How lead magnets in the conversion funnel help increasing online sales

There is a method, with the help of which, it is possible to significantly increase the conversion rate. Let’s talk about lead magnets (LM).

A lead magnet is a potentially useful product that the visitor receives free of charge in exchange for their contact details: phone number and email address, for example.

Later, this data can be used by the company to push the visitor into the next steps of the conversion funnel.

The person who reacted to the lead magnet is not yet a customer, but he is already more than just a visitor to the site, as he has shown his interest before.

The lead magnet is normally used at the top level of the sales funnel to encourage visitors to leave their contacts and turn “abstract traffic” into concrete interested people. In addition, by receiving a useful and free product, visitors may become more open to upcoming commercial offers.

Why lead magnets?

Lead magnets create confidence in a product and increase consumer interest. In traditional marketing, it can be compared to the distribution of samples in stores or tasting in a supermarket. The visitor can try a mini-version of the product for free, learn about its properties and benefits. However, nothing compels you to make a purchase.

lead magnets exemple SEMrush — To use the SEO analysis platform “SEMrush” it is necessary to have a paid account. However, it is possible to review some sites for free. It is an example of a lead magnet.

Its main attributes

It is important to understand what the main attributes of a lead magnet are to make it a lead magnet with high performance.

Benefit

This is the most important attribute of a lead magnet, as it defines the degree of motivation with which people share their data. A website visitor receives a free product that is really useful and that helps him to form an opinion about the other services. To create an ideal lead magnet, identify any real problems that the target audience is currently experiencing and provide a solution.

Lead Magnets exemple Medis — Médis example: for customers who are thinking of having a child, the lead magnet may be an e-book with recommendations on the topic.

Simplicity

A potential customer must, easily and only with the title, understand what he will receive. The benefit should be obvious to the target audience.

Lead Magnets exemple Gearbest — Gearbest example: Gearbest offers $ 100 to new visitors, who can leave an email on the form. After registering, the visitor receives a cuppon. It will be possible to use it only when placing an order at a certain value, which further motivates the potential customer.

Quick solution

It must be an obvious and quick solution to the customer’s problem – “here and now”. If the effectiveness is noticed immediately, the customer will definitely think about purchasing the paid version of the product or service, as the utility has already been demonstrated in a short period of time.

exemple_garyvaynerchuck — Example Gary Vaynerchuck: the description of the lead magnet should be appealing. Make yourself aware of how your product can generate value for the visitor. Newsletter subscriptions, ebook downloads, checklists with procedures, all of which can be used to obtain the visitor’s email.

Autonomy

Usually, the lead magnet is a fully autonomous instrument. The idea is to create an offer that can be functional without any third party intervention. Rule exclusion may be free consultations, in which the consultant (or another professional) has to interact in some way with the person who needs to be served. In other cases, the instrument must be autonomous.

Lead Magnets exemple Cambridge English — Cambridge English example: Tests, completely autonomous, that do not need any support from consultants.

As the attributes are fully understood, we now list some more examples of lead magnets:

Set of useful tools;
Checklists, pre-filled content plan, template tables, cost calculators. This category includes everything that can in any way help a potential customer and facilitate their work;
General information about the area;
Book lists, step-by-step tutorials on how to achieve the desired result;
Live or pre-recorded webinars;
Lectures or recording of a master class on a topic very close to the potential customer. This is a very popular lead magnet among online universities;
Limited access (demo, trial);
Trial period: first X free classes or a shorter course that groups several modules. You are giving the customer the opportunity to start using the product in a sample format;
Consultation without commitment.

A lead magnet provides a higher conversion rate compared to a sale, so it is often used on the landing pages of Search campaigns.

Lead magnets location on a website

Okay, you just created a lead magnet. And now what?

It is important to find a good place to put it on the website. Usually a proprietary landing page is used where the offer is promoted right on the first screen of the page. However, in some cases, the lead magnet can be placed inside a pop-up or on a side banner (eg blogs with a sidebar). To create a more accurate conversion funnel in Google Analytics and launch AB tests for the lead magnet, we recommend moving forward with your own landing page. But it’s up to you. The main condition is: the message must be clearly visible for the visitor to locate immediately.

Lead Magnets exemple Brian Dean — Brian Dean example: on the Brian Dean website (aka Backlinko), the section with a lead magnet is at the top of the main page, followed by the mentions and reviews section.

Where to advertise

As mentioned earlier, the conversion rate for lead magnets is normally higher compared to direct selling landing pages and much higher compared to information pages. Let’s look at some options for creating high-conversion performance campaigns.

Search campigns

In Search campaigns (paid search) that lead to landing pages with a lead magnet, it is important to include in the ad copy the main advantages of the product and the fact that it is free. In addition to a good landing page conversion rate, ads tend to have a higher CTR (or click-through rate), which will lower your cost per click. Thus, we get more people to the page at a lower cost.

Lead Magnets exemple Asana — Asana Example: An example of Search advertising for a lead magnet. Asana mentions in its ad that there is a free version of the product and still presents the link to the page with the main features.

Social Media

On social media, the lead magnet is often used in the profile description, with a link to a landing page. It helps motivate account subscribers to visit the site, because a free and useful product is there, not just the generic presentation of the person or company.

Lead Magents example investingsimplified — Investing Simplified Example: the user @investingsimplified, who talks about investment and financial education on his instagram, offers an e-book precisely in his profile description.

Summing up

A lead magnet is just the first step or first contact to meet a potential customer, before they decide to complete their purchase. If you want to increase your sales online (and / or offline), turning website visitors into concrete leads, start by developing lead magnets within your company.

Article writen by Ivan Panchenko – Web Analytics Specialist

Header photo credits: Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

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