How Strong Is Your Opt-In? 5 Proven Steps to Grow Your Email List with a Lead Magnet
Learn how to create a lead magnet and promote it effectively so you’ll actually get new email subscribers.
Are you waiting for people to sign up for your email list but getting…crickets?🤔
Here’s the thing, if you don’t have a compelling enough reason for people to join your newsletter — they won’t.
You need to build trust with your leads by offering them something in exchange for their email address. This is where your lead magnet comes in.
Having a lead magnet can increase your conversion rates by 50%.
In this article, you’ll learn the 5 steps for growing your email list with a lead magnet:
Step 1: Create your lead magnet
Step 2: Set up an opt-in on your website
Step 3: Market your lead magnet
Step 4: Deliver your freebie
Step 5: Nurture your email list
But first, let’s get clear on what a lead magnet actually is.
What is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is a freebie that you give your audience in exchange for their email address.
A lead magnet is usually:
A free piece of digital content (common with service-based businesses)
A discount code (common with e-commerce)
The freebie creates (what we call in the marketing biz) reciprocity. You give someone something for free and then they want to do something for you.
In the case of a lead magnet, you provide value through your freebie. It gives them an incentive to give you their email so they can get the freebie in their inbox.
Step 1: Create Your Lead Magnet
Now that you know what a lead magnet is, it’s time to create one for your own business.
Identify Your Audience
First things first, you need to figure out who you want to create a lead magnet for.
Think about who you want on your email list. That’s your target audience and who you want to create the lead magnet for.
You want it to be specific for them because the freebie not only acts as an incentive for your ideal customer but it’s also qualifying your leads at the same time.
Because if your new subscribers are already interested in the contents of your freebie — then they’re primed to also be interested in your offers.
And people like that are exactly the kind of people you want on your email list.
Who cares if you have 10,000 subscribers if only 25 of them actually open your emails?
Growing an email list is as much about gaining quality leads as it is about quantity.
Ask Yourself: What Will Bring Value To My Audience?
Now that you have your target audience identified, you want to ask yourself “What could I provide that they would find genuinely valuable?”
Questions to get you thinking about potential valuable topics for your audience:
What specific problems are they trying to overcome? How can I offer solutions to those problems?
What are they trying to achieve personally or professionally? How can I help them achieve those goals?
What knowledge or skills do I have that they might not? How can I simplify complex information in a way that’s easy to understand?
What keeps them up at night? How can I address these fears in a meaningful way?
What stories can I share that will resonate with them? How can I inspire and motivate my audience?
And remember: you want your freebie to give your leads value AND be relevant to your offer.
Lead Magnet Ideas
Now that you’ve brainstormed what would bring your audience value, it’s time to choose which freebie you want to create.
You’ve done the hardest part, now it’s time for the fun stuff! 💃🏻
Ideas for your freebie:
Ebook
Guide
Video/Masterclass
Quiz
Checklist
Infographic
Podcast Episode
Discount Code (not recommended for service-based brands)
These are just some examples of common lead magnets that work. However, you're only limited by your imagination.
Your Freebie Needs To Be Visually Appealing
Please, please, please make sure to create a visually appealing freebie.
If you choose a digital piece of content either get your hands dirty in Canva or hire a graphic designer.
It’s a real letdown to be promised an ebook only to receive a link to a Google Doc.
And the one thing you don’t want is to lose a warm lead because you didn’t take that extra step to make your freebie look professional.
You want to make a good first impression. You want to overdeliver.
Step 2: Add An Opt-In On Your Website
After you’ve created a great freebie for your lead magnet, it’s time to set up an opt-in on your website.
You need to ASK people to sign up for your email list. They won’t do it on their own.
Your opt-in should…
Tell your audience what they’re going to get. Show them why they want the freebie and how it will give them value.
Be truthful. Don’t embellish and certainly don’t lie just to get someone’s email. This is a surefire way to instantly lose any trust you’ve built.
👆You can have this messaging pop up when someone enters your website. That way they have an opportunity to opt-in even if they don’t scroll to the bottom of your website.
A little personalization goes a long way with an opt-in.
Use language that speaks directly to your ideal audience to make signing up a no-brainer to get that freebie.
Step 3: Market Your Lead Magnet on Other Platforms
Read this very carefully: if you don’t market your lead magnet, people won’t know about it. 👀
And if they don’t know about it, how will they opt-in to your email list?
This is especially important if this is the first time you’re building an email list or if you have a smaller audience.
Why? If you don’t already have thousands of visitors a day going to your website, no one will see your offer — and no one will sign up.
I can’t repeat this enough.
Why it’s important to market your lead magnet on other platforms (other than your website):
You need people to know about your lead magnet to grow your audience
If you don’t have a lot of organic website traffic, people won’t see your lead magnet.
You’ll grow your email list a lot quicker with active marketing than passively waiting for people to find your freebie on your website.
The goal is to get the lead magnet in front of as many people as possible. So it can work its magic and attract high-quality leads.
Lead Magnet Marketing Ideas
You know you need to market this lead magnet to get email subscribers, but how do you do it?
Ways to market your lead magnet:
Social media posts
Blog posts
Paid social media ads
You can use social media to post about your lead magnet periodically. This gets it in front of your followers.
You can also write a blog post on a topic relevant to the freebie. Then include an opt-in on the blog.
And of course, once the blog is live, you can post about the new blog on your other platforms.
Finally, you can use paid ads (usually on social media). This guarantees a wider audience will see your lead magnet.
Step 4: Deliver Your Freebie
Alright, you’ve created your freebie, added an opt-in to your website, and marketed your lead magnet on other platforms.
Congratulations! You’ve now got new people signing up for your email list.
You want to email them the freebie as soon as they sign up.
In the freebie delivery email…
Thank your subscribers for signing up
Include the freebie (of course 😉)
Remind them of the value they get with the freebie
You can use an email service provider (EMS) to set up automated emails that get triggered when a prospect takes a certain action. (Like entering their email in your opt-in.)
Step 5: Nurture Your Email List
You’ll notice this list doesn’t end with “Step 4.” You’re not done when you deliver the freebie you promised.
You’ll hear all over the place that building an email list has the highest return on investment (ROI) for business owners.
BUT you only get a great ROI if you…
Use nurture email sequences to build trust with your audience
Send value before asking for a sale to build reciprocity
After the freebie delivery, you need to nurture your audience with an email welcome sequence. You need to provide more value before asking for a sale.
Wait, isn’t that just more work?
Well… yes, but trust me — it’s worth it.
Think about it like this. Nobody likes that friend or family member who only makes time for you when they want something.
Your email subscribers are no different. There’s a person behind each and every email. You don’t want to only show up in their inbox when you’re asking them for their hard-earned money.
Here’s some good news: you can automate your welcome sequence with your ESP.
So don’t skip this step!
Do You Need A Lead Magnet?
If you want to get serious about growing your email list and scaling your business, a lead magnet is a must.
Benefits of having a lead magnet:
Better quality leads. You built your lead magnet to qualify prospects by appealing to people interested in your offers.
Increased engagement. Since your subscribers are already interested in your offers, you’ll see more engagement with your emails.
Grow your email list faster. You get more subscribers faster for your email list because you’re offering them immediate value.
A lot of strategy and planning goes into creating a successful lead magnet.
If you want to grow your email list, but don’t have the bandwidth to tackle building a full lead magnet and strategy — I can help take the heavy lifting off your plate.
To get personalized recommendations for an email growth strategy that will work for your business schedule a free discovery call.
