Lead magnet: how to create and use it perfectly?

Are you interested in a lead magnet to easily attract potential customers to you? We guide you to create the best lead magnet and boost your business content marketing!

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⭐️ The main things to remember about lead magnets:

• Lead magnet : an online incentive to obtain contact information from potential customers.
• Creation steps : identify the target audience, determine the distribution method, choose the type of lead magnet, find lead magnet creation software
• Types of lead magnets : ebooks, white papers, checklists, workbooks, access to communities, etc.
• Main criterion : bring the most value to the prospect.
• Recommended tool : Visme for its ease of use, its models and its design elements. Allows you to create static or interactive lead magnets quickly and for various sectors.

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Lead magnet: what is it?

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As the name suggests, content marketing aims to attract online prospects. This is also called “premium content.” This content is available on your website, but visitors need to fill out a small form on a dedicated page to access it.

That is not all! The lead magnet is also used to fuel your marketing automation workflows. Basically, it helps maintain and warm contacts that are not yet ready to buy.

For a B2B company, creating well-thought-out lead magnets has another big advantage: it reinforces your image as an expert on the web. Good premium marketing content offers concrete solutions to the problems of your prospects, educates them and shows your expertise in your field.

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The different types of lead magnets

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Good news: you have lots of options!

There are a multitude of lead magnet formats:

👉 white papers and ebooks;

👉 practical guides and checklists;

👉 case studies and benchmarks;

👉 quizzes and tests;

👉 webinars and MOOCs.

But be careful, not all content makes a good lead magnet.

An infographic or a video presenting your product are not lead magnets. People are used to viewing this kind of content without giving out their contact information. Putting them behind a form would therefore be counterproductive.

Ideal for content marketing or Inbound marketing is to offer various lead magnet formats. You need several on your site, adapted to different levels of maturity and addressing topics that interest your potential customers.

💬 For example, a white paper is perfect for prospects in the “Awareness” phase, while a case study is better suited for prospects in the “Decision” phase.

But enough of the theory! Let's move on to practice and see how to create a truly effective lead magnet that will achieve its main objective: to generate leads.

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The essential lead magnet tools

7 tools to create a lead magnet

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If you want to create an engaging lead magnet, here are 7 practical tools that can make your job easier:

👉 Canva : ideal for designing the visual design of your lead magnet.

👉 DaVinci Resolve : perfect for editing your videos.

👉 Loom : useful for recording videos of your screen.

👉 youtube : to host and broadcast your video content.

👉 Audacity : to record and edit audio content.

👉 Involve.Me : to create interactive calculators and quizzes.

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4 tools to generate registrations

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To create an opt-in page and capture leads, most newsletter platforms offer a simplified page editor. If not, here are 4 effective alternatives:

👉 LeadFox

👉 Unbounce

👉 WordPress

👉 Kajabi

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6 tools to manage your email campaigns

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After collecting registrations, you will need a newsletter tool to stay in touch with your prospects and maintain the relationship:

👉 ConvertKit

👉 Mailerlite

👉 ActiveCampaign

👉 Cyberimpact

👉 Brevo

👉 Mailchimp

These tools will allow you to manage your email campaigns effectively and stay connected with your audience.

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Creating a good lead magnet in 4 steps

#1: define the objective of your lead magnet

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Keep in mind that effective premium content should integrate seamlessly into your overall content strategy. In other words, your lead magnet will be only relevant if it is integrated in a structured way into your acquisition strategy.

If you are considering an inbound marketing strategy in your digital communication plan, you have probably already defined the customer journey you want to create: marketing automation scenarios, the main themes on which you will focus your communication, etc.

That's why you should definitely think of your lead magnet as an integral part of this user journey:

👉 At what point in this journey will it take place? At what stage of the Buyer's Journey?

👉 How will it fit into your current or future marketing automation scenarios?

👉 What will its end goal be? Promote one of your offers, make your prospects aware of an aspect of your business, or serve as a lead generation lever after a trade show?

It is this final objective, which you must have in mind throughout the creation of your lead magnet.

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#2: delineate a target segment

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Next, you need to define which target segment your premium content will be aimed at. For your content to really capture the attention of your reader as soon as it arrives on your landing page, this step is essential.

With the amount of content available online that's constantly growing, it's more important than ever to effectively segment your communication.

Content marketing continues to progress, but to stand out, You have to be precise. If you do not target a specific type of prospect, your content may pass for a simple white paper or webinar among many others, with no real interest for your audience.

Ask yourself the right questions:

👉 Are you targeting a specific maturity stage? Is your content aimed at potential customers looking for an immediate solution or for prospects who simply want to learn about a topic without being ready to buy right away?

👉 What sector of activity, company size, or position in the target companies are you targeting? Do you want to reach businesses with a specific NAF code? Do you address SMEs, VSEs, large groups? Or are you targeting people in a particular position in these companies?

In short, this step consists in clearly defining who your lead magnet is aimed at before even starting to design it. This is essential to guarantee its effectiveness!

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#3: know the pain points of your target according to your objective

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If you have already created your buyer personas, this step will be a breeze. It's simply a matter of identifying the bread point around which your lead magnet will revolve.

But what is a pain point? It's simple: it's a problem that your typical customer encounters, a business issue about which their company has questions.

💬 For example, if you sell SaaS accounting software for small businesses, one of your target's pain points could be: “How do I manage my invoices on a daily basis?”

Formulate this bread point as a question (in our example: “What are the best practices for managing my invoices on a daily basis?”). Once you have precisely identified this bread point, the next step will be a breeze.

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#4: create impactful content

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There are several tips to ensure that your audience will be so seduced that they will not hesitate to leave you with their valuable information to download what you offer them.

💡The title

The title of your lead magnet should clearly indicate who he is talking to, what he does, or what solution he provides. He must be as specific as possible so your audience knows exactly what they're going to get and if it's relevant to them. Be specific.

💬 For example, rather than “How to start your business,” try “9-step checklist to start your freelance business.” Or instead of “A guide to growing your Instagram,” try “Simple strategy to gain 1,000 new followers on Instagram.”

Imagine a pinch of what your audience wants, add a handful of their needs, and sprinkle it all with a few catchy phrases, and you've got the perfect recipe for a lead magnet title that hits the spot!

💡The length

It's tempting to want to give your audience all your best information because you want them to get as much out of it as possible! However, Above all, a good lead magnet must offer results... and quickly. The ideal is for your content to be short enough to be consumed quickly and implemented easily. Nobody has time to watch 10 hours of videos or read a 45 page ebook! Respect the time of your prospects by getting to the point, while continuing to provide invaluable value. It is a delicate balance to find, but essential.

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How do I activate my lead magnet?

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Once your content is created, you need to find the right ways to get people to discover it. Here are some effective digital channels to promote your lead magnet:

Online advertising (SEA)

Use online advertising through platforms like Google Ads or Facebook and Instagram Ads is a great option. Link your ads to a landing page that showcases your content. The lead magnet is more likely to trigger a conversion than a direct sale. Internet users are often more likely to give out their contact details for free content than their credit card information.

Note that this method requires a budget for online advertising.

Social networks

Promoting your lead magnet on social networks is highly recommended. This requires you to have a solid presence on one or more platforms (like Instagram or Facebook). The lead magnet can turn your subscribers into valuable contacts. An email address allows for more direct and personal communication with your prospect.

Your website (SEO)

Another relevant channel is optimizing your site for search engines (SEO) and SEO content creation via a blog. This makes it possible to convert your web traffic into contacts. Once converted into leads, visitors to your site become prospects that you can contact again.

Affiliation

Although more random, affiliation can be considered. This consists in offering your lead magnet on partner (affiliate) sites, often in exchange for remuneration per contact generated. This is not always the easiest method to implement and can sometimes give unreliable results.

💡 In any case, remember thatA lead magnet is only valuable if it is used in conjunction with an audience. Its purpose is to generate contacts from an existing audience. Without an audience to find out, even the best lead magnet will remain ineffective.

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Lead magnet and acquisition strategy

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To succeed in acquisition, you must think about each step of your acquisition strategy (you may have already heard about the classic acquisition tunnel with TOFU, MOFU, BOFU).

After thinking about lead generation (how to make your lead magnet known), it's time to think about the other end of the tunnel: how to transform these leads into sales!

Your lead magnet must be integrated into a global acquisition strategy, which means thinking about several key points:

1. What contacts are you targeting exactly? Identify exactly what types of contacts you want to attract.
2. How can you be sure that the lead magnet attracts this specific target? Choose the theme of your content carefully so that it meets the needs and interests of your target audience.
3. How do I sort the contacts received to ensure their relevance? Set up criteria to filter and qualify your leads.
4. How to contact these leads to offer them your commercial offer? Develop a clear and engaging communication strategy to convert your leads into customers.
5. How to optimize the conversion rate to transform contacts into customers in the short, medium, or long term? Refine your sales and follow-up process to maximize lead conversion.

You need to understand that the lead generation is only part of your strategy. Investing time and money to attract leads must, in the long run, be profitable!

Your global strategy and business model determine the relevance of a lead magnet. If your average basket is very low, focus on selling directly rather than generating contacts. On the other hand, if your average basket is high, creating a relationship with your prospects via a lead magnet can be very beneficial.

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The KPIs to follow

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You have implemented your marketing content, but it is essential to continuously monitor their performance using key indicators. Here are the main KPIs to look out for:

👉 Conversion rate : Track the percentage of visitors who download your lead magnet compared to the total number of visitors. This indicator shows how effective your lead magnet is in converting visitors into leads.

👉 Number of downloads : The total number of downloads directly reflects the interest your lead magnet has from your audience.

👉 Bounce rate : This metric measures the percentage of visitors who leave your site immediately after visiting your lead magnet page. A high bounce rate can signal that the content is not relevant or engaging enough, and that revision is needed. 🙃

👉 Conversion into customers : This percentage shows how many leads generated by the lead magnet ultimately turn into customers. This gives you an overview of the quality of the leads captured and their suitability with your offer.

Also, don't forget to pay attention to user comments and opinions on your lead magnet. This feedback is a gold mine to refine your future inbound strategies and improve your content.

You now know more about creating and using a lead magnet. To go further, do not hesitate to consult the Top 5 best lead generation agencies to benefit from expert support!

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