Entertaining Lead Magnet Ideas
Some lead magnets don’t need to be particularly useful or educational– they can simply entertain.
Let’s take a look at some entertaining lead magnet examples…
Quiz
A quiz is quite possibly the most entertaining lead magnet on this list, and that’s why it converts so well!
A quiz has the user answer a series of questions and then spits out a result. But in order to get the result, you’ll have to enter your email address. People want the results and so they trade their email address for them.
Here’s a great example: Rachel Ray had a quiz on what type of clutterer you are.
Survey
A survey is mainly for your own benefit or market research. However, even a survey can be used as a lead magnet with a compelling call to action.
For example, you could ask users who’ve been browsing around your site for a while to give you feedback on their experience and help you improve your website. You’d be surprised how many people actually enjoy taking the time to give you their feedback!
Giveaway
One of the most effective lead magnets is the giveaway. Who doesn’t love free stuff?
If you really want your giveaway to be effective, however, make sure it does two things:
- Qualify your leads by offering a relevant prize (something that only your ideal customer would want– not something like an iPad or a laptop that anyone and their brother would want)
- Incentivize participants to share (you can do this by offering additional entries for each social share)
Manifesto
A manifesto is a simple declaration of your values. It makes a great lead magnet because your ideal audience will naturally be drawn to it.
Jeff Goins wrote The Writer’s Manifesto: Stop Writing to Be Read & Adored, which really resonated with his audience and turned out to be a very effective lead magnet.
A manifesto is a simple declaration of your values. It makes a great lead magnet because your ideal audience will naturally be drawn to it.
Jeff Goins wrote The Writer’s Manifesto: Stop Writing to Be Read & Adored, which really resonated with his audience and turned out to be a very effective lead magnet.
Comic Strip
A Comic Strip as a lead magnet? Who would have thought?
Well, when CopyMonk released theirf first comic strip, it went viral in the copywriting community…
Quotes
People love quotes from influential people or quotes that inspire and they love to use them in their own social media efforts.
In fact, Mastin Kipp created an entire business around delivering daily inspirational quotes via his “daily love” email newsletter.
Another online personality wrote a book called 365 Inspirational Quotes for YOUR social Media. It converted well because they were actually giving content away that people could use in their own social media. Win-Win.
Community-Building Lead Magnet Ideas
Businesses like to create communities in order to have a dialog between their brand and their prospects. Communities are also a place where users can interact with each other, and that’s a really valuable thing that many people are willing to pay good money for (let alone trade their email address for).
Here are some great examples:
Challenge
One of my absolute favorite lead magnet examples is this 30-Day Green Smoothie Challenge from Simple Green Smoothies.
There are several reasons why this lead magnet is so genius, and why you should think about doing a challenge as a lead magnet too…
- Anyone who takes them up on this offer is going to be a highly qualified lead. They are basically raising their hands and saying, “I want green smoothies!”.
- Challenges with a start and an end date have urgency. This makes the offer that much more compelling.
- Challenges build brand awareness by fostering a sense of community– everyone is doing the challenge together, at the same time.
- Challenges make it much easier to elicit desired behavior through peer pressure. Most people wouldn’t have the discipline to drink one green smoothie a day for 30 days, but they are much more likely to jump on the bandwagon when challenged to do so.
Membership Site
Thinking about creating your own membership site? You might want to consider offering free registration.
My Copyblogger Membership is a great example of using a membership site as a lead magnet.
I especially love their use of social proof and FOMO (fear of missing out). This community contains “over 334,000 smart online marketers”, and all those people “have a head start” on you. Better sign up now so you don’t get left behind!
Facebook Group
People really do value communities and Facebook Group memberships convert really well for that reason.
Slack Group
If you’ve never heard of it before, Slack is an app that allows you to send instant messages to groups of people. This can be a really fun–and powerful–way to build a community around your brand.
Depending on your target market and where they hangout online, A FB group might not be a good option so a Slack group might be a great alternative.
Bottom of Funnel Lead Magnet Ideas
Ordinarily, when you think of lead magnets, the bottom of your sales funnel isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Usually, the goal of a lead magnet is to move top of funnel prospects into the middle of your funnel, or the evaluation phase.
However, not all customer journeys are that linear. Sometimes a prospect hasn’t given you their email address yet, but they are already thinking about buying your product. Maybe they were referred to you by someone, or they’ve read reviews about you on another site.
You need to be prepared for these hot prospects by building lead magnets at the bottom of your funnel.
Let’s look at some bottom of funnel lead magnet examples…
Free Trial
If you’ve ever shopped around for an app or a software tool, you’ve probably seen a ton of these lead magnets without even realizing it.
Most software companies will have a large call to action to sign up for a free trial or demo right on their homepage. Why? Because that’s how they get your email address.
But you don’t have to be a software company to benefit from a free trial lead magnet.
SnackNation offers a free sample box of their product. They just ask for your work email address (no credit card required). Now that’s a pretty irresistible offer!
Coupon
A coupon works really well at the bottom of your funnel because most people who make online purchases like to shop around for deals. Your brand should be there to give those people what they are looking for (in exchange for their email address, of course).
Case Studies
Prospects at the bottom of the funnel love to read case studies. This type of lead magnet could give them that one last push they need to buy your product.
Back when Upwork was still oDesk, they had a lead magnet called Make It Work: Smart Advice From Real-Life Clients Who Found Success Using Online Work. This is simply a compilation of case studies from people who used their service, packaged in PDF format.
Waiting List
Do you have an upcoming product launch? You can use a waitlist to collect the emails of prospects at the bottom of your funnel.
For example, an online course called “B-School” is only available once per year. If you are looking to buy it right now, well, you can’t! Instead of a “buy” button on the product page, what you’ll find is a “tell me more” button next to an email optin form.
This way they can successfully collect email addresses ALL YEAR while building up anticipation for the program.
Early Bird Discount
To sweeten the deal of getting on your waitlist, you might want to offer an early bird discount. This is a great way to reward your most enthusiastic prospects at the bottom of your funnel.
Free Shipping
Free shipping is one of those things that everyone wants when it comes to shopping online. So if someone is really close to making a purchase, free shipping just might be the offer that seals the deal.
Free Consultation
This could be a great bottom of funnel offer is you offer a service.
The best thing about a free consult is that it gives you a very natural excuse to ask for the email address, and even a phone number and other relevant information. You also get the opportunity to speak with the potential customer on the phone giving you a chance to close the sale.
Free Quote
Instead of a free consultation, you could offer a free quote. Here’s how Liberty Mutual does it.
First, you’ll be asked to enter your zip code and click on the “Get a Quote” button.
Then, you’ll be directed to another page where you’ll be asked to enter the rest of your information.
With most lead magnets, you would never be able to ask for this much information upfront. However, because a free quote is at the bottom of your funnel, these prospects are more willing to give out their detailed information.
Catalogue
Finally, if you have a product catalog, don’t forget to offer it as a lead magnet at the bottom of your funnel! Just remember to ask for their email address on the order form.
That’s it. Now it’s your turn.
Go ahead and pick one of these high-converting lead magnet ideas, and then tweak it to create your own. We’d love to see what you come up with, so please share your lead magnet creations in the comments below.
If you need help choosing the most effective lead magnet for your particular business, please contact us at Pibworth Professional Services and we’d be happy to help you.
