How to Use Lead Magnets to Get Clients

By Anne Popolizio

Lead magnet, whitepaper, case study, cheat sheet, freebie download – whatever you call it, a lead magnet is a free offer that you give to people in exchange for their email address. Think of a real magnet, but instead of attracting metal, it attracts email addresses.

Lead magnets speak to, and therefore attract, your ideal client. Building the right lead magnet helps your new fans go from email addresses to clients. 

​High quality in small bites

Effective lead magnets are rich in value but easily digestible.  They help prospective clients get to know you, your expertise and most importantly, how you can be a solution to their problem.  

And now that I’ve just said that, I want you completely flip your thinking.  Your lead magnet isn’t about you. It’s about your future clients.

What are their problems, their challenges, their burning questions?  Whether you’ve been in business a few months or a few years, if you’ve worked with clients, you already have enough information to build an effective lead magnet.

But I don’t want to give away free consulting!

If you could give away so much information in a 250-500 word article that someone would no longer have need for your services, then there would be no reason for your business to exist.  If you’re like me and every business owner I’ve ever met, you can talk for days about what you do. (Watch. Ask me a question about analytics. Any question. Then clear your calendar because I won’t shut up).

Answer their questions.  Show them the path. The key is to keep the content digestible.  Focus on the what and the why, not the how. The how is what they pay for.  This is for their sake. If they could read an article and master the how, they wouldn’t need you.  But they do need you. By sharing your knowledge (in digestible bites), you build trust—you show them that you are the expert solution provider who will help them achieve their goals.

But the information is already on my website

That’s great.  Gate the good stuff.  Make the most valuable information a lead magnet and offer it in exchange for an email address.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you grow your mailing list with people who really want to hear what you have to say.

The Recap:

1. A lead magnet is a free piece of high quality, yet digestible information you share in exchange for an email address.
2. Lead magnets help build trust through expertise. Before they give you their cash, your dream client has to know you’re the gal for her.
3. Gate the good stuff.  ​

Lead magnets help you grow your mailing list with highly relevant leads. The more specific your lead magnet, the more specific your audience. This is a good thing.

Want to learn more? Download the 7 Tips to Creating Lead Magnets that Convert. See what I did there? 😉