3-Step Lead Magnet Formula: How To Create A High Converting Lead Magnet

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So you want to learn how to build your email list and get more qualified leads in your business? 

Well, first, let me tell you what NOT to do…

“Hey! subscribe to my email list, so I can send you more emails?!” *crickets*

Come onnnnnnnnnnnnn. We all get enough emails in our inboxes as it is. 

So the last thing anyone really wants to do is sign up on another list to get even more emails!

The way you have to think of it is this... 

People don’t actually want your emails. 

They want HELP.

So the BEST way to build your email list is by offering HELP in the form of a lead magnet that you give your prospects for FREE in exchange for their name and email address…

But here’s the thing...

It has to be GOOD. I see time and time again business owners just slap together some arbitrary content they have lying around, call it something fancy, and expect people to come flocking to their website to sign up.

It doesn’t work like that.

So in this article, I’m going to walk you through the 3 things a good Lead Magnet must include…

And at the end, I’ve included a list of the 4 most popular types of Lead Magnets you can offer in your business to grow a list of highly qualified leads.

I’m following up on my recent email marketing tutorial with this in-depth training on how to actually build a list to send those emails to! 

If this is your very first time landing on my newsletter, welcome! I put out a new tutorial on copywriting, marketing, and freelancing strategies every single week. 

So if that’s the sorta thing you want to learn more about, go ahead and subscribe to The Right Phrase Pays here on LinkedIn.

Okay, now let’s dive right in…

First of all, what the heck is a lead magnet anyway?

A lead magnet is some form of content or information that you offer for FREE to attract qualified leads (aka people who are actually interested in what you do and, therefore, are more likely to buy from you at some point in the future).

Now, this doesn’t just help you grow your email list, it also creates trust, builds authority, and gets you new customers!

Now, so the first thing a good Lead Magnet must do is...

#1 SOLVE AN IMMEDIATE NEED

You’ll sometimes hear people call a Lead Magnet an “ethical bribe”... 

And just saying that makes me cringe a little. I hate the term “bribe” because it makes it feel like what you’re offering isn’t insanely valuable and you need to convince people to want it…

It sounds a little douchey...

A good Lead Magnet is anything but douchey!

A good Lead Magnet will provide massive value to your audience and make them think:

“WOW. If they’re giving this away for free I can’t imagine how much value I’d get if I actually became a customer!”

In fact, I’m a firm believer that you should give away some of your BEST content for free. That’s why I literally spend hours every single week creating these free tutorials for you!

And – just like when I’m creating these tutorials – the best way to make sure you're giving your audience something valuable is to actually ask them what they want!

Every single one of my Lead Magnets was created in direct response to questions that you asked me for help with or wanted more clarification on. 

So always make sure that your Lead Magnet is valuable and solves an immediate need or challenge for your audience.

Ok the second thing your lead magnet must do is…

#2 CREATE A DESIRE FOR MORE 

Remember, the ultimate goal here is to have your leads become customers…

And if your lead magnet doesn’t create a desire for MORE, chances are your leads will just sign up to get the free thing and then bounce.

So while you want your lead magnet to be insanely valuable and solve an immediate need, you also want to create the desire for your leads to go deeper and learn more from you. 

That’s how you build community. That is how you build an engaged and active email list. That is how you turn your leads into lifelong fans.

But… how do you create desire, you ask? You do it by providing useful but incomplete information... 

And we’ll talk about 4 ways to do that in just a minute.

But first, I want to talk about the third thing every Lead Magnet must do…

#3 SELL 

Yes, your lead magnet is one of the best sales tools you have.

Let’s refer to the classic AIDA funnel…

You got your audience’s attention with a well-crafted, well-written landing page, you’ve piqued their interest, obviously, because they signed up for your lead magnet....

Your lead magnet should then build desire which we’ll talk more about in a second…

And lastly, you want them to take ACTION!

So, you should absolutely be telling your prospects HOW they can go deeper with you and “make them an offer they can’t refuse.”

Lol name that movie!

This can be done in the lead magnet itself – I’ll share some powerful lead magnet examples here in just a minute – or you can follow up via email with an invitation to take that next step…

Or, of course, you can do both! 

Alright, now….

As promised, let’s talk a bit more about the ways you can create desire with useful but incomplete information…

Because this is where most people get it wrong. 

It’s easy enough to share valuable information and to make an offer…

But, like most sales tools or copy assets, the hard part is bridging the gap between the two by creating DESIRE.

So there are four ways that I like to do this…

#1: Solve Step 1 

This is inspired by Frank Kern’s “Results in Advance” method. 

Your goal here is to give away just part of the solution. You want your Lead Magnet to provide information that will genuinely help your prospect, but leaving them wanting more. 

So you first need to identify your prospect’s most-desired end result and then educate them by breaking it down into actionable, achievable steps. Then, you simply solve the first step for free in your lead magnet. 

By doing this, you are adding value and providing fast results, but also creating the desire for your prospect to go deeper to solve steps 2, 3, and so on (leading to the sale).

This is so powerful because once people start seeing results with what they got for free, they’ll not only trust you more but they’ll also be excited and primed to keep the momentum going.

An example of this type of Lead Magnet comes from my own archive.

My Hot Offer Checklist is a highly valuable PDF guide that tells you all the information you must have in order to write a Hot Offer…

But of course, in order to write a FULL high-converting sales page top to bottom, you gotta go one step further and join my 5-Day Write & Ignite Challenge. 

#2: Diagnose the Problem  

This is where you educate your prospect on a problem they didn’t even know they had. This works really well for a more unaware audience.

So you help them identify or diagnose a core problem and give them an immediate fix, then sell them the remedy for more long-term results.

A good example of this is the Chronotype Quiz by Dr. Michael Breus. 

He diagnoses the reason you have sleep problems by pin-pointing your chronotype. 

Then gives you a personalized solution to help you sleep better, based on your type, followed by an offer to help you go deeper to address the problem long-term.

Quizzes are awesome Lead Magnets for two reasons…

First, they are engaging and fun for the audience. 

And secondly, the quiz itself is literally giving you the valuable information you need to best help your audience...

So it’s quite literally a win-win. 

#3: Give The What, Not The How 

So here you focus on educating your prospect on WHAT they need to do to solve their core problem or achieve their most-desired end result and WHY it’s so important. 

You give them the action steps, framework, secrets, or formula for them to follow, which they could implement on their own and see immediate results. 

But then after you give them the WHAT for free, you can position your product as the HOW – the comprehensive action plan that will more easily, quickly, and effectively get them to where they want to go.

A great way to do this is through a masterclass or webinar, like this one from Mindvalley where Vishen Lakhiani shares his 3 keys For Transformative Living. 

#4: Offer A Free Sample, Trial, or Giveaway

This type of Lead Magnet is probably the most simple. You simply offer your audience a free taste of what you offer and are ultimately trying to sell.

Getting an early commitment to receive something for free makes it easier to then ask for the sale.

All my e-commerce friends know this one well. Here’s an example from Lunya...

Upon arriving on their website you are hit with a pop-up asking for your email address in exchange for $20 on your first purchase.

It’s a no-brainer. I mean, who doesn’t like a good deal?

There you have it, my tried-and-true lead magnet formula with FOUR different ways to add value, create desire, and create sales!

What’s your favorite type of Lead Magnet to sign up for? Comment below and let me know! 

Until next time,

Alex

Alex Cattoni is the Founder of the Copy Posse Agency and Academy. Since 2011, she has launched several successful brands and has proudly partnered with many of the hottest transformational brands and businesses on the planet, writing high-converting sales copy, scaling multi-million dollar brands, and crafting iconic promotional campaigns.

Today, she’s on a mission to mobilize the raddest, baddest crew of authentic copywriters with a passion for creating community, credibility and conversions with nothing but powerful and precise wording.

Through her weekly YouTube videos, Alex helps copywriters, aspiring copywriters and entrepreneurs learn, write and ignite their businesses with words that work.