How to Create Your First Irresistible Lead Magnet (Complete Guide)

How to create a lead magnet is very important in content marketing and for a blogger or online entrepreneur who creates products or have a goal to turn your blog into a profitable business, knowing how to create a lead magnet is essential.

Especially if you want to grow your email list, make sales or direct your audience to a better and bigger offer that you have on the blog or website.

The right lead magnet is capable of turning your blog readers into raving fans, and that is important if you want to create a community or grow your blog income faster.

Let’s delve into your blog analytics a bit?

When you check your website or blog analytics, what is the percentage of returning visitors?

Do you get people returning to read those super cool blog post you are churning out consistently?

Have you been converting your blog traffic and audience into leads?

Before I go down to explain how lead magnet is such an important tool online entrepreneur use to grow their income, traffic and email list.

Let’s answer the question, what is a lead magnet anyway?

Lead Magnet Definition: What is a Lead Magnet?

A lead magnet is an incentive, freebie or Something online marketers, entrepreneurs and bloggers give in exchange for their audience (subscriber’s) email address or contact information.

A lead magnet could be in the form of free downloads such as a checklist, cheat sheets, content upgrades, worksheet, ebooks, worksheets, videos, low price offer for a product or Coupon codes.

Lead Magnet Ideas

There different kinds of lead magnets but one thing you must understand is that one lead magnet with the same topic may not work for two different bloggers in the same niche.

So, to learn how to create a perfect lead magnet, and that converts your blog visitors into leads, you need to understand your audience problems.

A lead magnet topic for a DIY blogger will not be the perfect lead magnet for a business blogger or food blogger.

Also, to create a lead magnet or freebie suitable for your blog, you have to understand the dynamics of your audience, you need to understand your why and your sweet spot.

How to Choose your Perfect lead Magnet Topic:

When learning how to create a lead magnet or writing out topics for your lead magnet, some persons make the mistake of going with the flow.

I mean creating something because it pops into your brain without testing the idea if your lead magnet is suitable for your audience.

The components of a perfect lead magnet are;

 

1. A perfect Lead magnet should align with the overall goal of your blog and business:

This factor is very important when you want to create a lead magnet for your blog and business because, just like I explained, you cannot be in a food blog niche, and you go-ahead to create a lead magnet on decluttering.

Your lead magnet should be important to that ideal audience that you created your blog to solve her problem.

2. It should be evergreen:

Some of the common blogging mistakes bloggers make when creating content is that that they do not test their ideas if it is evergreen. 

If you want to create a general lead magnet, especially if it’s your first lead magnet, avoid creating lead magnets that can convert leads for just a season.

Test your lead magnet idea if it is evergreen or you might end up getting leads for only a season.

3. Using your freebie to solve your audience problems:

The idea of having a blogging niche is because you want to be specific, you want to write for a particular set of persons, not just everyone.

Also, the same way your blogging niche formula is = your audience problem + your skill and sweet pot + your passion.

That is why your lead magnet or freebie has to solve your audience problem.

Example: One of the goals of my blog is helping bloggers stay productive using my time saving pre-made Canva templates for bloggers and content creators.

One of my lead magnets which is 5-free Pinterest templates has the most conversions because everyone wants to use Pinterest and Pinterest after changing its algorithm is currently favouring fresh pins and no one wants to spend all day creating Pins while some persons are terrible with designs.

This freebie solves the problems of spending hours creating Pinterest pins. This freebie is converting and gets daily sign up of at least 3- subscribers.

Illustration:

You have a home decor blog or business, and you want a lead magnet, a simple checklist lead magnet on decluttering will convert.

As a home decor blogger, you can’t create Pinterest templates because I said they converted on my blog. After all, our audience has different problems.

How to discover your audience Problem and create the right lead magnet topic:

1. Go to your Google Analytics dashboard, and check your most read blog post, create a freebie around it. It could be a checklist, a free email course, a simple pdf. 
2. Ask Your already Existing audience in your email list: You can make a simple survey using Typeform. Ask your subscribers (audience) their biggest challenges.
3. Check-in communities: If you are just starting and do not have an audience, you can find the right Freebie idea in Facebook groups and on Pinterest.

Video- How to get your freebie Idea from Pinterest:

Go on the Pinterest search bar, Put in your blog category or broad topic, keep searching and narrowing down.

Check out the video below on how to do a simple keyword search for your Lead magnet idea on Pinterest.

Illustration:

When I put in the phrase Declutter challenge, still in the search bar, I can see that people are searching for “Declutter challenge when overwhelmed “when I clicked, I saw lots of ideas.

Your lead magnet can be “a 15-days challenge on decluttering“, a checklist on how to declutter faster or how not feel overwhelmed when decluttering.  

When using this method, you must check for the most shared pins because that shows lots of persons are interested in that particular topic.

Video: How to get topic ideas from Pinterest

 

 

How to Test Your Lead Magnet if it will convert into leads?

When you put these three points above, you have to test the idea, on what possible methods will a lead magnet convert leads, and this is where repurposing your Content comes in.

You can create a checklist, a free ebook, video and even a quiz, test which form of your lead magnet receive the highest conversion or leads, this allows you to pick which lead magnet style your audience prefers.

Your Lead Magnet Should Have Unique Designs: 

Now we have covered how to find the right topic for your lead magnet, how it solves your audience problems, and what form is best for your audience. Now let”s find out tools you can use to create your lead magnet;

Tools for Creating Your Irresistible Lead Magnet: 

 

1. Email Marketing Software:

If the purpose of creating your lead magnet is to collect email addresses or your subscriber’s information, you will need an email marketing software to accomplish this task.

There are lots of email marketing software out there, but I can recommend only a few I have experience with below:

a) Flodesk:

I currently use Flodesk to collect leads, grow my email list, and also interact with my list. Flodesk is relatively new compared to other platforms, and they have beautiful opt-in forms design and stylish newsletter templates.

When I switched to Flodesk, my Email opening rates jumped from 23.3% to an average of 83%, and that got me stoked. 

Note: Flodesk has just one pricing plan of $39 a month, no matter the size of your email list. If you sign up to Flodesk, using my affiliate link, you have 30 days free trial and 50% off on your subscription for life with no hidden charges. 

b) Mailchimp

C) Convertkit

Now we are done with the software for collecting leads, let’s find out tools you can use to design your irresistible Lead magnet

2. Tool For Designing Your Lead Magnet

 

a) FOB Canva Templates: In the Blog Template shop, I create stylish and beautiful time-saving lead magnet templates, includes checklist, ebook, workbook, and promo pages templates and these templates are will help you to convert leads and even sales.

To stay productive as a blogger is important, so use these time-saving templates and create a downloadable freebie.

b) Canva: If you are good with creating designs, you can go ahead and design your freebie using Canva, it has both free and paid versions. 

3. Cloud Storage

A cloud Storage: When hosting your freebie, it is important to avoid uploading large files directly to your blog as it makes it slow and sometimes takes over space.

To get out of this trouble, you can use a cloud. Some examples of cloud storages are;

i. Google Drive: Google drive is one of the safest and free cloud storages where you upload your lead magnet, get the shareable link and attach it to the autoresponder ( the automatic email) your subscriber gets after signing up.

ii) Dropbox: Dropbox is also good cloud storage you can use to store your lead magnet instead of uploading it directly to your website or blog.

Lead Magnets in the form of Videos:

video as lead magnets, maybe in the form of tutorials, boot camps, free courses or even a chat on zoom.

Also, I do not recommend you uploading video files directly to your blog because it will take over spaces, and your website may become slow.  

There are a few places where you can upload your tutorials or video for free, such as;

a) Youtube:

You can create and upload your freebie to youtube, if your lead magnet is a video or video tutorial, and you want only those with the Url to view it, just upload it as a private listing, and share the freebie.

b) Loom:

I discovered loom recently and it’s been amazing because I don’t have to worry about reducing the size of a video file before uploading it to Youtube.

When using Loom, you can record your screen, and this is great when offering a tutorial or guide as a lead magnet.

You can also get the shareable link to your video, post the link on your blog, and your readers can watch your videos effortlessly, instead of uploading a full video to your blog.

If you want to see it in action, and how I use it on my blog, check out this guide on “how to create a free resource library using Elementor Page Builder”.

Lead Magnet Templates for Bloggers and Content Creators:

One of the ways bloggers create lead magnets especially if it’s a workbook, ebook, checklist, cheat sheets, worksheets, one-page Pdf lead magnets is using pre-made lead magnet templates.

A lot of bloggers who want stylish designs or want to get things done faster without going through the stress of designing afresh go for pre-made lead magnet templates and the most common lead magnet templates are made and edited in Canva.

This is because Canva is a DIY tool, and you can easily understand how to switch layers, adjust every layout to suit your brand style.

If you want premade and stylish templates, you can check out the Canva template shop and get access to stylish lead magnets made to allow you to save time and get things done faster.

See video on how to use a Time-Saving lead magnet template below;

 

Do I need a Landing Page for my Lead Magnet?

One of the ways you can get your lead magnet in front of many persons or attract more audience to your lead magnet is with a landing page. 

It is also easy to drive traffic to your lead magnet, and converts lead from social media and other communities where your ideal audience hangs out by sharing your landing page URL.

There are two ways to create a landing page for your lead magnet;

1. You can create a landing page using a page builder. I use the Elementor landing page builder to create almost all pages on my blog. But if you want to create clean, feminine-looking landing pages without breaking a sweat, Bluchic have amazing landing page bundle which include tripwire, sales pages and lead magnet pages, you can make that investment and grow your business.
2. Hosting your lead magnet in the custom landing page template attached to your email marketing provider as listed above.

How to Promote your Lead Magnet:

While you have learned how to create a lead magnet, it is also important that you know how to promote your lead magnet to get leads.

The kind of leads you get is dependent on your goal. That is why I pointed up there that your lead magnet should align with your mission statement.

If your goal is to make money, you will want your lead magnet to be able to drive sales or grow your email list. If you want a complete guide to how important it is to have an email list, read this post

So where can I promote my lead magnets?

1. In your blog post:
2. Pinterest
3. Instagram bio
4. Email list
5. The header of your blog
6. Promote your lead magnet using pop-ups
7. Facebook group

1. Promoting your lead magnet in your blog post:

One of the best ways to promote your lead magnet is by creating a blog post similar to your lead magnet. 

When you create a lead magnet similar to your blog post, this type of lead magnet is called Content upgrades.

Example: You may have a blog post on ” How to carry out Weekend skincare routines” you can create a Freebie, a simple checklist on products one can use for their skincare routine as content upgrades.

A lead magnet as a content upgrade makes you look professional and will benefit your audience. This is one of the best ways to build trust and loyalty and keep them coming back for more.

2. Pinterest as a place to promote your Lead Magnet: 

Pinterest is one of the places where you can genuinely grow your blog traffic, drive leads, make sales, and even promote your lead magnets, digital products, and affiliate products.

80% of my blog traffic comes directly from Pinterest, and they convert into leads and sales. 

If you are not yet on Pinterest or need help setting up your Pinterest account to grow your email list and lead magnets, read this blog post on how to grow your email list using Pinterest.

Easy Steps for promoting your lead magnets on Pinterest

1. Create at least 5 different Pinterest graphics for each freebie
2. Post it to your most relevant board
3. Insert keywords
4. Use Tailwind scheduler to schedule each pin to multiple boards
5. Each week create new graphics for that Freebie and Post to your Pinterest boards. You can grab my free Pinterest templates in this post and also read how to promote your freebie with Pinterest.

3. Promoting your Lead Magnet in Your Instagram bio:

Another awesome place to promote your freebie is on your Instagram bio. Your freebie and the value you offer should also go together with your profile.

When picking a blogging niche, one of the qualities needed is the ability to solve your audience problem.

Why not create a bio with this guide below:

“Travelling around the world

Showcasing lifestyle and Culture

Join my free webinar on how to become a digital nomad”.

This may not be a perfect example but this a strong call to action especially for those who are interested in learning about what you do.

Another way to promote your lead magnet is by creating a custom landing page for Instagram, and have a link to your freebie added to it.

If you are not tech-savvy, you can try using Linktree, but I prefer building one using the Elementor page builder.

4. Promote Your Lead Magnet in Your Email List:

I know, you may be wondering, after learning how to create a lead magnet, why should you promote it to your already existing subscribers?

Well, the truth is for every lead magnet, you have a goal. The goal is listed above determines if your lead magnet should go to your subscribers.

Example; If you have a mini-course or webinar which you want to offer to collect leads, and drive sales to the main course.

You should promote it first in your email list. Also, offer your new lead magnets to your email list as incentives, extra stuff, and benefits they get for sticking with you. They are your biggest fans.

5. The header of your Blog for Promoting Your Lead Magnet:

The header of your blog is one of the most important places for conversions, you can either make sales, grow your email list, or drive your blog visitors into your sales funnel just by promoting your lead magnet in the header of your blog. In this free guide, I covered strategies for placing opt-in forms that convert.

6. Promote your lead magnet using pop-ups:

pop-ups are usually annoying but, pop-ups are one of the best ways to promote your lead magnets and get it in the eyes of your audience.

Instead of using continuous irritating pop-ups, use exit pop-ups. Exit pop up is a type of pop that shows up when your visitor attempts to leave.

Another awesome way to place pop up is in a blog post related to the content upgrade. When using this type of pop-ups, set it to show a few seconds after the reader arrives or as exit pop-ups.

For example; I have a blog post on how to grow your email list using Pinterest, and I also have 5- Free Pinterest Templates as Incentives.

It pops up a few minutes after a subscribers scrolls down while reading the blog post.

6. Facebook groups:

Promoting your lead magnets in Facebook groups, especially groups related to your niche, is one of the best ways to get your lead magnet in front of your potential audience, drive leads for free and make money.

Note: you don’t have to go about spamming these groups, join the threads, and promote your lead magnets, especially those with a landing page or as content upgrades.

One of the ways to get people running down to your blog is by offering genuine answers to readers and helping other group members solve problems.

 

16 Lead Magnet Checklist Ideas and Examples

1. Worksheets and Workbook
2. Checklist and Cheatsheets
3. Free Course
4. Masterclass
5. Templates
6. Coupon codes
7. Free Resource Library: Learn how to create your freebie resource library in WordPress using Elementor page builder and also grab free templates
8. Self-care tips as a checklist
9. Webinar
10. Ebook
11. Free trial for a membership platform
12. Questions and answer
13. Free access to a private Facebook Group
14. Coaching calls
15. Planners
16. Printables.

Do you have that lead magnet that exploded your list? What are the best ways you create an irresistible lead magnet? Let me know if you need any help coming up with a beautiful lead magnet.

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