Are you trying to attract new subscribers for your list? If the answer’s yes, then it’s essential to give the people in your target audience a good reason to hand over their email address.
If you’re wondering how to do that, here’s a short answer: create a valuable and compelling lead magnet that’s appealing enough to convince people to subscribe.
Lead magnets are freebies that companies and content creators give away to entice people to fill out a lead form or subscribe to a list. They can take many different forms. The key is to have a lead magnet that:
- Appeals directly to the preferences of your ideal customer
- Offers immediate gratification – meaning that they can download or print it right away
- Provides actionable content
- Addresses a need or resolves a problem
It can be hard to come up with ideas for a lead magnet that will accomplish these things – but I’m here to help. I’m not going to waste your time with the same old ideas you can find everywhere. Instead, here are X creative lead magnet ideas to help you grow your list.
#1: The Sneak Peek Lead Magnet
The first idea might seem obvious but it’s one a lot of publishers don’t consider. Instead of creating a new lead magnet from scratch, consider carving out a piece of one of your books and giving it away for free.
Here are some suggestions:
- If you publish coloring books, choose two or three representative pages, and give them away as a free coloring pack.
- If you sell educational printables, give away a few worksheets or a mini-set of flashcards.
- If you sell a book that includes templates or images, choose a few of your resources for immediate download.
- Let people read the first chapter of your book for free.
You get the idea, I hope. When you’re hoping to get people to buy your products, giving them a sneak peek makes it easy to quantify the value of what they’re getting and set them up to buy the full product. That’s a win-win!
#2: The Instructable Lead Magnet
Instructables are easy to create and popular. I like them as lead magnets because their value is clear and requires no explanation.
Not familiar with instructables? An instructable is a short form of content containing step-by-step illustrated instructions that demonstrate how to accomplish a task. The task might be a physical one, such as how to build a birdhouse, or an intellectual one, such as how to set up a website using WordPress.
Lead magnets must offer value, but in some cases, defining what is valuable to your target audience can be difficult. Because instructables are mini-lessons, their value is obvious. If the person viewing your offer wants to learn how to do X (the subject of your lead magnet) they must provide Y (their email address.)
Instructables may be any length from a single page to a short report or eBook. The key is to restrict your lead magnet to a single subject, and then to explain it as clearly and in as much detail as possible. The subject should be related to your brand.
#3: The Virtual Library Lead Magnet
What if you want to use something you already have as a lead magnet, but you don’t want to give away part of your book? One option is to create a virtual library of resources you’ve collected or created. Then, you can “gate” access to it and allow people who subscribe to your list to access it for free.
Here are some examples of things that might make up your virtual library:
- A collection of public domain images
- A list of online resources
- An assortment of templates you’ve created
You could even do a combination of these to provide your audience with something they can use immediately. Resources have obvious value and sharing them is a great way to establish authority and grow your list.
#4: The Toolkit Lead Magnet
The next idea is like the last one, but instead of a list of resources, you can create a virtual toolkit and give that away to new subscribers.
If you’ve been in the online publishing game for a while, you know it takes time to find the right tools to help you with content creation. Here are some things you might include:
- Icon sets
- Texture packs
- Templates
- Links to free tools
The idea is to eliminate guesswork and save your subscribers time. The value of a free toolkit is clear and will make it easy to convince people to subscribe to your list.
#5: The Membership Lead Magnet
Sometimes, the most valuable thing you can give away is access to you and your audience. If that sounds appealing, you may want to create a community and make free membership your lead magnet.
I’m not suggesting you need to go to the trouble of creating an online forum. Instead, you could simply create a private group on:
- Slack
To make this lead magnet an effective one, you’ll need to articulate the benefits of membership in the group. When you’re just setting up the group, you should let potential subscribers know what to expect. Once the group is established, you can add screenshots and images to your opt-in page to help people understand what they’ll be getting if they join.
#6: The Challenge Lead Magnet
This last idea is one that plays into the human love of competition. Challenges can take many forms, but they should illustrate your knowledge and relate to the products you sell.
For example, if you sell an array of health and wellness journals, you might create a fitness or health-related challenge such as:
- A 30-day ab challenge
- A 7-day no sugar diet
- A daily meditation challenge
There’s no limit to what you can do and if you make the challenge a compelling and unique one, people will provide their email addresses to get it. You can also encourage them to post about the challenge on social media and link back to your opt-in page!
Conclusion
The right lead magnet can help you build authority, attract subscribers, and grow your business. The 6 unique ideas I’ve listed here will help your lead magnet stand out from the crowd.
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