The idea of a high-value lead magnet that can get you leads and grow your email list in your sleep can be exciting. But we all know that in the fast-paced world of marketing, efficiency and economy is of the essence.
Some of the following high-value lead magnet ideas are quick because you can repurpose content you already have so you’re not creating anything new. Others are simply easy to create!
But all of them have one thing in common: they pay for themselves in leads over time.
#1- Create a content upgrade
Content upgrades are basically freebies attached to high-performing blog posts that improve on the content in the blog posts.
Take the best performing blog post (or posts) on your website, jazz it up with new and more-detailed info, make it more usable, maybe add a couple of images and turn it into a PDF! (Or a PowerPoint or a video or anything that suits your prospects.) There’s your content upgrade!
Your magnet can also be content that can be consumed as a complement to the blog post you’re upgrading.
Here are a few ways you can upgrade the value of your content:
- Create infographics to accompany the text (you can make them easily with Venngage)
- Add new checklists or excel sheet planners germane to your post (like a real estate rental checklist or a party-planning checklist)
- Link to a gated video of a webinar or a tutorial
- Include more value—for instance, if your blog was about how to plan a camping trip, make a buying guide for specialty gear
Source: RingCentral
For example, at the end of a blog post on running sales meetings in-person and otherwise, a big resource pops up: RingCentral’s remote work playbook. A person who’s enjoying the read might want more practical tips and the end of the post is a good place to put a pop-up.
If you publish a lot of blog posts around a particular subject, like trekking trails in your area, you can update the info and bring all of them together in an ebook. Or make printable maps.
Pro tip: Find your top-trafficked article by using Google Analytics or seeing which content is most frequently shared from your social media accounts.
#2- Give away transcripts
If you’re podcasting or filming videos for your business, you should already be creating transcripts for each episode or video. (It’s a good practice to add subtitles so your audience can watch because 80% of consumers are more likely to watch an entire video when captions are available. Plus, it’s more accessible.)
Pro-tip: If your company does webinars, you could bundle a transcript along with the video (or even without the video) as a lead magnet long after it is over.
Transcripts are time-consuming, so speed up the process with online transcription services, like Rev, Trint, Otter, TEMI or Datalyst.
Accompany the transcript with an engaging intro and conclusion, spice up the body copy, and add a checklist or a template to it. Turn it into a PDF and go!
#3- Read blog posts (or ebooks) out loud
There are many people who consume audio content while commuting and on breaks. So bring your high-performing posts to them in audio form. Like an audiobook, but for blogs.
If you’re recording yourself, you can use a free service like Audacity, or invest in GarageBand or Adobe Audition. (Or just go with a professional).
Business coach Marie Forleo uses audio lead magnets on her website:
Source: Marie Forleo
#4- Quizzes
If the mind-blowing success of BuzzFeed is anything to go by, it’s clear people love talking about themselves.
Quizzes are exciting and can make people feel like you care about them. Plus, they’re so easy to make, using specialized tools like Typeform and Interact or even just Airtable.
They’re also great lead magnets because they provide the additional benefit of being able to segment your leads. Nutritionists and diet consultants use this a lot, as do financial consultants.
Source: Your Well Guide
#5- Showcase “Best in Show” content with a swipe file
For copywriters, a “swipe file” is a compilation of your best copy: sales letters, emails, blog posts, or other projects that you might want to literally “swipe” and revisit later. It’s like Pinterest, but for work.
Source: Neville Medhora’s Swipe File
There’s probably a “swipe file” equivalent in your industry or company—you could compile successful sales pitches, productivity protocols, blog posts—or really any “best of” work that your readers will find useful.
Pull your documents into a PDF and go!
#6- Deliver analytics to left-brainers
People want to believe and trust in your claims and numbers and concrete data build credibility. So don’t hold back (within company non-disclosure diktats of course). Share real-world results, stats and figures.
Dig up your excel documents, graphs, marketing results, split-test numbers, results from experiments, and schedules. If you’ve done original research, turn that into a gorgeous presentation.
They could even take the form of white papers or downloadable data visualizations (you can use datamaps.world or Infogram for this.
Data visualizations are beautiful, by the way. Here’s an example commissioned by the Wagner’s Bayreuther Opera Festival a few years ago:
Source: Sonja Kuijpers
#7- Give away a preview of your product or service
Ideally, your lead magnet should help pre-sell whatever product or service you will eventually ask your subscriber to buy. It’s like dating. Samples and previews help prospects answer the question: “Do I want to commit my time and money to this?”
For instance, this nutritionist sells plant-based nutrition programs and coaching, some of which cost hundreds of dollars. So she’s put a wellness book together to give her target audience a “taste” of her approach to nutrition.
Source: Arielle Simone
If you’re an author, you could put up a chapter of your book. If you’re a graphic designer, it might be a website template. If you’re a real estate agent, it might be a quick list of properties.
With this type of magnet, it should be crystal clear to your prospects where and how they can purchase your product. Use a call-to-action link.
Pro tip: Giving away a chapter of your book? Link your free chapter to a sales page where your subscribers can buy your whole book, like this Leadpages Author Book Excerpt.
#8- Tools and Calculators
Most lead magnets are one-trick wonders (where you just make the world’s most beautiful download and it’s done). But tools and calculators can really go the extra mile or two.
But you get the picture. In Neil Patel’s words, “Instead of a one-time email trade for a piece of content, you hook them in with a tool that’s so useful that they can’t help but return.”
Take this print-friendly Monthly Budget Planner by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) that just does the math for prospects.
Source: NFCC
These tools and calculators can be gated or not. Either way, the point is that people have to keep returning to your website to use it because it’s incomparably good. You can build one quickly with tools like Ucalc and Calconic.
#9- Your top resources or tools
Source: Tiago Forte
Productivity consultant Tiago Forte’s free posts section is post after post of productivity resources: Why he’s investing in XYZ, how he made a documentary with digital notes, his gear kit, the whole nine yards. They’re all ungated lead magnets that drive you to think “Wow, time to subscribe!”
Make a resource guide: put together a list of your favorite tools, apps, or resources that you’d like to recommend to your clients. It’s so easy to make because it’s all in your mind—and all you have to do is put it together.
In the list, you can put your go-to websites, books, tools, or apps your business uses (with links). Then, you know the drill.
Pro tip: Ideally, your list should end with your company or business website. After all, if you don’t use it, why should anyone?
#10- Give away your cheat sheets
You’re a hardworking person who has gained a lot of practical knowledge that is unGoogle-able. So, put that golden piece of value behind an opt-in form and go!
These cheat sheets might include habits, regimens, schedules, productivity hacks, plays from your business playbook, calendars, recipes and other shortcuts.
For example, if you’re a mechanic, your personal shortcut might include “the fastest way to change your own oil” or “the fastest way to check your engine.”
Korean beauty is famously complex and can get very confusing for newbies. So Sabbatical Beauty has put together a handy 10-step guide K-routine for beginners, and how to make sense of an ingredient list!
Source: Sabbatical Beauty
#11- Give away a valuable video clip
Have you created videos in the past? If so, give away your “best of” video content as a lead magnet.
That could include 10 or 20-minute clips from your past recorded webinars, a clip from a conference presentation, or even video blog content.
You can give away the downloadable videos or links to your video clips. If you decide to give away a video link, it’s best to post the video on an S3 server where you can share the link publicly.
If you already know how to edit videos, you can cut a clip out of an existing video fairly quickly. If you’re not a video editor, you may want to hire one on Upwork or Fiverr. Or try Screenflow for footage editing made easy.
#12- Give away presentations
Take a look at your company’s shared drives and chances are, a few gems are buried in there: a couple of super persuasive slide decks, or amazing keynote presentations.
Slides are digestible content that make information easy to consume. Assuming you own the rights to your particular presentation, you can easily give away a slide deck as a downloadable. (If you hosted the event, you likely have the right to use it. If you sponsored an event or you were a guest speaker, you may need to seek permission.)
Which high-value lead magnet tip are you going to try out first?
“How can I make valuable, high-converting content a non-stressful activity?” is a question that keeps many online business owners awake at night. But you know what? You already have a trove of opportunity within your existing materials.
Think about which part of your business’s existing content holds the most promise and combine it with any of the ideas mentioned above. If you’re new to this, take baby steps and maybe start a Leadpages free trial—it will simplify everything. Eventually you’ll find yourself developing a sense of what works best for your business and you just might have a lot of fun with it.
Before you go, we’d love to hear: Which high-value lead magnet idea is your favorite? What are you looking to test out first? Tell us in the comments!
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