How to create a lead magnet strategy that grows your list
“Today’s prospects are wise to lead magnet strategies and know they’re going to get added to a list. So you better create something amazing to get their attention or you’re wasting your time and just creating noise.”
The mystery and mastery of the lead magnet
In researching this snack-size workshop and also in preparation for the live training, I came across a lot of lead magnet opinions. The highlights I read ranged from statistics on what forms of lead magnets converted best to the evolution of the lead magnet format. I put links to a few of the better articles I researched here:
In this workshop, however, I want to leave you with a fresh perspective and new tools on how you can create evergreen lead magnets that you can easily update and make more “sticky” so the value keeps your prospects coming back again and again.
The above video is a live training I did from an Open House entitled, Lead Magnet Mastery, which was followed by hot-seat Q&A for each participant.
Evergreen lead magnets
The basic premise of evergreen is that you create an asset once and it has a long shelf life and continues to do its job for weeks, months, maybe even years. The biggest mistake I see solopreneurs make is that they create lead magnets based on their expertise and what they believe their prospects should be aware of instead of answer their questions.
When that happens, the lead magnet falls flat because it’s all about the solopreneur and not about the prospect
The reason why I like the evergreen approach is because it forces us, as solopreneurs and “experts” at what we do, to create something of value that is better than anything else online. It forces us to think about our ideal client and how to help them along their journey and get them the answers they need.
Let’s reassess your lead magnet strategy and give you a different approach that will yield better results as well as make your lead magnet have a nice shelf life. Start with the tenets of lead magnet design:
Focus on your ideal client’s journey to solve their problem and all of the potential questions they may have—put yourself in their shoes
List the top questions they would ask or the challenges they face in trying to get to their answer/solution
List the formats they like to consume their information (text, video, audio, etc.)
Brainstorm answers and ways to coach them through to their answer to save them time, money and headache
As I stated in the quote at the top of this workshop, everyone is wise to the fact that lead magnets are list-building devices. People are more and more reluctant to give up their email address to get a lame piece of content that doesn’t get them the answer they need or serve a purpose to help them move the needle forward in their business or life. That’s a result of too many people publishing lame bait-and-switch lead magnets and ruining it for the rest of us.
Don’t be that person who baits a lead just to grow your list
Be someone who demonstrates they are servant-minded, intimately know their ideal client and cares enough to create a free asset the prospect can use over and over. You will get higher quality leads that are more likely to turn into paying clients if you do the work up front. Plus, it’s easier to build companion content to stay top of mind as you continue to nurture those leads.
Enough lecture. (I get on a rant sometimes…)
🤦♀️
Okay. Ready to create an evergreen lead magnet (ELM) that makes a difference?
Once you’ve completed Step #4 above, the final step before you begin building the lead magnet is to brainstorm the perfect evergreen lead magnet for your prospects (use the worksheet to brainstorm your ELM).
ELMs have these qualities:
They answer your prospect’s question completely and/or they provide inspiration and ideas that help them improve their situation or gain an advantage over others
Are current and regularly updated to hold fresh content (this is optional, and not always necessary for an ELM, as you can do an ELM that is based on best practices that are timeless)
They are easy to interface with (in a format your prospects prefer) and are actionable so they can use them to solve their problem completely
Are easily tracked with analytics so you can learn what works and adjust your follow ups accordingly
Are easy to update over time (or not update) which saves you time
Encourages your prospect to engage with you (and ultimately hire you) through non-salesy options to purchase or get additional guidance from you
Helps your prospects realize you are THE authority, and although you’re empowering them to do it on their own, they realize they would be better off if they hired you to help do it for them or so they could do it better because they’re doing it with you
Ideas for effective, easy-to-manage ELMs
Here are a few ideas that may get you going:
A list of visual examples of an approach or item that inspires your prospect to improve their product/service/life
A review of the “best of” examples in your industry for comparison purposes to enable your prospect to keep pace with innovators
A video training course that addresses best practices for a timely economic climate or industry change
A brainstorming worksheet that can be re-used daily/weekly/monthly for an activity that is performed on a consistent basis to achieve a result
A daily/weekly video series that helps your prospect make progress on a goal or adopt a new behavior
All in all, it must be customized to the overall problem you solve and who you solve it for. You have a unique brand, personality and approach to solving your ideal client’s problems. Keep that all in the bigger picture when discovering and designing your ELM.🍀
