Have you ever gone to a company’s website and saw, among their regular web content, an offer for a free Ebook download or white paper? You probably have and maybe you even downloaded some of these resources at one time or another. You were probably also asked to provide a little bit of information before receiving your free download. Nothing too personal or difficult, just a form that took a few seconds to fill in with your email, name, profession, and maybe your website or phone number as well. Many of you have probably taken advantage of those offers and filled out a form like that at least once before and didn’t think anything of it. Why would you? You were getting valuable information in exchange for practically nothing. Believe it or not, what I just described is one of the most valuable marketing strategies a company can have on their website: A lead magnet.
A lead magnet is when a company offers valuable information in exchange for a potential customer’s information like an email address, website, phone number, or information on the products or services the customer is looking for. So, why are these lead magnets so important? Lead magnets are extremely effective, multi-purpose digital marketing tools. Many companies simply use opt-in buttons or ‘contact us’ links or buttons to capture leads, but that only works a small portion of the time. Studies have shown that companies only capture 10% of their web traffic as leads when using opt-in or contact buttons rather than lead magnets. However, companies that do use lead magnets are shown to capture up to 75% of their web traffic as leads, that’s an amazing difference.
Lead magnets aren’t just for simple lead capture, they can be used for a much bigger purpose. If you use them as part of your sales funnel they’re even more effective. The idea behind them is the same, but you position them at either the beginning for first tier of your sales funnel. They allow you to use the information a potential client gives you when they download your lead magnet to engage with them further, bringing them into your sales funnel and closer to becoming a buyer.
The fact is you can’t have a successful internet marketing strategy without lead magnets, they’re a vital part of website optimization, lead capture, and an effective sales funnel. Settling for a mere 10% lead capture when you could have a 75% lead capture is ridiculous. Lead magnets are easy to make and even easier to use. All you need is a short E-book or white paper that gives interesting and valuable information relating to your product or service, an opt-in to download your lead magnet, a form for your potential customers to fill out before receiving their download, and a thank you page to direct them to after the download is complete.
If you’d like more information on the importance of lead magnets or some tips on how to create one for your business, request a consultation with us so we can help!
SEO Consultant Roger Bryan