Lead generation is tough. We ask prospects to provide us with their personal data for free, in exchange for a few uncertain benefits. If you find that\u00a0a bit one-sided<\/strong>, we\u2019re on the same page.\u00a0Why should people give away private information?<\/strong><\/p>\n Today’s online customers can mute almost anything advertising-related. For example, the\u00a0AdBlock extension<\/a>\u00a0boasts over 350 million downloads on both Chrome and Safari. People also rely on many\u00a0other services<\/a>\u00a0that block all sorts of unwanted messages.<\/p>\n If all you do is ask a user to type in their email to become a subscriber, there\u2019s no engagement. After all, how often do forms like this one actually persuade you to subscribe?<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s no surprise that lead generation is a challenge. Probably the smartest way to overcome this is to\u00a0offer something valuable in exchange<\/strong>\u00a0for your customers\u2019 engagement, such as a free guide, service, or discount.<\/p>\n Lead magnets are the smart approach to lead generation.<\/p>\n Also known as a \u201cbribe-to-subscribe\u201d offer, a lead magnet is a way to get your visitors\u2019 information in exchange for something valuable.<\/p>\n From free trials to innovative online audit services, you can offer anything that can be received immediately via email. If it\u00a0hits the target<\/strong>, visitors subscribe and you earn your leads without annoying them.<\/p>\n Lead magnets thus\u00a0compensate users for their engagement\u00a0<\/strong>with an obvious advantage.<\/p>\n Here, we\u2019ll discuss different types of exchange-based lead magnets, their benefits, and the ways of adapting them to the lead generation process.<\/p>\n There are several reasons why you need good lead magnets:<\/p>\n Some magnets have the capacity to generate literally thousands of leads in a relatively short period of time (like these\u00a035,000 emails received in 60 days<\/a>). They \u2018know\u2019 your customer\u2019s problems and can offer an immediate solution \u2013 that\u2019s why they can be so irresistible.<\/p>\n If your offer is very specific and addresses a particular audience, a lead magnet can help you attract the kinds of customers who may already be interested in what you are offering, and they may want to learn more.<\/p>\n Free high-quality content provides great value. If your \u2018bait\u2019 is smart and relevant, it shows your customers that you\u2019re not just trying to sell them something and get their money.<\/p>\n It’s easy to share links to your research\u00a0or to embed your video in a blog post.<\/p>\n Lead magnets, such as case studies, manuals or research help you position yourself as an expert in your industry. You can show your potential customers that you are good at what you do and know how to help them.<\/p>\n You can offer information, entertainment, or bargains \u2013 it\u2019s up to you. The best part is that you can invent your own types of custom lead magnets, highlighting the benefits only your business can provide.<\/p>\n Now, let’s get into the good stuff \u2013 here are 12 lead magnet examples and ideas that could transform the way you engage new customers:<\/p>\n Content bait is any piece of content that provides clear and immediate value to your audience. For example:<\/p>\n The first step is to offer a piece of content that can solve your customers\u2019 challenges.<\/p>\n After they click the button and enter their information, they\u2019ll receive an email with your content attached. This offer can be integrated into your page, or it can appear in pop-ups.<\/p>\n Social Media Marketing offered its Industry Report for free, providing a short description on the main page:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n In addition, after spending some time on the page, visitors would encounter a pop-up window that offered a download of a free PDF copy:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Widgets are built-in tools that integrate with your website or landing pages. They provide your customers with a unique brand experience by offering them a very customized service. They also enable you to collect valid email addresses, or phone numbers, or other personal data about your prospects.<\/p>\n For example, some widgets offer a service, a report, or other important information that may be hard to get for free. With the\u00a0SEMrush Lead Generation tool<\/a>, you can place a custom widget on your website that allows you to collect business leads.<\/p>\n When you add the code for the widget to your page, users will see the following sign-up form:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n After signing up, your potential customer receives a free report via email, while you receive both their email address and the additional data: their domains. The tool itself is customizable to your webpage \u2013 you can change the names of the buttons, the calls-to-action (CTAs), and experiment with colors.<\/p>\n Another way to turn your visitors into leads is to add a callback widget to your website. By inserting the code on your site, you enable your potential client to click on the widget icon to contact you directly and request a response. The right CTA and an unobtrusive pop-up window can help encourage visitors to talk to you.<\/p>\n As an example, Getsitecontrol offers pre-designed templates for creating custom widgets:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n This is an easy way to establish individual communication with your prospects\u00a0and to connect when it\u2019s most convenient for them.<\/p>\n Gamification can be an effective way to attract leads. Using gaming principles allows you to collect the key information you need about your prospective clients.<\/p>\n You might create interactive quizzes to encourage users to leave their email addresses, and you can use the collected data for multiple purposes, for example, to customize a \u2018welcome\u2019 email series that is tailored to the answers they gave in the quiz.<\/p>\n Tease your prospects, entertain them with a short and simple quiz, and send the results via email; this is a tried and tested way of generating leads. Here\u2019s an example of a simple quiz from a home decor brand:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Z Gallerie provided a personalized experience for every customer with its Style Personality quiz. As a part of its strategy, it offered personalized product recommendations to attract new prospects via a lead form after the quiz had been completed.<\/p>\n A survey that exists primarily for your market research can also be used as one of the best B2B lead magnets with an eye-catching CTA. Prospects provide their opinions on the topic related to your industry, and you can, in turn, collect data about their interests.<\/p>\n For example, imagine you\u2019re planning to conduct a survey on \u2018The state of SEO\u2019 for a report that focuses on fresh industry trends.<\/p>\n You can encourage users to answer the survey questions and share their contact details in exchange for the whole industry report for free. Better yet, you can also offer the survey results as a data pack in exchange.<\/p>\n Make it clear that, in putting this report together, their opinions matter to you and other people in your niche.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how Angelfish Opinions does it:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Visitors offer to sign up for focus groups, and start receiving invitations to studies.<\/p>\n Live demos are useful if your product is relatively complicated, as there are always users who will skip over the \u201cread the manual\u201d step. After all, how often do you read the manual before you buy a product?<\/p>\n Engaging your customers in a question-and-answer session can connect them \u2018live\u2019 with your customer care. Let them pick a preferable date and time, connect with them via any convenient messenger service of your choice, and voila \u2013 your prospect is willingly engaging with you.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n You can show them \u2018in-person\u2019 exactly how your product can resolve their problems. Your message will match their needs, and you can further learn about their challenges.<\/p>\n Add the possibility of sharing your screen with them, and you can show any hidden function of your service – such a level of targeting can offer great value.<\/p>\n Both webinars and podcasts offer new ways to engage with your audience and can be extremely rewarding.<\/p>\n Firstly, you can ask industry experts to take part in your webinar. The more interesting the topic and the more recognizable the expert, the more people are likely to be engaged.<\/p>\n Secondly, promote your company\u2019s expert reputation. Provide customers with useful tips while showing them the benefits of your offer, and share your industry expertise with them. You’ll be building your brand image as someone who assists and grows specialists.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n At SEMrush, we use both\u00a0webinars<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0podcasts<\/a>\u00a0as opportunities to share our own knowledge and successful marketing case studies, as well as connecting with other leading minds in the industry to provide valuable content.<\/p>\n You can go even further and organize online events, such as industry conferences and roundtable discussions.<\/p>\n Virtual events are similar to offline gatherings, but are not restricted to a single location. This is especially beneficial in these times when remote working and online meetings are becoming the norm.<\/p>\n Instead of granting open admission, ask people to leave their email addresses to register for an event.<\/p>\n As an example of this, we at SEMrush wanted marketing specialists to have the opportunity to learn from other professionals in the industry and exchange knowledge. That\u2019s why\u00a0Global Marketing Day<\/a>, a free 24-hour online marketing event, was established.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n To get industry insights and watch expert-led sessions, users only need to sign up and join a live stream, no matter their time zone or location.<\/p>\n When you consider all the benefits virtual events provide, they can be a strong incentive for people to share their email addresses.<\/p>\n Free trials allow your product to sell itself, eliminating such obstacles as marketing, advertising and potentially pushy messaging. When your customers decide that they need your product after trying it for some time, then you\u2019ve provided them with a great experience.<\/p>\n If your product is sophisticated, complicated, or simply needs time to illustrate its benefits, offer a free trial like Netflix does:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The opportunity to get a freebie with an email can be far more engaging than the standalone message itself.<\/p>\n Contests have the potential to go viral. Challenge your audience and get them feeling excited about your offer, as in the following example of a consultation package giveaway from a marketing agency:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n To participate, the agency hooked users in by asking them to share how they wanted to activate their business and marketing goals for 2020. This is a great way for them to engage more potential customers in their network.<\/p>\n Coupons, discounts, or a few useful freebies are powerful ways to entice an audience to subscribe. Captivating design, combined with the right CTA, can make your offer very attractive:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Words like \u201cnow\u201d or \u201climited\u201d can add urgency to the CTA, and motivate customers to quickly take action.<\/p>\n Any type of document can be used as a template, as long as it provides an outline, a draft, or a starting point.<\/p>\n One of the good things about templates is that users can download and customize them by filling in the blanks to suit their needs.<\/p>\n Here at SEMrush, we developed a\u00a0Google Data Studio report template<\/a>\u00a0for SEO specialists:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s downloadable and ready to be modified and adapted to individual business needs, which makes it a great asset for marketers who are looking to add to their arsenal.<\/p>\n The popularity of live chats has grown in recent years. Chatbot technology that enables you to engage with your customers via a personal assistant on your website continues to evolve, and what\u2019s more is that bots can automatically qualify your leads for you:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Drift\u2019s chatbot can have a conversation with your site visitors, ask qualification questions, create leads in your CRM, and book meetings in your calendar for qualified leads.<\/p>\n These intelligent virtual assistants can chat on your website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and serve as the best lead magnets without requiring any forms.<\/p>\n After you’ve created the bait, take the time to perfect it. Use our\u00a0Ultimate Guide to SEO Copywriting<\/a>\u00a0to help create and optimize the content for Search. When your offer is ready, you should:<\/p>\n Here are some ideas from our blog post about writing the perfect headline:<\/p>\n If you offer something to your audience, make sure it\u2019s obvious and easy to understand. For example, Slack uses simple yet beautiful design for its CTA on the homepage, and provides clear value:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n To encourage users to click on your CTA, make sure it inspires action, as with \u201cGet Started\u201d. It is direct and sets expectations for your audience. Use action-oriented words like \u201cget\u201d, \u201ctry\u201d, and \u201creceive\u201d.<\/p>\n In the following example, PandaDoc provides a great offer-related action:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n This is another example common to multiple CTAs, where the opt-in\/opt-out buttons are different in size, design, and color. As you can see below, Wishpond made the \u201cGet Started\u201d button much more attractive and appealing, while the \u201cNo, thanks\u201d CTA doesn\u2019t look very clickable. What\u2019s more, the \u201cNo\u201d button is softer in its approach with the use of polite language:<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Many websites use social proof as a powerful tool for enticing new customers. People react positively to CTAs when they see that other users have already engaged.<\/p>\nWhat is a Lead Magnet?<\/h2>\n
Why Should You Try Different Types of Lead Magnets (If You Haven\u2019t Yet)?<\/h2>\n
1. They are engaging.<\/h3>\n
2. They generate quality leads.<\/h4>\n
3. They provide value.<\/h4>\n
4. They are shareable.<\/h4>\n
5. They promote your brand as an authority.<\/h4>\n
Lead Magnet Ideas and Examples<\/h2>\n
1. \u0421ontent \u201cBait\u201d<\/h3>\n
\n
2. Widgets<\/h3>\n
3. Quizzes<\/h3>\n
4. ‘State of the Industry\u2019 Surveys<\/h3>\n
5. Online\u00a0Demos<\/h3>\n
6. Webinars and Podcasts<\/h3>\n
7. Online Events<\/h3>\n
8. Free Trials<\/h3>\n
9. Contests<\/h3>\n
10. Special Offers<\/h3>\n
11. Templates<\/h3>\n
12. Live Chats<\/h3>\n
How to Create Lead Magnets that Engage<\/h2>\n
1. Give Your Lead Magnet a Suitable Name<\/h3>\n
\n
2. Keep it Clear<\/h3>\n
3. Use Actionable Text<\/h3>\n
4. Try \u201cPainful\u201d Buttons<\/h3>\n
5. Add Social Proof<\/h3>\n