Lead magnets are one of the best ways to turn visitors into leads.
This change in relationship from visitor to lead, enables brands to thrive online, produce positive ROI’s and validate their continued content marketing efforts.
However, not every brand’s lead magnet performs as intended.
There are a whole host of reasons that a lead magnet can fail, and soon enough, I’ll cover some of the biggest issues that I see online – especially from fellow marketers who reach out for advice – but first, we need to look at…
…why your lead magnet is not generating any decent leads…
Contents
‘My Lead Magnet Doesn’t Convert’
Lead magnet problem number 1 is obvious.
A lead magnet that doesn’t convert prospects into leads clearly has fundamental problems.
Every targeted person who sees your lead magnet is an opportunity for your brand. A lead can become a customer, ambassador, and referrer.
Poor lead magnets that don’t convert at this stage miss out on these present and future opportunities.
‘My Leads Aren’t Converting‘
This lead magnet problem is not always considered by businesses.
It’s easy to assume that your lead gen campaigns are performing well if your lead magnet is converting visitors to leads at a healthy rate, and your ads are showing a low CPL.
But what’s the point of having all these leads if none of them convert into customers?
A massive marketing list is worthless if nobody opens, clicks, or converts from any of your communications.
A lead magnet is your first opportunity to convince a lead to further their relationship with you. This means creating something of real quality and use.
If your leads are not converting (and your main lead gen strategy is via a lead magnet) there’s a big problem with your lead magnet.
The Problem With Your Lead Magnet
If your lead magnet isn’t converting prospects into leads, and you aren’t generating any customers after your lead magnet stage, one of the following suggestions might be the reason why…
BTW: Make sure you have a clear understanding of the content marketing funnel before analysing your lead magnet with the following tips.
Catchy Title, Nothing Else
If your lead magnet has a great title, but isn’t backed up with anything of substance, you’re probably going to generate a high number of leads who don’t convert into customers.
A lead magnet like this can actually have a negative effect on your leads.
Leads feel like they’ve taken part in an exchange when they hand over their contact details. If it isn’t rewarded with the value that they expect, they feel short-changed.
A great lead magnet requires a catchy title, just make sure it’s backed up with the content that your target audience deserves.
Remember, a lead magnet is your first opportunity to demonstrate your quality to a prospective customer – why would you want them to see your brand in a bad light?
Never Opened or Read
If you’re anything like me, some of the lead magnets you download don’t ever get consumed.
I’ve signed up for tons that I’ve never even taken the time to sit down and get into – and that’s because I haven’t felt any great pull toward them.
Relevant content and landing pages are the perfect way to qualify and convert visitors, but the lead magnet itself has to have something about it too.
You need to demonstrate your quality, get as much of a lead’s attention as possible, and prove the value of your knowledge and solutions (particularly in line with your products).
A lead magnet that looks a bit ‘meh’ in the inbox doesn’t inspire much action in your leads.
Create something that your leads feel compelled to find time for. It’s an opportunity that you can’t miss.
Basic Design
The higher the perceived value of your lead magnet, the more visitors it will convert into leads.
This means spending some real time on the content and design of your lead magnet.
An evergreen lead magnet will convert leads for years to come. We can prove it, the best-performing lead magnet for Einstein Marketer was created 2+ years ago.
Invest time and money into your lead magnet – if you produce something that your audience loves, it will work for years to come without you ever having to do anything to it!
My best advice is to avoid cheap services and template programs – you get what you pay for (more often than not).
Make an investment into the design value of your lead magnet – yes, it still holds the same informational value as your word-processed file, but it will look and feel much more valuable to a prospect.
Easy to Forget
Every week we publish 3 new blogs on the Einstein Marketer website, that’s a volume that’s matched by many of our competitors.
WordPress have said that more than 70 million new posts are published on their sites every single month.
^^^This is just the tip of the iceberg.^^^
If you want a lead magnet that produces positive results, you need to spend time on it.
A great lead magnet will provide your sales team (or process) with fuel for years to come.
A rushed lead magnet that lacks quality thought or any real consideration for its strategic placement will need to be replaced pretty quickly.
Over the years I’ve created tons of lead magnets (too many to count now) and I’ve noticed a trend – those that have taken the least amount of time to complete have had the shortest shelf life.
Lead magnets like checklists and cheat sheets can pull in high numbers, but they’re quickly consumed, easy to forget, and thrown away by leads – leading to poor customer conversion rates.
The greatest lead magnets are shared between peers, recommended, printed, placed on a desk, saved, revisited, and even purchased.
Don’t rush your lead magnet. Make its contents and your brand impossible to forget.
Only One Aim
Average marketers have one aim with their lead magnets:
- Generate leads
Great marketers have two aims:
- Generate leads
- Move leads toward becoming customers
If you’re creating a lead magnet, you want to be in that second bracket.
Not only should you create something that your target audience are willing to exchange their contact details for, you also want to use that same device to generate customers.
This double-aimed strategy will keep you focused on the results that make your content marketing efforts worthwhile.
‘Moving your leads towards becoming customers’ doesn’t mean pushing sales copy on them, or repeatedly calling them to action, it means showing them your worth, demonstrating facts and figures, proving your knowledge, and ultimately, becoming aspirational.
By the time your lead has finished with your lead magnet, your aim is to make them think ‘wow, I’d really love to work with that brand’.
If you already have a lead magnet, go back over it and ask yourself, does it make you feel like that?
Your Lead Magnet Problem Solved
Lead magnets should form a crucial stepping-stone in your content marketing funnel.
They act as a bridge between visitors and leads and pave the way for leads to become customers.
They’re well worth your time, effort, and investment.
If your lead magnets aren’t converting, or your lead conversion rate is low, analyse your lead magnet alongside this list.
Want more digital marketing help? Check out:
- Facebook Page Likes: How to Get Likes For Free!
- Priming In Marketing: Advertising Psychology 101
- The Marketing Hook
- The Value Ladder: How to Maximise Customer Value
- The Complete Guide to Facebook Ad Campaign Objectives
5 Responses
My lead magnet has not been converting very well. I will try the information from this post. Do you have any more advice about marketing an ebook?
Hi Minish, thanks for the comment. I would start by checking out our guides to the Content Marketing Funnel, and to Facebook ads – both of these are very effective strategies to generate more leads. Good luck!
There is definately a lot to know about this topic. I like all the points you have made.
Thank you for this. I have been thinking about my lead magnet in the wrong way.
Very descriptive blog, I enjoyed that a lot. So much information about what to make, but this is the first time I have found something about what to avoid with a lead magnet. thanks.