35 Lead Magnet Ideas to Grow Your List Fast
Lead magnets are one of the most powerful tools for growing your email list. They are helpful for building a list and pulling traffic to your site. Lead magnets can be anything from digital products to ebooks.
To find out what a lead magnet is and why you need one check out this post.
But here we’re going to be going over ideas for your lead magnet to get your creative juices flowing.
1. A Checklist to Get Things Done
A checklist is arguably one of the best lead magnets because it is simple and easy to understand. They typically come in PDF format which means that people can read them offline.
You can easily create a beautiful Checklist using tools like Canva and attract.io. If you aren’t super comfortable with Canva then I highly recommend this eCourse by Simplifying DIY Design called Confidently Canva.
2.Educate with an Ebook
Ebooks are an increasingly powerful educational lead magnets for digital marketing campaigns. They can be downloaded easily on any device and readers are more likely to go through it quickly. Ebooks provide a great opportunity to provide value to a reader.
My favorite tool to help me turn blog posts into ebooks fast is Designrr, it’s just a one time cost of $27.
Need help formatting and creating your eBook – go grab Simplifying DIY Design’s Free eBook Template.
3. Use Quizzes To Gain Insights
Quizzes are a great lead magnet because they provide value in the form of information. You’ll be able to learn more about your lead and provide them with the best lead magnet. To be most effective, quizzes should be no longer than 5 minutes.
If you don’t want to pay for a separate software to create quizzes, Convertbox – my favorite form builder, can build quizzes too!
4. Share Your Favorite Tools with a Resources List or Toolkit
Many times your ideal reader is trying to achieve something that you have done. Letting them in on the tools that help you achieve your success can make for a great lead magnet.
Plus you can usually include some affiliate link to help you increase your income passively.
5. Create a Guide or Report to Demonstrate Your Expertise
Reports are a popular way to share your company’s value proposition with new prospects. It provides them with an insight into who you are and what you do. Reports also show that you have strong customer knowledge, which is important in establishing yourself as an expert in the field.
6. Let them Try it for Free (free trial)
Some companies have successfully used this tactic to generate leads. They do not need to buy any product, they just need to fill out a form that requests their contact information.
When you offer a free trial product or service in exchange for you can continue to nurture the lead. So even if they aren’t ready to buy now, they could be later.
7. Worksheet to get a Quick Win
Worksheets are an excellent way to capture leads for your business. They provide immediate value and demonstrate expertise in a particular area. Most importantly, they allow you to promote your other products or services at the same time that you are capturing leads for them.
Again Simplifying DIY Design has you covered with free templates.
8. Free Video Training to Introduce Yourself and Your Knowledge
Video training is a great way to educate your audience.
You can create a video training on topics that will be of interest to your target audience. For example, if you are launching an online course on “how to write better copy” then you can create a video tutorial on this topic.
Video tutorials are great for conversion optimization as they don’t require much work on the part of the learner, and they also have the benefit of being easily shareable in social media.
Pssst! Canva now has a recording presentation feature that will make creating your video training super easy!
9. Discount Code to Tempt Them to Purchase
A discount is one of the most common and popular types of lead magnets because it is easy to understand, attractively priced and easy to be promoted through social media. Simply ask for an email address in exchange for a discount.
10. Case Study to Show Your Successes
A case study demonstrates that a product or service works. It can also help to demonstrate who your ideal customer is by sharing the customer journey. It should demonstrate the transformation from where the customer started and how the product helped them to where they are now.
11. Templates to Make Life Easier
Templates are a great lead magnet because they can be used as a starting point for something new. This is a great way to introduce people to the content that you write and give them something that they can use.
If you’re looking for examples of how to do this both Simplifying DIY Design and Liz Wilcox (both former Blogger Breakthrough Summit speakers) offer template-based memberships.
12. Free Sample to Test it Out
There are many benefits of utilizing a free sample as a lead magnet. First, it is an easy way to promote your product or service without potential customers having to make an upfront investment.
Second, it will help you generate leads which can be followed up with more product or service offers.
Finally, if someone is interested in your product or service after receiving the sample, they are likely to be more willing to spend money on it in the future because they have already tried it out.
13. Swipe File To Avoid Blank Pages
Swipe files are a great lead magnet for people who are just starting out in an industry. These files can be used to store valuable information that can be accessed at any time. They are organized by themes and topics, with each document containing specific templates for marketing, sales, web content, and more.
14. Challenges To Get Them Taking Action
A challenge is an idea for a free course or other informational product that you distribute in exchange for contact details and email addresses. The prize should be attractive enough to entice people to provide their contact information and the course should be interesting enough that they’ll actually feel like they’re getting something valuable in return.
15. Quick Start Guide on Your Favorite Product
The quick start guide is a tutorial on how to use a product or program. It provides the user with all of the necessary information to get started and then, hopefully, convert into a paying customer.
The quick start guide is an excellent lead magnet because it gives new customers all of the info they need to make informed decisions without any pressure from the company.
16. Free Email Course or eCourse to Educate
Offering an eCourse as a lead magnet helps in building the loyalty of your subscribers by showing that you are willing to provide something extra for them.
The eCourse that you offer as a lead magnet should be relevant to the topics and interests of your readers. It should be actually useful for them and provide them with value.
But don’t overthink creating it, it could be a video course or written course whatever is easiest for you to put together.
Leanne at Passive Income Superstars does this with her 5-day affiliate marketing challenge.
17. Free Chapter of Paid Book to Tease the Rest
Giving away a free chapter of a book to your email list gives your readers an opportunity to get hooked into the rest of the story. It is also a good way to build trust with your readers and show them that you are not just selling products, but rather that you are providing value.
Obviously, giving away a free chapter will not be as effective as an entire book, but it can be enough to entice someone into purchasing the full version.
A chapter sampler is also a good way to create buzz for potential new books and generate sales for books that have already been published.
18. Planners to Get Organized
One of the most effective lead magnets for businesses is a planner. It is a tangible item that people are willing to pay for. Free planners, in particular, are an excellent way to entice customers while also giving them something they need.
19. Valuable Content (Blog Posts) as a PDF
This is a newer way to attract leads. Simply take a piece of content like a blog post, can turn it into a PDF.
The benefits of this strategy is that it attracts people who are interested in the topic and allows them to read the blog post offline. It also solves the challenge of not having enough time to read all of the content on a company’s website.
The Print Friendly & PDF Google Chrome Extension makes this easy.
Alternatively you could use Designrr to combine multiple blog posts into a single PDF ebook.
20. Exclusive Community (FB Group)
One of the biggest challenges is that people are getting tired of being contacted by their favorite brands. They are overwhelmed by emails and other messages they get from brands on a daily basis. So what do you do to break through the noise and attract new customers?
How about offering them something exclusive that only they can access?
This is where Facebook Groups come into play. They’re great at building a sense of exclusivity and community around your brand. For example, an idea could be creating an exclusive Facebook Group around your product or service. This way, new potential customers would not only get to learn more about the product or service, but also form relationships with fellow customers.
21. Private Podcast or Audio Recordings
Private Podcasts are an excellent lead magnet because they offer a lot of value. They are also private (thus the name) and can be customized to include your brand’s information, website address, and more.
The private podcast is a great way to build connection with listeners while providing them with something very valuable – access to information that is exclusive.
22. General Email Newsletter To Keep Your Reader Up to Date
You want your newsletter content to be appealing and well-designed so that people want to read it and share it with their networks.
What does a great newsletter look like? It is best to use interactive elements like images, videos, quizzes, polls or infographics. You want to tap into the reader’s emotions and engage them on the topic they are interested in.
23. Live Webinar to Teach What You Know
In order to engage an audience, it is essential to make the webinar interactive and exciting. The presenters should provide valuable insights to the audience members and ask for feedback at appropriate intervals.
A great presentation begins with a great story. It is important for the presenters to create anticipation by setting up an opening scene that piques their audience’s curiosity and makes them want to know more.
Presentations are not meant to be monologues but interactions between the speaker and the listener, or in this case, viewer.
24. Video Series to Keep Them Coming Back
A video series is a great way to introduce a yourself to a new audience. It also allows the you to provide detailed information without people feeling overwhelmed.
Videos are very popular and people would rather watch videos than read text, which is why you may consider using them as lead magnets. There are many benefits to this strategy, such as:
– they attract more viewers than text posts
– they can be shared easily on social media
– they allow the company to provide more information in less time
25. Spreadsheets
A spreadsheet can be an effective lead magnet because it is often used for data analysis and tracking. They can help people with their everyday tasks like budgeting, managing expenses, meal planning etc.
26. An App
An app as a lead magnet may sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many platforms out there that make it easy for you to create your own app without any coding knowledge. You just need a plan and an idea of what you want your lead magnet to look like before jumping into anything blindly.
27. Prompts to Help Move Forward
Prompts are meant to make people think about their life and what makes them happy or unhappy. The hope is that by going through these questionnaires, people will be able to better identify what they want in life.
28. Generator
Generators are powerful lead magnets that can help get your audience interested in your product or service.
Generators don’t have to be complicated; sometimes the simplest of things can be the most creative.
29. Exclusive Content
Exclusive content that is not easily found elsewhere can be a great way to attract and engage new customers.
The first step is to identify the types of content that the customer would like. This can be done through surveys or polls that are sent out to the current customers. Backlinko does this with a lot of their content.
30. Tutorials
A tutorial or how-to guide is a great lead magnet to have on your website.
A tutorial has the potential to be shared among users outside of your website, which can bring in more traffic.
Just make sure your tutorials are very well-written and well-researched.
This will lead visitors who are looking for information on a certain topic to your site and give them the information they need from you instead of looking elsewhere.
31. Instructions
Instructions can be in video form, images, text or audio. The goal is to give your prospects a sample of what they will get once they become a customer. They should offer value to the prospect and engage their interest in the product or service being offered.
The first step is to create your instructional content and design it in such a way that it will be interesting and valuable for prospects. The next step is to make sure that it will not take too much time or effort from your prospects so they don’t feel overwhelmed by this process.
32. Transcripts
A transcript can be quickly created from any recording with software that is available for free. In this way, transcripts provide readers with the opportunity to enjoy content in their own time and at their own pace.
Additionally, transcripts might be seen as less daunting than reading an entire book and can serve as a great lead magnet if the reader wants more of your content.
I use both Happy Scribe and Rev to get my videos transcribed, they are both great products. Though if you’re wanting someone else to go through and finalize the transcript – Rev is cheaper.
33. Resource Library
Creating and maintaining a resource library is one of the most effective lead magnets. It should be done in a way that is interactive and educative. As you provide more content, it will become more valuable with time.
34. Giveaway
The value of giveaways is in their ability to engage new readers. But the key to a successful giveaway is give something that is related to your content and products. People who find your giveaway will likely be interested in your content, and they will also have a chance of becoming regular readers.
35. Wait List for A Product They Want
A wait list is a simple and effective way for organizations that have limited resources or products to capture contact information. This helps them stay in touch with their potential customers and provide them with updates on the launch of the product at a later date.
Bottom Line
Lead magnets are popular marketing tools because they help build an audience and increase the number of people who visit your website. They can also help you to convert more visitors to customers by presenting an offer right after they opt in, this is called a tripwire.
Hopefully, this list has given you some ideas on creating the perfect lead magnet for your audience.
