📝 7 Lead Magnet Ideas For Bloggers
One of the proven strategies for blogging success is email marketing, which involves building an email list. But getting people to sign up for your newsletters and other marketing material is not always easy, regardless of how good your content is. That is why setting up a lead magnet makes sense if you are a blogger.
What’s a lead magnet?
Also called a freebie, a lead magnet is any piece of content that you offer to readers in exchange for their email address. People are simply more comfortable handing over their email addresses if they believe they will be receiving something valuable in return. And lead magnets definitely work – according to a WPForms report, half of marketers who use lead magnets said they had higher conversion rates.
Lead magnets are used by various marketers across different industries, and come in many different forms. If you are wondering which ones to use as a blogger, here are some of the most common lead magnets to try.
1. Gated toolkits
If you are an expert on the subject matter that you blog about, people will likely want to know what tools and resources you use. You can use this to your advantage to create a valuable lead magnet many of your readers would be interested in. What gadgets, websites, or apps do you use in your line of work to get the results you do? What particular steps do you follow to perfect your process? You can combine all these in a toolkit and offer it in a downloadable PDF or a resource that is only available to people who sign up to your mailing list. Even if there are other bloggers in your field offering similar information, many of your readers will be willing to gain access to your toolkit so they can compare.
2. E-books
Creating a free e-book is easily one of the most popular lead magnet ideas around. The great thing about this type of resource is that you don’t need to write your e-book from scratch. You can simply combine several blog posts you have already published that are based on the same main topic. For example, let’s say your blog is about photography and you have several blog posts on the specific topic of wedding photography. These blog posts could include general info on wedding photography, recommended cameras and equipment, how to set up wedding shots, photography techniques for best results, and maybe even best editing software. You could put these posts all together in a logical way to create an e-book with a title such as “Your Beginner’s Guide to Exceptional Wedding Photography.”
Any aspiring photographer would likely be interested in this type of content and would want to download it, especially since it is free. On top of that, this e-book will save them the trouble of having to look around on your blog (or another site) to get all this info that has been compiled in one place. With that said, it is easy to see why downloadable e-books happen to be the go-to lead magnet for so many bloggers and marketers.
3. Checklists
This is another popular lead magnet and one that most bloggers can easily create for their audiences. A checklist is a collection of points that break down how to do something or things someone needs to have in order to accomplish a certain task. Using the same photography blog as an example, you can create a checklist outlining all the essentials for a successful photoshoot. Like the e-book, you can create checklists from existing blog posts. All you would need to do is strip away the filler content and only leave the relevant bullet points as it relates to the topic. People like checklists because they go straight to the point and, therefore, are easy to follow.
4. Mini courses
Selling courses is a good blog monetization strategy. However, creating a free mini course can also be a great way to gain leads for both your main course and mailing list. If you already have a course you are selling, you can take out one or two chapters to create the mini course. You want just the right amount of information to show the visitor how to get a few things done in a short amount of time. If it’s a photography course, for instance, your mini course can include information such as how to accomplish some basic shots and how to prepare for certain events. This will whet their appetite for more and encourage them to sign up to your mailing list in order to gain access to the rest of the course.
5. Cheat sheets
A cheat sheet is a piece of content that summarizes a complex topic. It can also be a glossary of industry terms and jargon that may appear on your blog or used within your field but which most people won’t easily know.
📝 Related: Blogging Terminology
Or it could be a collection of shortcuts on how to carry out a technical task. Many photographers may struggle with using editing software such as Photoshop, for instance. If you are a blogger in this field who has knowledge on how to perform certain photo enhancing activities that require multiple steps, you can create a cheat sheet that breaks it down into bite-sized steps. Your cheat sheet should be in a format that a reader can easily download for free – by subscribing, of course.
6. Webinars
Hosting webinars is another common lead magnet used by digital marketers, influencers, and others who have valuable information to share with an audience. As a blogger, you can create webinars around blog posts that are generating a lot of interest and engagement among readers. For example, blog posts about making money, boosting productivity, getting started, or even how to grow an email list are all topics that people in your target audience will be interested in hearing more about. Once you outline the value that attendees stand to gain from your webinar, it can be a really useful lead magnet.
Related: 📝 How to Create Your First Webinar (From Scratch)
7. Templates
Creating a template means putting a useful tool into the hands of your readers, which prevents them from having to do something from scratch. An image editing preset, for example, is something a photographer or graphic designer can use over and over again. In the business world, many people struggle with writing resumes and are willing to download templates that will help them out.
Often, these are only accessible by subscribing to a website’s mailing list or carrying out some other action, so it is an effective lead magnet. Other examples include formatted Excel sheets, web design templates, and Canva designs.
Related: 🔥 Canva Templates-New Blogging Guide Feature!
Conclusion
Ready to start winning at email marketing as a blogger? Simply implementing one or more of these lead magnet ideas can start boosting your results right away.