve? What mini-result can you give them? Again, this can be in the form of a mini-series of videos, a webinar, a checklist, a worksheet, scripts, educational pieces, etc. Don’t head into overwhelm at this step. Make it simple. If you have a course, you can pull a worksheet or a video from there. If there is something you tell your clients over and over and over again, turn it into a mini-educational sheet. If you have a series of videos or Lives on Instagram, can you repurpose those into a mini-series of videos?

Side note: one of my favourite opt-in bribes is a checklist that helps clients self-identify as needing you to solve their problem and then offering value that gets them started down the road with a call to action to reach out and book a call if they need help getting further down the road. I do this with my ‘Are you ready for a Nurture Funnel’ opt-in. You can get that sent straight to your inbox by entering your info below.

SEND ME THE CHECKLIST

Step 2 – Build out that freebie to include all of the pieces mentioned above in ‘anatomy of a lead magnet’

I use Canva and use the same template for all of my freebies. I have a title page with a picture of me and a mini-bio with a write-up about what the rest of the lead magnet is going to teach them. Then I fancy up the content a bit to make it pretty. The last page tells them how to work with me if they are feeling stuck and want my help and it includes hyperlinks to my sales pages or my discovery call booking calendar.

Step 3 – Store your opt-in bribe where people can easily access it.

This is probably the simplest step. I upload my doc or videos into a Google Drive folder that is shared with anyone with the link (don’t forget this step otherwise you will have some frustrated leads!). Then I title the Folder ‘Opt-ins – DO NOT MOVE OR ERASE’ which I do mostly for when my ADHD brain decides it is going to ‘tidy up’ my Google Drive. If the files get moved, remember to change all of the links.

Step 4 – Create an opt-in form or a landing page

Now you have to have some way for people to give you their details. In your email marketing system, there will be a way to create an opt-in form or a landing page that people can use to give you their name and email address. If you build a landing page, it should have the time of the freebie, a picture, a little description of the freebie and the results people will get from it.

Step 5 – Deliver your lead magnet.

Once you have created your lead magnet and your form or landing page, you want to make sure that the people who sign up for it, get it. I can’t tell you the number of times I start working with a client and when I start auditing their website and opt-ins, it doesn’t even get delivered to me. It may not seem like a big deal, but you are breaking the tiniest bit of trust your new lead has in you to deliver what you said you were going to deliver when you said you were going to deliver it. You want to make sure that you have an email automated to go out from your email marketing system every time someone enters their name and email address into your form or landing page. The number thing you want in that emails is a big honkin’ button that says ‘Click here to download’, and that button will take them to the Google Doc link you created earlier.

Bonus tip: Make sure that the subject line of the email gets them hyped about their lead magnet and has the title of the lead magnet in it so they don’t assume it is spam. They aren’t used to you showing up in their inbox just yet.

Voila! You’ve just built out your lead magnet, opt-in bribe, freebie, email incentive, or whatever you want to call it 😉

But wait! There is one more thing. Probably the most important thing.

How do you know if your lead magnet is working?

You need to look at the data to make sure it is ‘working’.

What do I mean by that? We want to make sure that your lead magnet is converting on the front end AND on the back end.

When I look at data for a client of mine who already has a lead magnet (or if we do a follow-up audit of the lead magnet we built together), I look at the front end and the back end of a lead magnet.

That means that I figure out how many people have seen that opt-in page or form vs how many people have actually signed up. This tells me how well the freebie is converting on the front end.

Then I figure out how many people have downloaded the freebie and then converted into a paying client. This tells me how well the freebie is converting on the back end.

If a lead magnet isn’t converting on the front end, we can change the form, the landing page, and the freebie itself (maybe it isn’t enticing enough).

If a lead magnet isn’t converting on the back end, we can change the freebie itself, the calls-to-action on the freebie, or the nurture sequence that follows a freebie (CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT NURTURE FUNNELS)

Now that you know what a lead magnet is, the steps to build one, and how to make sure the one you built is working, you want to plaster that baby everywhere! Remember people are looking for a solution to their problem. All you have to do is show them that you could be the help they are looking for!

If this whole thing has your head spinning, I would love to help you build out that lead magnet and start growing your list and your following with people who are ideal clients. Book a discovery call with me to chat and see if I am the right person for you!