Are you struggling to generate leads despite your best efforts? You're not alone. According to HubSpot, most marketers identify this as their biggest hurdle in 2023.
Enter lead magnets. When done right, they can attract and convert potential customers more than any other lead generation strategy.
The question is: how do you get there?
In this article, we’ll guide you through every critical step of creating a successful lead magnet. Along with a checklist, we’ll cover expert tips for maximizing your lead magnet’s impact.
Let’s dive right in.
Here’s a short selection of 8 customizable lead magnet forms you can easily edit and publish with Visme. View more templates below:
Table of Contents
Quick Read
- A lead magnet is a resource or freebie businesses offer to potential customers in return for their contact information. This could be an ebook, a template pack, a checklist or even a free trial.
- A lead magnet checklist can help demystify the process of creating, distributing and optimizing a lead magnet, breaking it down into actionable steps that make the task less daunting.
- Creating a lead magnet involves understanding your audience, brainstorming lead magnet ideas, deciding on the type and format, crafting compelling content and design, creating a captivating landing page, promoting your lead magnet on various channels, and tracking metrics to assess performance.
- Visme can help you create, share and promote your lead magnets with its robust content creation platform that’s super easy to use. Design stunning lead magnets in minutes using ready-made templates and built-in graphic assets.
- Work with your team in Visme using collaboration tools like whiteboards and annotation, track performance with Visme analytics, and add high-converting lead generation forms to your landing pages with the online form builder.
What Is a Lead Magnet?
A lead magnet is a special freebie that businesses give to potential customers in return for their contact info, such as an email address or phone number. This freebie could be an ebook, a template pack, a checklist or even a free trial.
Here’s an example from Visme.
Here’s another example of a lead magnet from Sprout Social — a social listening workbook:
The purpose of a lead magnet is clear from its name — it’s designed to “attract” leads like a magnet and convert them into subscribers.
Lead magnets are all about giving potential customers a taste of your offerings, gaining their trust and pushing them to the next step, like scheduling a call, requesting a demo or buying a product.
What Is a Lead Magnet Checklist?
Our lead magnet checklist (explored in-depth below) is your guide to launching successful lead magnets for your business.
This checklist will demystify the process of creating, distributing and optimizing a lead magnet, breaking it down into actionable steps that make the task less daunting.
Whether you're a seasoned marketer or a small business owner wearing multiple hats, having a clear, concise lead magnet checklist can streamline your lead generation efforts and increase your chances of success.
The Benefit of Using a Lead Magnet Checklist
Wondering why you need a lead magnet checklist? Here’s some food for thought:
- Save valuable time: A checklist gives you a clear path to follow. This helps you avoid common pitfalls, save precious time and speed up your lead generation efforts.
- Increase conversion rate: By considering key elements like audience needs and how to deliver value, you can create effective lead magnets that are likely to convert.
- Make future improvements: A good checklist includes measurement and optimization steps to help you refine your lead magnet over time for better results.
Now that you’re aware of how a lead magnet checklist can help you, let’s get into the good stuff—the checklist itself!
Quick Lead Magnet Checklist + Templates & Best Practices
Creating a lead magnet can seem like a daunting task. But that’s exactly why we’ve created this checklist—to simplify the process for you and even make it more enjoyable!
Read on to find steps, best practices and templates to help you create a lead magnet, from conception to launch to tracking performance. Let’s go.
1. Understand Your Audience
Knowing who your free resource is for is key to whipping up an effective lead magnet. After all, those are the people you want to attract and convert.
Here are some questions to address before coming up with a lead magnet topic:
- What are the demographics of your target audience?
- What are their pain points, goals and aspirations?
- What topics do they find interesting?
- What types of content do they respond best to?
- How and where do they prefer to consume content?
All of this informs your lead magnet strategy and helps you create a resource that truly resonates with your target audience. For you, this means more downloads and/or subscribers.
Use tools like social media analytics, customer feedback and surveys to capture these insights. Also, reflect on previous interactions to understand what piqued their interest in the past.
Pro Tip: Utilize Visme's customer persona templates to visualize the key characteristics, habits, interests and challenges of your target audience. Personas are a great way to bring your entire team on the same page and clearly understand who your lead magnet is for.
2. Brainstorm Lead Magnet Ideas
With a deep understanding of your audience, you're ready to come up with unique, creative topics that capture attention and deliver value.
Your goal is to create something so enticing that they can't resist trading their contact information for it. Encourage brainstorming among team members across different departments to bring fresh perspectives to the table.
Additionally, here are a few ways to come up with effective lead magnet topic ideas:
- Review customer feedback: Scan customer emails and comments to look for common queries and suggestions. Answers to real problems your audience is facing can make for excellent lead magnet topics.
- Use keyword research tools: Use tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Trends and BuzzSumo to identify trending keywords, questions, topics and content related to your industry and niche.
- Practice social listening: Pay attention to conversations happening on the internet, such as on social media platforms and online forums. What is your audience talking about? What are their challenges? What’s trending?
- Check out your competitors: Study your competitors and see what’s working (or not) for them. Learn from their mistakes and take inspiration from their wins to fuel your own creativity.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to lead magnet ideas. In one of our blog posts, we've covered 15+ high-converting lead magnet ideas that are proven to drive more qualified leads your way.
Pro Tip: Brainstorm with your team using Visme’s whiteboarding tool. Gather all ideas in one place, collaborate in real-time and let the best concepts rise to the top. You can also use our mind map templates to organize your ideas and visualize the perfect lead magnet topic.
3. Decide on the Type of Lead Magnet
Lead magnets come in various shapes and forms. For example, you could create a video course or a PDF document like a statistical report or a how-to guide.
The format you choose should suit the topic, resonate with your audience and align with your capabilities. Here are a few popular lead magnet formats to consider:
- Ebooks and guides: If you have a complex topic that requires a detailed exploration, an ebook or guide could be a great choice. They are valuable resources that your audience can refer to time and time again. Check out this ebook template from Visme:
- Checklists or worksheets: These are ideal for topics that have a step-by-step process. They’re digestible, useful and very easy for your audience to implement. Here’s a checklist lead magnet template from Visme you can customize:
- Webinars or courses: If your topic is best presented visually, consider creating an educational webinar or online video course. You could also create a paid course and give away some of the content for free in exchange for email addresses. Here’s a webinar presentation template from Visme you can use as part of your course:
- Templates or tools: These are perfect for providing immediate value. They help your audience save time and effort, making their lives a lot easier. For example, you could use this email pitch collection as a lead magnet for your digital marketing business:
- Free trials or demos: If you’re a SaaS company, a free trial or demo could be just the lead magnet you need. It gives your audience a risk-free way to experience the value you provide first-hand. Here’s an example from Pipedrive:
You can also create a cheatsheet, an infographic, presentations and pretty much anything that can be accessed by subscribers only.
Pro Tip: Use Visme to create your lead magnet, no matter what format you choose. We offer a range of templates for ebooks, videos, checklists, reports and more, all of which can be easily customized with your branding and content.
4. Create Your Lead Magnet
Now it's time to bring your lead magnet to life.
Remember, the secret to a successful lead magnet is providing real value to your audience. Here are some steps to consider when creating your lead magnet:
- Start with a draft: Create an outline of your lead magnet content. Jot down the headings or sections along with what to include under them. This will ensure you stay focused and cover all necessary points in the final version.
- Focus on quality: Make sure your content is top-notch. Well-researched, practical and engaging content reflects well on your brand and increases the chances of your audience taking action after going through it.
- Make it visually appealing: Design is just as important as content. An eye-catching design can make your lead magnet more enticing. It also makes your business look more professional.
- Include a call-to-action (CTA): Don’t forget to guide your audience on what to do next. Whether it’s booking a consultation, starting a free trial or exploring your product page, make sure your call to action is clear.
Pro Tip: Visme offers built-in design tools to make your lead magnet stand out. From customizable graphics to stylized text to stock photos, Visme has all you need to turn your lead magnet into an attractive, valuable resource. Plus, you can easily add CTA buttons and links to guide your audience on their next steps..
5. Design a Captivating Landing Page
Your lead magnet is ready, but your work isn't over yet. You need a captivating landing page to showcase your lead magnet and convince visitors to sign up.
It's crucial to make this page engaging and write clear, persuasive copy that convinces your audience to take action—i.e. subscribe or download.
Here's how to create a landing page that converts:
- Highlight your lead magnet’s benefits: Spell out exactly what your audience will gain from your lead magnet. The more specific, the better. For example, if you’re offering a guide on how to write email pitches, tell your audience it will help them get more replies and land more clients for their business.
- Use attractive images and mockups: Make sure your landing page is visually appealing. Use on-brand images or graphics in the background or foreground. Also, showcase your lead magnet using a mockup to reinforce the value of your resource and help readers visualize it. Here’s a Visme template to get you started:
- Make your form easy to fill out: Your sign-up process should be a breeze. Instead of creating a complicated, long form no one wants to fill out, save your audience’s time by limiting the number of fields and adding two-step forms if necessary.
- Add a prominent CTA: The CTA plays a major role in your landing page’s success. Make sure it’s bold, clear, actionable and optimally placed. You can also add multiple CTAs in various forms, such as a text link and a button at the top.
Pro Tip: Want to add high-converting lead generation forms to your landing page? Use Visme Forms to create beautiful, branded forms online—no coding required! Design interactive forms that have been proven to drive conversions by up to 207%!
6. Launch and Promote Your Lead Magnet
With your lead magnet and landing page ready, it's time to get the word out. Here are some promotional tactics you can utilize to get more eyes on your resource:
- Email marketing: Your email subscribers are people who've already shown interest in your offerings. Send them a dedicated email announcing the lead magnet or mention it in your regular newsletters. Remember — the goal here is to convert these subscribers into customers as you already have their contact information. Here’s an example of a webinar invitation email from Webflow:
- Social media marketing: Leverage social platforms to showcase your lead magnet. Make use of all post formats — static posts, stories, live sessions and even paid ads—to make sure you reach a wide audience.
- Blog posts and website pop-ups: Use your website's high-traffic pages and relevant blog posts to promote your lead magnet. A well-placed call-to-action within an article or a scroll-triggered pop-up form, for example, can help convert visitors.
- Partnerships and influencer marketing: Partner with industry leaders or like-minded businesses, such as by co-hosting webinars, releasing collaborative research reports or simply entering into a co-promotion agreement. This can help you broaden your reach and even reach an entirely new audience segment.
- Search engine optimization (SEO): Implement SEO strategies for your lead magnet landing page to help it rank for relevant keywords and attract organic traffic. For example, weave keywords naturally within your copy, build high-quality backlinks and aim to match search intent as much as possible.
Pro Tip: Visme's collection of social media graphic templates can be a real boon here. Design eye-catching promotional posts, stories, ads and even videos for various platforms with a few clicks. You can also create web graphics like banners and display ads just as easily.
7. Analyze and Optimize
Once your lead magnet is live, the work doesn't stop.
It's imperative to track your lead magnet's performance and use those insights to improve future resources and lead generation strategies.
Here are two things you need to do here:
- Monitor performance: Regularly track key metrics like the conversion rate of your landing page, the number of downloads and the sources of sign-ups. These numbers can help you understand what's working and what's not.
- Use A/B testing: Experiment with the different elements of your lead magnet campaign — A/B test the landing page design, promotional messages, CTA placement, etc. This can help you glean your audience's preferences better.
Pro Tip: Visme's analytics feature allows you to monitor the views and downloads of your lead magnet. Analyze this data to identify what's working and where you can make improvements for an even better conversion rate.
You can also track the performance of your online lead forms with robust form analytics.
Create & Launch Your Lead Magnets with Visme
Creating a lead magnet isn't a one-and-done job. It's a continuous process of learning, refining and optimizing. But with this detailed checklist and Visme's powerful features, you're ready to create a lead magnet that truly captivates your audience.
Browse our ready-to-go lead magnet templates, customize them with your content and branding, and publish them all from a single platform.
Cherry on top? Add interactive forms to your lead magnet landing page using Visme’s no-code form builder for sky-high conversion rates!
Mahnoor is a freelance writer and content strategist for B2B SaaS brands (and a toddler mom). She loves to talk about marketing, sales, branding and visual design. When she’s not working, she’s chilling at home (or the beach), cooking gourmet dinners for her family or traveling the world. She’s currently based in Antalya. Connect with her on LinkedIn or check out her website.
