What is a Lead Magnet and How to Create One That Drives Conversions

You need to build a base of subscribers and prospects without offering expensive incentives that could strain your budget. In your search for a solution, you've likely come across the concept of a lead magnet (otherwise, why would you be reading this article, right?). 

According to a study, nearly 53% of entrepreneurs use lead magnets to generate leads, and 44.3% reported that this method delivers the best ROI. So, if you haven't yet incorporated this approach into your acquisition strategy, now might be the time to give it a try.

In this article, we'll explain what is a lead magnet in marketing, explore the types of content it can include, discuss how to create one, when to offer it, and more. We'll also show you how to promote your existing valuable content in a way that drives conversions without a significant investment.

Lead Magnet Types and How to Choose the Right One

The explanation of the lead magnet definition is already in the name itself. The principle is simple: you offer your website visitors something valuable for free. The catch? They share their contact information with you, most often their email and phone number. Your offer can include discounts and free shipping to interesting downloadable materials. We will focus on the latter.

To ensure a lead magnet benefits both you and your audience, it must seamlessly integrate into the customer journey. This influences its content and format. Research shows that respondents prefer different types of content at various stages of the buying funnel:

Please note that at the decision-making stage, potential buyers focus more on reviews and case studies as they seek social proof. However, it's best not to restrict access to these materials as gated content. Those interested should have free access. Instead, you can use case studies and testimonials to enhance other content, such as ebooks.

By offering lead magnets with content relevant to customers' needs at each stage of the buying journey, you help them with information and move more successfully to the next step. Now that we understand which lead magnet formats are the best to focus on, we can examine them more closely.

Ebooks

When you think about what is a lead magnet, an ebook is probably the first thing that comes to mind. Ebooks are a cornerstone of lead generation strategy for a reason. They offer a significant amount of valuable content in exchange for contact information, which makes them very effective in attracting leads.

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The lead magnet benefits. Ebooks allow you to delve deep into a specific topic, showcasing your expertise and providing immense value to your audience. This in-depth content positions you as an authority in your industry, building trust and credibility. Furthermore, ebooks are versatile assets that can be repurposed into blog posts, social media content, and even webinars, extending their impact.

Best practices. To maximize the effectiveness of your ebook as a lead magnet, focus on the following:

• Creating content that directly addresses your target audience’s pain points and desires. 
• Choosing a specific, well-defined topic and delivering comprehensive, actionable information. 
• Investing in professional design to create a visually appealing and engaging reading experience.

If you want to learn more about creating ebooks, you can find valuable lead magnet tips in this article.

Checklists

Unlike comprehensive ebooks, checklists are more concise. They help users navigate a topic or issue. They typically serve as guides that simplify the understanding of complex processes. By using them, a person can successfully achieve a specific goal. An example is the checklist from SEO Buddy. 

Benefits. Such content should be concise, so creating it takes less time. It focuses on the practical side of the issue and encourages users to take real action, which many consumers may find helpful. 

Lead magnet best practices. Consider the following tips to create an effective checklist:

• Create step-by-step process descriptions.
• Address pain points or common problems.
• Make it visually appealing and easy to scan.

Webinars

Webinars are the most interactive form of lead magnet, as they involve real-time communication with the target audience. However, videos of interesting online events can be equally attractive to consumers. According to a survey, webinars are gated content for which 64% of respondents are willing to share their contact information.

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Benefits. Interesting and useful webinars keep viewers actively engaged. During the question and answer session, you can gain valuable insights from your audience. Moreover, such online events are an excellent opportunity to build the credibility of the speaker and the company they represent.

Best practices. To use webinars as a lead magnet, consider the following:

• Identify your audience's pain points and offer solutions. Provide unique value that competitors can't match.
• Highlight the benefits of attending and what participants will learn.
• Ask for only essential information during registration. A complicated form may discourage sign-ups.

Free Trials

Free trials are a good lead magnet because users prefer not to buy a pig in a poke. For instance, in the field of subscription-based services, a study found that 75% of users are more likely to subscribe if a free trial is offered. However, the median subsequent trial-to-paid conversion rate is 50%, which is still a good indicator. The same study found that the most effective offer is a free trial of 7 days or less.

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When it comes to other types of businesses, the same practice can be applied broadly. For example, in eсommerce, product samples are offered instead of free trials. This even applies to authors and content creators. Take a look at how Noah Kagan offers the first chapter of his book for free as a lead magnet.

The benefits of using such a lead magnet include allowing users to explore the features or qualities of your product on their own. This helps them form an opinion about its necessity and, in many cases, stimulates sales and subscriptions.

Best practices. For lead generation with free trials, consider the following tips:

• Clearly explain the key features and benefits of the trial to the user.
• Choose the optimal length for the trial. Users should have enough time to evaluate the benefits of the product. Common lengths are one week, two weeks, and one month.
• Provide immediate access to the free trial once the user signs up.
• Offer straightforward onboarding within the product and via welcome emails.

Quizzes and Surveys

Quizzes and surveys provide website visitors with an interactive experience that may be more interesting to them than static content. In return, the company gets not only a subscriber but also valuable audience data that can be used to improve marketing and sales strategies.

Benefits. The information collected about leads helps you segment your contact base and more effectively target marketing activities to different customer groups. Quizzes are a fun or educational element. The immediate results allow users to make more informed purchasing decisions, potentially improving their attitude toward a brand. For example, here is how quizzes work on the Naturisimo website.

Surveys also help you get to know your visitors better. Moreover, exit-intent surveys available in Claspo can even prevent some users from leaving the website. For instance, you can achieve several goals with such a popup:

• learn about possible issues the visitor has encountered firsthand;
• offer to help them;
• get their contact information.

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Best practices. If you want to strengthen your lead magnet strategy with a quiz or survey, consider these tips: 

• Keep the quiz or survey short to keep users interested and the response rate high.
• Provide immediate quiz results and survey feedback.
• Ensure the quiz results provide valuable insights, advice, or recommendations.

How to Create a Winning Lead Magnet

Creating content that successfully drives conversions requires a lot of preparation, research, and promotion. We created a lead magnet guide that will make navigating these stages easier.

Identify What Grabs Your Audience's Attention

The first step is determining the topic for which you will create a lead magnet. This requires thorough research into your audience's interests, needs, and pain points. Here's how to find the information you need:

• Analytics tools: Discover which content is most read on your blog and which pages and categories are most visited.
• Surveys: Ask your website visitors and social media followers about topics of interest to them.
• Social media listening: Track trends related to your industry and see what themes are being discussed in relevant communities, on competitors' pages, etc.
• Review market research and reports.
• Conduct customer interviews.
• Interview the sales team.

You can also use review platforms such as Trustpilot, G2 Crowd, Capterra, etc., to gather information. Use Chat GPT to simplify the process of analyzing reviews. For example, copy all the negative feedback about a competitor's company and let Chat GPT highlight the most frequently mentioned issues and rank them by frequency. Repeat this with reviews for several companies. This way, you'll have a comprehensive picture of the problems your target audience is most likely to encounter.

Here is an example of such a prompt we made: 

‘Please analyze this feedback and highlight the issues that are most often mentioned. What topics do people care about the most? Also highlight the good things they noted, the good things they paid attention to. Rank the problems from the most pressing (most negative feedback) to the least pressing. Do the same with the good reviews.’

Next, you can give the chat the following prompt to get ideas for a lead magnet:

‘Based on your analysis, please suggest topics for a checklist lead magnet that will help users solve their most common problems.’

This will give you a direction to start thinking.

If you want to learn about other services that can help you collect customer information, check out this article.

Offer Meaningful Value

The best approach to creating a lead magnet is to fill it with content that your target audience would be willing to pay for. People will be more open to sharing their contact information for such an information product, and their attitude towards the brand will improve. A study showed that consumers with a clear idea of the quality of content are more likely to communicate with the seller further. According to respondents, lead magnets should focus on the following content:

• Important statements supported by data and research (53% of respondents)
• Related to consumer needs (42%)
• Based on research (38%)
• Statistics and valuable insights that can be shared (38%)

If possible, create several pieces of content suitable for different customer segments and target lead magnets to the appropriate groups. For example, a psychological assistance center that provides a wide range of services would be better off creating different content. 

Let's say there are two groups of potential customers — those interested in individual sessions and family therapy. In this case, it's difficult to find content that is equally suitable for these segments. And if you do find it, there will be some general recommendations that users can see anywhere. So, the value of such a lead magnet for people will be low, and therefore, so will the conversion rate.

Evergreen vs Updated Lead Magnets

A question arises here: What is better to create — an evergreen lead magnet that will remain relevant for years or one that will require periodic updates? Both options have their advantages and nuances.

Evergreen options usually maintain a stable conversion rate for a long time because they stay relevant in the long run. This type includes guides, templates, and checklists. They require less time and effort to keep fresh.

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What are the benefits of a lead magnet that needs to be updated? First of all, it offers higher engagement potential. It attracts more attention because it's relevant to current trends and events. 

For instance, these can include annual reports, holiday guides, and more. Such content sees a spike in conversions during its release. Regularly updated content increases the brand's credibility in the industry and its influence on the audience. 

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The choice between evergreen and updated content types depends on your goals (sustainable lead generation or short-term lead exposure) and staff capabilities. Ideally, a combination of both options will yield the best results.

Craft a Visually Appealing Lead Magnet

Regardless of how interesting and valuable the content is, it must be packaged well to make it pleasant and convenient for users. Here's a quick list of tips on how to design lead magnets as well as possible.

Alignment with the brand. Visually, it should match your brand style. Use your colors, fonts, logo, etc., in the design. This way, you will seamlessly integrate the content into the overall aesthetics of the company. This also applies to invitations to webinars or free trial offers, which involve designing landing pages, advertising banners, website widgets, etc.

Structuring the content. Lead magnet content should be logically structured for users' convenience. 

Here's what the structure for an ebook might look like:

• Cover page: Title, subtitle, and branding (logo, colors).
• Introduction: Brief overview of the topic, explaining its value.
• Chapters: Broken down by subheadings with visuals (charts, images).
• Conclusion: Summarize key points, including a call to action (CTA).
• Contact info: Brief bio, website links, and social media handles.

If you want to create a checklist, we recommend the following structure:

• Header: Clearly state the purpose of the checklist.
• Step-by-step items: Numbered or bulleted list of actions with concise descriptions.
• Visuals: Icons or checkboxes for interaction.
• CTA: Direct users to the next step (discover additional resources or contact).

If you are developing quizzes, you may find the following structure useful:

• Title / Introduction: Describe what users will learn or gain from the quiz.
• Questions: Engaging, multiple-choice, or true/false questions.
• Results page: Personalized feedback based on answers.
• CTA: Encourage sharing results or direct users to relevant content.

When you decide to attract leads through surveys, you can use the following scheme:

• Title: Clear purpose of the survey.
• Introduction: Brief description of what the survey covers.
• Question sections: Group related questions together.
• Thank you page: Show appreciation.

Some Useful Design Tools

Many convenient services exist where you can create lead magnets, including free ones. Let's take a look at a few of them.

Canva has everything you need to create various types of content, such as eBooks, guides, checklists, infographics, etc. It has an extensive library of customizable templates. The editor works on a drag-and-drop basis. Free stock photos, icons, illustrations, and animations are available. While many templates and design elements require payment, there are plenty of free ones as well.

VistaCreate (formerly Crello) also offers a drag-n-drop editor with a large library of templates for various types of content. Free stock photos and animations are available. Finished projects can be downloaded in standard JPEG, PNG, and PDF formats. The free plan has limits on premium visuals, templates, and storage space.

Visme has rich functionality for creating ebooks, whitepapers, surveys, infographics, reports, etc. There are collections of photos, animations, icons, illustrations, and 3D objects, although access to them is limited in the free plan. In addition, the company's branding will remain on the content created for free. 

Winning Strategies for Lead Magnets

Consider some effective internet marketing strategies that will help your lead magnets convert as desired.

Personalized Approach

Delivering a personalized experience to website visitors may seem tricky, as there is a common belief that only companies with large amounts of customer data can afford it. However, that's not the case, and we've proven it in this article.

When it comes to capturing the attention of your email subscribers with a lead magnet, the key is to segment your database. This way, you can send relevant content to the audience most likely to be interested in it.

You can also segment your website visitors and target lead magnet widgets to specific groups. For instance, with Claspo, you can identify new visitors and show them pop-ups with content tailored to those at the early stage of the buying funnel. 

Additionally, you can target widgets based on visitors’ device type. Geo-targeting allows you to set up widget displays by country, region, or even city, which is particularly useful for local businesses.

Experimenting with A/B Testing 

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of A/B testing in marketing, as these experiments help make data-driven decisions. Testing changes in a completed lead magnet is not easy, especially when it comes to long-form content like an eBook; it’s also time-consuming. Instead, you can experiment with ways to promote it. Additionally, changes made to a widget can bring significant positive results while requiring much less effort. 

You should test copywriting, CTAs, design, display conditions, and even the type of widget. By the way, Devart achieved a 48% increase in product downloads by changing the layout type from inline to pop-up. You can read the case study on how the company offered a free trial and the successes it achieved here.

We've created an easy-to-follow guide to help you determine what to test in your lead generation widgets. Download it to keep your experimentation ideas fresh.

Continuous Improvement

Use a lead magnet to follow up with subscribers. A short time after a person has received the content, you can email them asking if they found it useful. Starting a line of communication will help you gain valuable insights into the lead magnet's copy, structure, readability, etc. Use the feedback to improve it. Also, analyze what worked well to scale this approach to other lead magnets.

Periodically check the relevance of your lead generation materials, even if they are evergreen. Typically, they are based on fundamental principles rather than temporary trends, but even these can change, so you should monitor them.

How to Effectively Promote Your Lead Magnet and Get Its Full Potential?

A completed lead magnet needs to be effectively promoted to fulfill its purpose. Start by promoting it on your website. A study shows that a website plays a crucial role for consumers during the initial stages of the customer journey. 

45% of respondents said they visit a company's website when discovering a product, and 58% visit it when seeking more information. Therefore, provide visitors with the content they need through your lead magnet using landing pages and banners.

Decide on a Lead Magnet Pop Up 

One of the first steps in promoting your lead magnet is choosing the right pop-up to capture your audience’s attention. Claspo makes this easy with its user-friendly, configurable library of lead magnet popups. These popups are designed to not only grab attention but also drive conversions, seamlessly integrating into your overall marketing strategy. Whether you’re promoting a downloadable guide, a free trial, or an exclusive offer, Claspo’s lead generation popups can help you effectively highlight your lead magnet.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Access the Claspo Template Library: Create or log into your Claspo account and navigate to the lead magnet pop-up library.
2. Filter and Choose a Template: Browse through the extensive selection of pre-designed lead magnet-promoting templates, selecting one that aligns with your campaign goals.
3. Preview and Select: Preview a few options to see how they’ll look on your site, then select the one that best captures the essence of your offer.

Configure & Customize 

Once you’ve selected the ideal pop-up, it’s time to make it your own. With Claspo’s extensive library of ready-made templates, you can find one that aligns perfectly with your goals. 

Even if you haven't worked with website widgets before, it will take you less than five minutes to create, set up, and publish your first one with Claspo. Watch our easy-to-understand step-by-step video guide, and you'll see how simple and fast it is.

Using the drag-and-drop editor, you have complete control over customization, allowing you to tweak every element to match your brand’s style and messaging. This flexibility goes beyond what’s typically possible with standard email service providers (ESPs).

Claspo’s drag-and-drop editor makes this process straightforward:

1. Open the Editor: Click the “Use Template” button to open the drag-and-drop editor for your selected template.
2. Adjust Text and Images: Modify the text to reflect your lead magnet’s value proposition and upload any images or logos that reinforce your brand identity.
3. Customize Colors and Fonts: Match the colors and fonts with your brand’s visual style to create a cohesive look.
4. Add a Call-to-Action (CTA): Ensure your CTA is clear and compelling, encouraging visitors to take immediate action.

Set Up Widget Displaying 

Think of a strategy for displaying the lead magnet widget. You can place it on all pages of your website, in specific sections, or even on certain pages. For example, add an inline form or pop-up to a page with an article thematically related to your lead magnet, just as ClearVoice did.

To ensure your lead magnet reaches the right audience at the right time, Claspo enables you to set up smart behavioral triggers that control when and how your pop-ups are displayed. You can configure these triggers based on specific visitor actions, such as the amount of time spent on your site, the time spent on a particular page, the number of pages viewed, scroll depth, periods of inactivity, or even exit intent. 

In Claspo, you can configure behavioral triggers that determine when and how your pop-up appears:

1. Set Triggers Based on Visitor Behavior: In the display settings, select triggers such as time spent on the site, number of pages visited, scroll depth, or exit intent. 

For example:

• Time on Site: Display the pop-up after a visitor has been on your site for 30 seconds.
• Scroll Depth: Show the pop-up when a user scrolls 50% down the page.

2. Target Specific Pages: Choose to display the pop-up only on certain pages, such as blog posts or landing pages, where visitors are most likely to engage with your lead magnet.

3. Test and Optimize: Run A/B tests by adjusting the trigger settings to see what timing and actions yield the highest conversion rates.

This level of precision ensures that your lead magnet is presented to potential leads at the optimal moment, increasing the likelihood of conversion and helping you get the full potential out of your promotional efforts.

Bonus Tip

You can expand your audience by promoting your lead magnet in multiple ways. Here’s how:

• leverage guest blogging;
• explore paid advertising via Google Ads;
• share social media posts to highlight your lead-generation content.

Next, use our UTM targeting to set up a popup with a lead magnet that is displayed to visitors who came to your site from a specific campaign, partner site, or other source. This way, you personalize the experience for the visitor by showing them content they are interested in.

Another option is to use email to send a lead magnet to your existing subscriber base. In this case, you can convert them into customers by adding appropriate CTAs to the lead magnet. 

From Planning to Conversions

Creating a successful lead magnet requires careful planning, creativity, and a deep understanding of your audience. By focusing on valuable content, visually appealing design, and targeted promotion, you can attract and convert leads effectively. 

Remember, whether you choose evergreen content or timely updates, your goal should always be to provide meaningful value that resonates with your audience. With the right approach and tools, lead magnets can become a powerful part of your marketing strategy. One of these tools is Claspo widgets, which will help you drive growth and build lasting relationships with your customers. 

Already have something to capture your visitors' interest? Sign up now, and in just five minutes, you'll have a lead magnet widget on your website, actively collecting conversions. Or, if you’re still considering your lead-generating materials, you can simply add a subscription form to your site — there are likely plenty of people eager to hear from you. 

And with our stunning templates, your widget is sure to stand out and catch visitors' attention!