Creating a lead magnet Marketing Automation

In this marketing automation guide we give you some great suggestions on:

• ways to get prospects to give you their first name and email address
• how to create the lead magnet content required

The definition of great marketing is the same now as it’s always been, to offer the right product/service to the right person at the right time.  If you can do this your sales will soar, but it’s not an easy task.

The first thing you must do if find out who your prospects are.  You probably have thousands of visitors to your website but have no idea who they are, so our first step is to find out. You can’t market effectively to people you don’t know.

Ideally we want their first name and email address so we can make our marketing feel personal. So how do we get this information?

Simple, we offer something to the user in return for their details.  With online lead magnets this is easy, all you have to do is think of an area you or your business is an expert in, consider how you can create a piece of collateral to pass on some of this expertise to the user, which they can then use to:

• save time
• make more money
• reduce their costs
• have some fun
• improve their business

Here are a few ideas:

HOW TO GUIDES

These are a perennial favourite as they offer huge value to someone interested in the subject matter.

Examples for my business are; How to setup a Google account; how to add Google Analytics to your website; How to check your website for errors using Google Search Console; How to ensure your website pages are ranked well on Google; Setting up a Bing local account; setting up a Google My Business page; how to interpret your Google Analytics data; how to choose as website developer; how to choose a content management system; and the list goes on.

CHECKLISTS

Who doesn’t love a checklist, my business runs on them. Complex tasks require a list of actions or activities required for a successful completion, and being an expert in the chosen area you can quickly create these, in fact you’ve probably already got some.

Examples for my business are; creating the perfect blog post; launching a new website essential activities; marketing automation account setup; email marketing service setup; Setting up a LinkedIn profile; setting up a LinkedIn company page; and more…

I even have a checklist for holiday so I don’t forget anything, a little sad but it keeps my holidays stress free.

HELPFUL DOCUMENTS

This is a great one as you’ve probably already got some of these in your own business.

Examples for my business are; Monthly website analytics spreadsheet; local marketing setup document; content delivery plan; optimising images for the web; WordPress user manual; and more…

PHYSICAL ITEMS

All of the above are downloads but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t offer something physical. I have a client that’s offering free chocolate to anyone who requests a wedding photography package from her, brilliant.  Most of us love getting something for nothing so what about a free branded USB stick, or any of the thousands of promotional gifts available at low cost. One of my clients a few years ago was a manufacturing company that sold lathes, so they manufactured a keyring to show off the capabilities of their 5 axis lathe, and gave them as a freebie. Total cost per item including P&P was £2.50 but for that they got a lot of prospect information.

NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS

If you are sending out interesting information on a regular basis then a newsletter signup can work really well. BUT don’t call it that.  Titles that work well for our clients are:

• Receive offers
• Receive discounts
• Be the first to know about new products
• Special email subscriber only offers
• Apply for a gold card
• Gold card holder offers

If you are sending out great stuff why not create a web page with some examples and add a link to the form so users can see an example of what they will get.

Always tell the user how often you typically send these out, especially if it’s very regularly, that way they know what to expect.

CREATING YOUR LEAD MAGNETS

We are all super busy so getting around to writing these lead magnets can be difficult, here’s what we do:

• Delegate it to a team member and give them credit when it goes onto your site.
• Write an article over a few days coming back to it every morning as the first job of the day.
• Write the articles in your downtime not at work.
• Use collateral you already have by repurposing it and make sure it’s sanitised for external consumption.
• Employ a copywriter to do this for you. Each article will cost about £50-£100 depending on its complexity but you can use it for ever. Make sure you read it thorough and put your own personality on it before putting it online.  Also make sure it’s fully branded for your business with contact details in the header and footer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alan Tomkins has been in sales and marketing for 30 years and runs a digital marketing business called Alpha Tango. If you’d like to discuss anything in this article please contact Alan at alan.tomkins@alpha-tango.co.uk or call Alan on 01333 329882.