Building A Compelling Lead Magnet

Many marketing strategies get obsolete,others will have lesser importance with each new channel introduction.

The customers are becoming wiser which each scientific improvement, however they have not outgrown the email marketing channel.

A whooping 91% of email users check their mails daily, thats a rather shocking figure considering that this channel is not a buzz in marketing of today.

It might surprise people to even know that email marketing trumps social media and search in conversion rate.

Yeah, the good old email marketing!

Even with introduction of new and effective channels and strategies for achieving marketing objectives, the email marketing channel seems to be ever relevant.

According to statistics, most people do not buy a product online just like that. Infact, 95% of visitors won’t buy on their first visit.

They’re either just browsing, still in the research process/stage, or not even sure if you’re the right person to go with.

Since we have this knowledge, what then are businesses to do?

Build relationships through email marketing!!!

People buy from people they trust. Selling is often about trust and relationship building and process of relationship building is essential to getting the customers to trust you and try out what you’re offering.

Since we’re well abreast with the essence of email marketing, how do we go about starting?
We need to get emails!!!

How then do we make visitors give us their email addresses?

Remember people can perceive the slightest form of advertising and will likely run from you if you approach them just directly.

These leads need to be attracted so as to give their emails.

This is where the topic of lead magnet come in.

We need to craft a magnet like startegy with which to get people to submit their email addresses voluntarily so we can form a good relationship with them.

Having an attractive lead magnet will push your list up faster.

A lousy, unattractive lead magnet = very few sign-ups .

Valuable, attractive lead magnet= tns of sign-ups.

A lead magnet comes with an offer and will communicate the value the subscriber will receive.

There are various ways to structure the form.

It cold be in a subscription form pattern, a contact form style, or any short or long form requesting email address and other little details.

How to build an attractive lead magnet

1. Think of the value added: people will naturally gravitate towards anything valuable to them and will shy away from a relationship that seems exploitative.

Anytime you’re thinking of the perfect lead magnet, ask yourself what you have to trade off to get emails.

It is like you’re selling the form in a transaction. Give the users the impression that you’re the one doing them a favour.

Remember the desired behavior model I wrote about?

It stresses the need to have enough motivation, as well as ability and trigger. The motivation side comes to play here.

2. Does it evoke emotional reaction: can it make them excited or interested into the offer?

You can use the various forms of emotional appeals that’s relevant to your industry to get people to subscribe to your email list.

Think of ways to infuse emotional triggers to it.

3. Put in the work of creating the visuals: simplicity is key.

A form does not have to be glowing and singing before it is termed attractive.

The best ways to do the best things most times is t keep it simple and sharp.

Put it the work of creating something unique, and relatable; both in aesthetic appeal and in terms of compelling copy.

4. Are you selling false expectations or the truth: Time reveals everything to people.

If you received people on order to get their mails, it will bounce back heavily.

People should not be perceived as stupid. All marketing effort from top USP to the smallest copy form should world the absolute truth of what you can do.

Any lead magnet that is built on falsehood will eventually birth a suicidal email marketing campaign because the main idea which is trust will be defeated without a fight.

5. Show social proof: The bandwagon effect shows that humans tend to follow the crowd.

Everyone might need to get validation from others before using something. It helps to settle and doubt or suspicion.

It is the same reason brands beg for positive reviews from people.

You can add social proof by adding a link to your social media profile or a video testimonial or anything that will propel people trust you more.

Some use social proof subtle in their copy to give the impression that visitors can trust them.

6. Come up with multiple ideas: when thinking of crafting a lead magnet, come up with various types so you can test them eventually.

You need to realize that a lead magnet from another industry sor competitor might not work for you.

Brainstorming ideas would come handy here. Many are of the opinion that group brainstorming is the best. Is it actually the best?

Alex Osborn will clearly disagree with the idea of group brainstorming.

He posits that when people brainstorm in groups, it makes them less creative and participatory because of the fear of criticism.

If people are scared of saying the wrong thing, they might end of saying nothing at all.

So, brainstorming seems like a good idea but it often limits creativity.

How then do I suggest we brainstorm?
I’ll gladly suggest we brainstorm individually before coming as a group to collate our ideas.

Testing your lead magnet

After coming up with multiple compelling ideas to use as a lead magnet, we need to make a pick of the best one to use. We need to be very careful, so we do not fall into confirmation bias.

The best way is to test them. We need to pick the ones to choose and ones to discard.

The best way to do this is by using user testing.
Survey the ideal customer: survey the ideal customer to know which one they might b interested in. You might take a sample of people to do various qualitative tests on your options.

The idea is to get the one that will perform better than the rest.
...to be continued

Over the past few weeks, I've been enrolled in the Conversion XL minidegre in growth marketing.

I’ve learned from the top 1% of the best professionals, and I’m overwhelme with the level of depth They wield. This is part of my weekly submission for the program.