How many lead magnets do you think you need to create? One, two, maybe even three?

Keep on guessing.

The real number is probably higher than what you have in your mind right now. Research indicates that most businesses can benefit from using 15 or more lead magnets in their marketing strategy. You read that right— 15 plus.

If you’re struggling to figure out why so many and how to incorporate over a dozen lead magnets into your content marketing, this post is for you. Below, we’ll discuss exactly how to use lead magnets to attract leads and convert them into customers.

What Is a Lead Magnet?

Before we get into why you need to create so many lead magnets, let’s define what they are in the first place.

Lead magnets are free gifts that you offer to your audience. But you’re not just giving away free gifts like Santa Claus. It’s more like an exchange of information — you give a valuable resource away but you’re getting two things in return: The other person’s email address and their permission allowing you to send them marketing emails.

But, if you’re new to the idea of lead magnets, you’re probably wondering if it’s even necessary to offer one. After all, you’ve definitely visited websites that asked for newsletter signups without offering lead magnets in return.

Here’s the magic question: Did you sign up for that newsletter? Or did you just scroll past, read the page, and then hit the back button?

Most website visitors have that same response. These days, people are fiercely protective of their inbox. They’re not just going to sign up for your email newsletter because you invite them to. To make the invitation worthwhile, you’ll need to add an incentive, something that offers immediate gratification. This is where the lead magnet comes in.

The lead magnet is usually a digital file that can be instantly downloaded. The most popular types of lead magnets are checklists, eBooks, and guides.

An effective lead magnet will:

Be instantly available – Someone who signs up for your lead magnet shouldn’t have to wait to download it. You can automate the delivery of your lead magnet to minimize wait.

Make a promise – To entice, you need to offer a promise, like “learn how to do X in 5 steps.” This gives the reader an expectation which can be a powerful incentive to download.

Be useful – Make good on your promise and deliver a valuable product. Understand the needs and challenges of your unique audience and create a lead magnet that they’ll identify as beneficial.

Solve a specific problem – Be careful not to go too generic with your lead magnet topic. While you can appeal to a larger audience this way, you’ll also dilute your lead magnet’s efficacy. Don’t be afraid to go ultra-specific, especially since you’ll create multiple lead magnets.

Be easy to read – Your lead magnet shouldn’t read like a college dissertation. Write it in a tone that’s casual, conversational, and easy to consume.

Be actionable – The best lead magnets are action-plans. They provide information that shows the reader a step by step plan of how to get what they want.

Build trust – Finally, lead magnets should always build trust with your reader. By sharing relevant information (for free), you can position yourself as an expert on the topic.

Why Do You Need Multiple Lead Magnets?

So now that we’ve covered what a lead magnet is, let’s discuss why you need so many.

Most businesses cater to multiple customer types. If you have more than one product, you definitely have more than one type of customer. But even if you only offer one product or service, you can still appeal to multiple customer types.

For example, a photographer only sells their photography services, but they can appeal to customers who need the following photos:

• Family Portraits
• Graduation
• Engagement
• Wedding
• Headshots
• Beauty
• Magazine

And the list goes on. Similarly, you may have customers who need the same product/service, but for different reasons. Because they have different goals, you need to create different lead magnets to appeal to them. Here are two lead magnet examples to illustrate what I mean:

• 10 tips for working with wedding photographers
• A checklist for what to bring to your beauty photoshoot

But there’s another reason to create multiple lead magnets. In addition to multiple customer types, you’re also appealing to customers at different stages of your sales funnel. Not everyone will arrive on your home page. And not everyone will need to know the basics. You also need to develop lead magnets to reach people who are at the decision stage of the sales funnel.

We’ll discuss what all of this means next.

Create Different Lead Magnets for Different Goals

As mentioned above, different customer types have different goals.

Your first task is to identify the unique goals of your target customers. What are their challenges and what do they need help with?

You may be thinking, Well, duh, that’s why I created my product to begin with. Shouldn’t I be more focused on getting people to buy my product?

Sure, you want your audience to pay for your product or service. That’s all the more reason to create a resource that will build trust with your reader. Your lead magnet (and subsequent email marketing) will ultimately point back to your product or service.

In the above example, the lead magnet “10 tips for working with wedding photographers” gives the reader information on how to use the service that the photographer provides. As you see in this example, the lead magnet doesn’t compete with the service, it simply gives the reader the best practices for using that service.

Most lead magnets follow this same rule: Provide valuable information that your audience needs to know without directly competing against your products or services.

Most lead magnets follow this rule: Provide value without competing against your products/ services. Click To Tweet

By identifying the challenges of your audience, you’ll be able to come up with attractive ideas for potential lead magnets.

Make a list of the top 10 problems that your target audience has. Then, figure out what types of content can solve each problem quickly. To help you, at the end of this post, we’ve created a list of lead magnet ideas.

Create Lead Magnets for Different Stages of the Funnel

As we discussed above, not all of your website visitors are at the same stage of the sales funnel. Some visitors come to your website to identify the problem while others know a lot about the problem and are beginning to investigate solutions. You need lead magnets to serve both of these visitors. If you only create an entry-level eBook to introduce the problem, you’ll miss helping the visitor who’s looking for a comparison guide between you and your competitor.

Here’s a breakdown of how to use lead magnets for a basic sales funnel:

Top of the Funnel – Inform
During this stage, you provide basic information to help your audience correctly identify their problem.

Examples of lead magnets for the top of the funnel include:

• Ebooks
• Worksheets
• Email courses

Middle of the Funnel – Educate
During this stage, you share resources that help your audience learn more about their problem and your solution.

Examples of lead magnets for the top of the funnel include:

• Cheat sheets
• Tutorials/how to
• Video series

Bottom of the Funnel – Evaluate
During this stage, you give your audience the information that they need in order to make a decision to buy.

Examples of lead magnets for the top of the funnel include:

• White papers
• Case studies
• Comparison guides

Ready to Create Your Own Lead Magnets?

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