Lead magnets are incentives marketers use to get your contact information. Small Business Trends surveyed some industry leaders to get a list of the 10 best lead magnet ideas.
Lead Magnet Ideas
Case Studies
Hanne Vervaeck, CMO @ Thrive Themes started off with a simple but effective idea.
“The best lead magnet idea for small businesses are case studies,” she writes. “They will attract your ideal client. You can make them curiosity driven and they will show off your expertise.”
It’s important to write an attention-grabbing headline for your case study. A brief summary needs to build up momentum and reader interest next.
eBooks With a Twist
“E-Books are a streamlined path to authorship and yield a number of benefits,” writes Steven Dubin, President at PR Works . “They establish your credibility, create significant visibility and
generate leads for your business or brand.”
Most small business owners don’t have the time to write an eBook. Or the budget to hire someone to do it for them. Here’s a smart solution from Dubin.
“Five to 10 blogs, e-newsletter articles or social media posts are probably enough to put
together an eBook. You can use that on your home page as a lead generator.”
The Checklist
You don’t always need to reinvent the wheel for a successful lead magnet. Creating lists that give the user a series of steps to follow bumps up your conversion rate. Making them specific to your industry helps.
For example, if you’re selling a sales app for small business, the checklist can be about productive meetings.
If you’re an ecommerce SMB that works online, these ideas will work for you. They’re from Jack Paxton at Top Growth Marketing. He suggests the following:
A Web App
“A simple app that allows users to complete important tasks is best,” he writes.
Ones that look after things like time tracking and project management are popular.
Free Software
Another good lead magnet incentive. Paxton suggests this one should install on the user’s computer and highlight some task they’ll find useful.
Trial Software
“Offer your complete package free to download and use for 30 days,” he writes. Obviously, this is the way to go when you’re a small IT company.
Business Tools
There are a variety of business tools that you can offer in exchange for an email address. These should streamline the small business owner’s processes and marketing. A business card and logo maker are two more ideas that Paxton shares.
For the small business that wants to focus on the books, he suggests an invoice generator.
Examples
Small business folks are always looking to see what the competition is doing. Providing examples are great lead magnets. Because people are always looking to see how things are done.
Like a sample business plan or even email template. Make sure that you’re pointing these to your target market. SEO comes into play here if you can find an old blog post to use. Optimize it with the word “example” for great results.
Quizzes
These are hot according to Bobbie Lind from Conversion Hacker.
“The interaction required to complete a quiz helps prospects commit with each question answered. The more personality you can put into your quiz the better the results are. It’s a fun way to give your prospects the information they need while promoting your products and services.”
Templates
Ready-to-use templates are another great way to generate leads. Jakub Kliszczak, Marketing Specialist, CrazyCall, explains how these are a double-edged marketing sword.
“A ready-to-use template is a great lead magnet, especially for small businesses. That’s because they’re quite easy to create but, at the same time, can be very beneficial to those who download them.
These templates can be offered up or explained in content like a blog post.
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