A Lead Magnet Does MORE Than Just Build Your Email List

Discover a Deeper Purpose for Your Lead Magnet

Ok, it finally happened.  Sure, we’re a few months late, but my husband and I finally sat down to watch another Pixar classic… Toy Story 4.

Not only was this movie the fifth-highest-grossing animated film of all time, but it also raked in a cool $1.07 billion at the box-office. 

Not to mention the 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes! (And honestly… I base all my movie selections on their tomato-y wisdom…)

So, we snuggled into our enormous couch, settled our bowls of popcorn onto our laps, and got ready to enjoy the story…

My reaction? 

Well, I laughed at the crazy antics of the two carnival toys voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele…

I cringed at the eerie dummy henchman who kid-napped Woody when he ventured off the beaten path into an antique store…

I was delighted by all of my favorite characters like Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Bo Peep…

And sure, I even shed a few tears at the end when…

cough cough… okay, maybe I should stop there before I ruin the ending…

Just go watch the movie, okay?

Toy Story 4 was the tale of some children’s toys who were struggling to find their true purpose in this great big world. 

And, it got me thinking…

About – you know – lead magnets (because that’s my thang…)

What purpose do lead magnets play in your marketing?

For some of you, you’ll say, “No purpose at all.  I don’t even have a lead magnet.” 

Well, for you, I’d suggest you read closely, because lead magnets can be a valuable part of your marketing efforts.

What is the Purpose of a Lead Magnet?

Now, on the surface, the purpose of a lead magnet is to tempt your prospect into joining your email list. 

(I’ve already talked about how I view lead magnets as temptation offers – kind of like digital chocolate.)

But, let’s take things a step farther.

A good lead magnet doesn’t JUST get your prospect onto your list, it also does something even more important.  It helps build a relationship with your prospect.

I’m not talking about the romantic love between the Toy Story characters Woody and Bo Peep (Yay, she’s back in this movie!)

I’m talking about a client / customer relationship built on respect and trust.  Your customer needs to learn to know, like, and trust you before they’ll ever decide to BUY from you.

Now, many people will throw together a quick lead magnet that easily accomplishes the surface purpose of getting a name on a list.  But, their lead magnet does a very poor job of performing its deeper purpose of building a relationship.

Here’s what I mean…

Lead Magnets That Fail to Build a Relationship with the Prospect

One of the biggest ways I see lead magnets failing their creators is with these dreaded words: “I’ll read it later…”

Here’s what happens…

The prospect sees an interesting ad or landing page with a lead magnet that seems like it would contain useful information.  They enter their email address and later notice the lead magnet sitting in their inbox like a shiny coin laying on the pavement.

Your prospect hits the download button ready to see what it’s all about.  They first look at cover page.  They think, “Hmm… this doesn’t look quite as good as I thought it would.”

Then, they scan through the rest of the pages.  “Hmm… there’s a lot of text here. It’s pretty long.  Maybe it has good info, but I don’t feel like reading it right now…”

“I’ll read it later.”

<DEAD END> 

That’s the death of your lead magnet and the end of your hopes for building a relationship with a prospect. 

That seems harsh, but here’s the rest of the story.

The prospect saves your lead magnet on their desktop or in a nice little folder buried in their documents.  It sits there for days… weeks… months… maybe even years.  It never gets consumed.

You happily keep emailing the prospect hoping to build on a relationship that was supposed to start with your very first impression – your lead magnet.   

But you made a big mistake…

Think of your lead magnet like you were going on a first date… 

Your prospect was expecting a tux, some chocolates and even some flowers. They wanted a lead magnet that looked great and was filled with valuable and engaging information.

Instead, you showed up in dirty jeans, made them pay for their own meal, and forced them to walk home at the end of the night. You gave them a not-so-great lead magnet.

So, your prospect already has a bad first impression.  And it’s not long until they hit “unsubscribe” on an email and you’ve lost them forever.

Here’s How to Do It Better

If the purpose of a lead magnet is to build a strong relationship of respect and trust with your customer, then why not start things off with the figurative “flowers and chocolates!”

(You’ll find a theme in my writing… I love chocolate.)

Here’s what you do…

When you create your lead magnet, make sure you are focused on one particular problem that you can solve for your prospect TODAY.

Then, make sure it looks really sharp.  The design and organization of your lead magnet should look professional.  And yes, this can be achieved using programs as simple as Microsoft Word.  (I’ll write an article on that soon.)

Next, don’t make your lead magnet too long.  It should be short enough that your prospect will be interested and ready to engage that very first time they scan through.

This will help you immediately start to build a positive relationship with your prospect.  They respect you for delivering something of value. And, they begin to know and like you based on the content you provide.

Take Things One Step Farther with an Interactive Lead Magnet

Now, I’ve mentioned before that I’m a former teacher.  And, I strongly believe that the very best lead magnets are going to be learning tools to help your prospect solve an immediate problem.

This means they need to do more than just inform your prospect.  They need to help guide your prospect so they can apply this new information to their very own situation and challenges.

My favorite forms of interactive lead magnets include information paired with worksheets, guides, detailed checklists, cheat sheets, and infographics.

When I was in college and grad school learning about educational theory, they taught us about “Bloom’s Taxonomy.” 

I won’t bore you with the details, so it boils down to this…

There are different levels of learning.  At the most basic level a person learns by just memorizing information.

For instance, you can memorize physicist Michio Kaku’s equation for string theory… but you have NO IDEA what it actually means.

After this lowest level of learning, we advance up the scale to “Understand > Apply > Analyze > Evaluate.”  Then, at the very top of the taxonomy is “Create.” 

So, don’t just make a lead magnet that only informs your prospect so they can memorize the information without any deeper understanding. 

Instead, use higher levels of learning to help and guide them to apply what they’ve learned.  Help them learn to analyze their problem, evaluate new issues that crop up and eventually use your information to create on their own.

This, in turn, will lead to more engagement with your lead magnet.  Heck, they might even print it out and scribble notes all over it to be saved to reference over and over.

(I love when prospects do this!)

Each and every time they look at your lead magnet, they are deepening that relationship and trust with YOU.

And a prospect who knows, likes and respects you is much more likely to become a customer down the line.

A great example of creating a lead magnet that gets your prospect involved is the “60 Second Sales Hook” created by one of my favorite marketers and mentors, Kevin Rogers.

In it, he creates an easy-to-use formula that lets you use your own backstory to grab the attention of your prospect with a simple joke formula.

He invites readers to plug in their own information into his formula and send him back the results in an email.

In this way, he has made immediate steps to build a relationship with his customers.  Plus, he’s given them information they can very quickly apply to their own business.

It worked like gang-busters for Kevin and helped propel his business onward.

So be like Woody from Toy Story 4 and help your lead magnet fulfill its purpose in this great and crazy world.  Help it build a relationship with your prospect so they are more likely to turn into paying customers.

If you’d like my help with your next project, I can help you both create AND design your lead magnet start-to-finish.

If you’d like to learn more about how I help info-marketing companies build irresistible lead magnets, check out my FREE Guide here.