Why are lead magnets so important in both sales and marketing?
Well in short they help us attract, close and retain clients.
In this blog you’ll begin to understand:
- What lead magnets are
- Types of lead magnets
- Where to use lead magnets
- Why you’re not giving everything away
What Is a Lead Magnet?
It is something valuable that you offer a potential (or existing) client completely free of charge, in exchange for a commitment such as an email address, meeting etc.
Lead magnets are what makes someone stop scrolling to click on a link, download a freebie, or want to reach out to you. They are designed to hook in your audience and give them enough to want more. And in sales, they help someone to actually want to move to the next stage of becoming interested in your product or service – they are a great aid to help close sales.
Types of Lead Magnets That Actually Work:
There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to lead magnets. Depending on your target audience, your industry and if you are in sales or marketing, your approach may be completely different. Here’s a few of the most effective types:
How to guides:
These are simple, valuable and easily digestible for your audience. How-to-guides work well as free downloads on your website or landing pages.
Infographics:
Visually engaging and easy to share across platforms. Can be used for top tips, cheat sheets and any other data heavy topics that needs to be simplified.
YouTube videos:
Short and informative, easy to digest information that work well as lead magnets for showing your expertise and they are easy to share.
eBooks:
We have recently created a free eBook on B2B lead generation that has worked wonders for building authority in our field.
Webinars:
Another great lead magnet we introduce regularly that gives the audience a taster of what we know, and what we value we can give.
Of course there are many others such as: free trails, templates, quizzes, white papers, research, discounts, audits etc.
Where to Use Lead Magnets in Your Sales Strategy
Lead magnets are often created, slapped on a website and forgotten about. This is not the way to do it! In fact, lead magnets can be used across your entire sales process and for different reasons.
Top of funnel vs. Bottom of funnel
Marketing teams Normally work with top of funnel lead magnets. These are things that create an awareness of your product or service with potential customers and hook them in to want to find out more.
Marketing teams can then use this information to create mailing lists and leads for the sales teams.
Sales team are responsible for the bottom of the funnel and often use lead magnets to help secure meetings, support proposals and close sales. They are also an excellent aid for building and maintaining relationships with existing customers.
At the top of the funnel the marketing team may use lead magnets such as infographics, how to guides, discounts, free trials ETC.
At the bottom of the funnel sales people are more likely to use lead magnets such as white papers, research, videos and webinars ETC.
Here’s how we use ours:
Website:
Of course, lots of lead magnets are across our website. We have a full library of free resources including infographics, carousels and videos. As well as a downloadable e-book on our homepage.
In proposals:
When we send out a proposal to clients, we include links to guides or any related content we have to offer we feel will add value to the client.
On LinkedIn :
We use all of our content for social posts such as free tools, insights and downloads that all drive engagement.
With new products or services:
If we launch a new product/service we often run a free webinar or offer a downloadable resource to get people talking about the topic and build trust.
“But Aren’t You Giving Away Too Much?”
This question always comes up when discussing lead magnets. Many worry that they’re giving away too much knowledge to the point there won’t be any left to sell. This is not the case.
Giving away flat information isn’t giving away your real value and what you’re offering your audience. You can find anything online anyway.
For example, a how to guide or webinar might show someone what to do, but it won’t show them how to apply it to their own business or situation. Without personalisation, it really is just tips that can push them to want to discuss further.
That’s where you come in. When people see your expertise, they’ll begin to trust you and are more likely come back and do business with you.
Final Thoughts
When it comes down to it, people want to do business with people they can trust, not someone who just tries selling to them. Lead magnets are what helps you show you know what you’re doing and aren’t afraid to share a little of your knowledge upfront. They help showcase your expertise, create some report and trust.
Lead magnets give people a useful starting point, and a reason to keep following you and paying attention.
When they are created and done correctly they open doors to real conversations and opportunities.
Keep it simple, make it valuable and most importantly make it easy for your audience to understand exactly what the next steps are to work with you.
Watch our YouTube video here to learn even more on lead magnets and how to use them to make sales:
For more information on our sales training please contact Sales Training International on +44 (0) 1704 889325 or email info@salestrainingint.com for more information.
