Lead Magnet Magic

Design Tips

Creating a little Lead Magnet Magic your potential customers will love!

There is no better way to build your email list quickly than an awesome freebie, aka lead magnet.  We are a society that loves to receive something for nothing, something the marketing world has always known. Which is why the internet is filled with freebies!

Because there are so many freebies out there, we have also become very protective of our email addresses as a society and don’t always give them up so easily, and here is a closer look at why.

  1. We worry who else may get our email address.
    While this isn’t common practice for most businesses today, many of us still remember the days when companies sold our email address to others.  This created a lot of unwanted emails and unnecessary frustration.
  2. The freebie wasn’t what was promised.
    Many of us have opted into a freebie that promised amazing, and delivered good at best.  When this happens, we feel cheated and tricked, and have probably lost faith in the person or company offering that freebie.
  3. We get SPAMMED after giving our email address.
    Have you ever signed up for a freebie, and soon find your inbox crammed with daily email selling something?  This too feels like a trick, and makes us that much more protective of our email addresses.

So, the first step to creating an amazing lead magnet is to first avoid these things mentioned above. Doing so will is going to help you build a relationship of trust with your subscribers that will more likely lead to sales in the future. Check out my post Building a Trusting Business Relationship for more on that.

So how do we avoid these?

Here are a few ideas that I have found helpful in my own business.

  1. Clearly promise your protection.
    I always, always, always add a brief statement below any sign-up box that says, “We hate SPAM too and promise to never share your email address with anyone.”  I also add a link to my more formal privacy policy as well.  If I were planning to share their email address with any affiliates I may work with, I would state so and who the affiliates are very clearly as well as giving them an option to say “no” if they choose to.
  2. Offer a truly free teaser and over deliver.
    I will often offer up a teaser that actually delivers value before requesting their email address.  This helps develop a level of trust right away, making them a little more comfortable sharing their email address. A great example I happened to stumble upon is a Numerology Reading from the Numerologist.com.  They gave me plenty of interesting information with only my first name and date of birth. This was all before I was asked to share my precious email address.  You can check out this example at https://video.numerologist.com.
  3. Be clear that your freebie also adds them to a newsletter.
    While I may often use phrase such as “Where can I send your…” I also make it clear that I will be sending them emails from time to time and give an expectation of how often that will be. Check out an example from a website I designed at SusieBuck.com.