If you don’t create high quality lead magnets, it doesn’t matter how good your ad assets are. Your offer will be less compelling, and your leads will be less engaged with your future messaging.
Every lead magnet you send also teaches people what to expect from you. So low-quality lead magnets can hurt the performance of your future ads to the same audience, and high-quality lead magnets can give future ads a boost—because people will expect them to be worthwhile.
Regardless of the types of lead magnets you create, there are some things you can do to ensure you’re offering something worthwhile.
Here are four tips for creating better lead magnets.
1. Create something no one else can
The best lead magnets provide insights your audience won’t find anywhere else. Maybe you’re sitting on unique data from your software, or information you’ve gathered from past clients. Perhaps you have a connection to a thought leader who has years of relevant personal experience to draw from.
Case studies, statistics, and stories are all valuable ingredients for creating unique lead magnets. You still have to organize them in useful ways and execute them well, but if your offer is one-of-a-kind, it will set your ad campaigns apart and help capture your audience’s attention.
2. Invest in design
Even if your lead magnet provides unique, useful information, poor design can hold back its success. Remember, for many people, this will be their introduction to your brand. It sets the tone for the kind of quality they should associate with your name and your work. An elegant ebook, graphic, or video makes your content easier to consume and engage with, and it helps motivate people to share that content with others.
3. Make it bigger
It’s incredibly disappointing when you give someone your email in exchange for what appears to be a valuable resource, only to discover that it’s basically a one page ad. Maybe it’s a “case study” that doesn’t share any of the specific details that make it useful. Or it’s a handful of “tips” you could’ve found on Google.
Bigger isn’t always better. But when it comes to lead magnets, you want the resources you create to actually offer something substantial. Walk your audience through the steps they need to take to solve their problem. Explain those steps. Talk about problems they may encounter on the way. Make sure you cover any concepts they need to be familiar with. Motivate them by reminding them why their goal is worthwhile.
When you pack as much value as you can into a lead magnet, it becomes a resource your audience can turn to again and again.
A lot of brands crank out low-quality lead magnets and say, “This is good enough to slap a catchy title on it and get some signups.” But before you start pursuing an idea for a lead magnet, you should ask yourself, “What would someone in this audience want to know about this topic?” And before you’re done, ask, “Will this satisfy them?”
4. Keep quality consistent
It’s easy to look at your lead magnets in isolation. Especially if they’re geared toward specific audiences (as they should be). But even if your target audience is broad, it’s not unlimited. And as you penetrate your market, you’ll advertise to more and more people who have already heard of you—and they may have already had experiences with your brand, such as downloading a lead magnet.
That’s why it’s important to think about your lead magnets together. Do they all fit with your brand? Are they all good representations of the kind of quality insights you have to offer and experiences you want to create? If someone has downloaded an ebook or signed up for a webinar before, are they more or less likely to sign up for another? What are their impressions of your brand?
Want your ads to be more effective? Make a better offer
With every ad you create, you’re trying to convince people to give you their contact information. It’s a lot easier to do that when you offer something valuable in exchange. And it’s much easier if you’ve already given them something valuable in the past.
