When it comes to growing your business, getting more prospects is vital. How do you spark interest in your offer without overly aggressive marketing? The answer is lead magnets. They are valuable, easy-to-access resources. They attract potential clients and prompt action.
In this blog, I’ll share my strategies for creating lead magnets. They should attract more prospects and add value to your business. Stick around! I’ll also share a tip on scaling your lead generation. Use advanced, overlooked lead magnet formats. They are powerfu
Stop! You’re missing out if you’re not solving a real problem with your lead magnet.
When I first started running Facebook ads, I was lost. Like many beginners, I knew I needed to generate leads, but I needed to figure out where to start. I took the most straightforward route. I copied what I saw others doing. I saw people using Video Sales Letters (VSLs) and webinars. I thought, “If it works for them, it’ll work for me.””
It didn’t.
My cost per lead skyrocketed to nearly $100, which wasn’t sustainable for my budget. I figured I’d try a new tactic. I promoted Facebook groups to funnel leads there. My cost per lead dropped to about $30. But, I felt I was wasting money, hoping something would stick. Nothing was resonating with my audience the way I wanted.
I finally realized the issue—I wasn’t solving the right problem for my audience. I was pushing content I valued, but I didn’t consider my audience’s needs. Even after I switched to using my workbooks as lead magnets, I still missed the mark. The workbook was getting me cheaper leads—$22-$23 each. But people didn’t want to sift through it to find the solution to their problem.
What did they want? A simple, fast solution. I took a step back and offered one page from my workbook. It was a checklist. It showed solopreneurs how to scale their businesses from $500,000 to $1,000,000. This one-page solution was clear. It solved their problem and gave them what they needed.
The result? My cost per lead dropped to $1.
The lesson is clear: know your audience’s values. Then, solve the right problem. Everything will change. Your ads will resonate more, your costs will drop, and you’ll see results.
It’s not about pushing out as much content as possible; it’s about offering the right content. Solve the right problem for your audience, and they’ll respond. Keep testing, refining, and focusing on what helps them.
Pro Tip: Dig into your audience’s needs before creating your next lead magnet. It could save you time and money in the long run!
You’ve been pushing out downloadable guides, but it feels like no one cares.
Lead magnets are often seen as downloadable guides or checklists. Business owners don’t know that other formats might work better. They are more engaging.
After using the solopreneur checklist to lower my cost per lead to $1, I found another game-changer: calculators. Few people used this format. They assumed it was too hard to make. But the truth? It was super simple.
We took a Google Sheet, added some formulas, and made a calculator. It helps solopreneurs decide their next business steps. This pre-formatted tool did the same calculations as a person would do manually, but it was faster and easier. And it worked.
Most people mistakenly limit themselves to one or two types of lead magnets. A lead magnet must not just be a guide or checklist. You can create calculators, handbooks, manuals, or templates. Our calculator cut our cost per lead to $3 or $4. It stood out because fewer people were offering it.
Don’t box yourself in by sticking to the usual formats. Experiment. Different formats can appeal to various audiences. You’d be surprised. If one type of lead magnet isn’t giving you the desired results, try something else. Your audience might prefer something more interactive or personal.
Here’s how I scale lead generation effortlessly.
After you have your lead magnet strategy, use it to convert leads into customers. Only some people who download your lead magnet will buy. But they are still valuable. You need a way to nurture those leads and eventually convert them.
After someone downloads a lead magnet, they have a pain point. They’re struggling with something. But, as a business owner, you often don’t know precisely what their problem is or how severe it might be. Many lead-generation strategies fail there.
I quickly realized that just one email wasn’t enough to engage leads. People don’t always respond to emails or take the next step alone. I needed a way to turn that initial interest into a conversation.
That’s when I turned to automation. We set up a system. It sent a text after someone downloaded a lead magnet. It asked, “What’s your biggest challenge now?”
This was a game-changer. If someone replied to the text, we could engage. We could then diagnose their needs and schedule a call to discuss how we could help. Text message automation worked much better than email alone. It felt more personal and immediate, and it helped us build trust quickly.
You can connect with your audience with automation in your lead gen funnel.
Marketing Strategy – create inbound strategies to better position you for the long game.
Systems Implementation – we design and implement systems for you to buy back your time.
Brand Building – position you as the thought leader and authority in your community.
Wanna know how I optimized my lead magnets for maximum impact?
The job isn’t over once you’ve found a lead magnet that performs well. You need to optimize it continuously to get even better results. But here’s the good news—you don’t always need to make considerable changes to see a difference. Sometimes, it’s the minor tweaks that have the most significant impact.
After our lead magnet did well, we decided to test small changes in the ads promoting it. One of the first things we tested was creative—we switched the background color in the ads from white to black. It was a minor change, but to our surprise, it helped even lower our lead cost.
We also tested the copy in the ads, especially the headlines. We used tools like ChatGPT to create new variations. We tested different angles to find which resonated most with our audience. Over time, A/B testing both the creative and copy led to minor improvements. They added up to significant results.
When optimizing your lead magnets, focus on the details. Test different visuals, headlines, and call-to-action phrases. Don’t be afraid to try something new, even if it seems small. You never know what might make a big difference in your results.
STOP! You’re wasting money if you’re not tracking your lead magnet performance.
One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was setting up a lead magnet and moving on without keeping a close eye on its performance. I’d check in occasionally, but when I realized something wasn’t working, I wasted money on a failed campaign.
I’ve built a system that helps me stay on top of things. We track key metrics like ad spend, clicks, and cost per lead (CPL) daily, giving us a real-time view of what works and needs to change.
In addition to daily tracking, we have a weekly review where we go over the numbers as a team. If our CPL increases, we dive into the data to determine why. The ad creative needs to be refreshed, or the copy needs to be updated. At the end of the month, we will do a detailed review. It checks how close we came to our lead generation goals.
If you want your lead magnets to be successful, don’t set them and forget them. Track your performance, adjust based on the results, and improve. Small changes can significantly improve things over time.
Lead magnets are a great way to attract prospects and grow your business. But remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. You must test your strategy to find what works best for your audience. No matter the format, the key is to solve a real problem and provide value. So, whether it’s a checklist or a calculator, it must help.
You can scale lead generation by using lead magnets. Automate follow-ups and optimize ads, too. So, take what you’ve learned today and apply these strategies to your business.
Happy scaling!
Emmanuel here and my goal is to empower 1 billion realtors with tools to generate business online. Think you can be one of them?
Emmanuel is the CEO of Square 1 Group, a boutique agency that helps real estate entrepreneurs build a unique brand online. He has been in the real estate digital marketing industry for over a decade and has helped hundreds of real estate entrepreneurs grow their business. He ensure that Square 1 Group is able to design, build, and manage custom-built lead-generating websites.
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