7 lead magnets (or conversion files) to grow your email database

Having an email database is a considerable asset for any brand. All the more so if you want to establish an educational communications strategy, in which email plays an essential role. It is a simple way to transform a visitor to your site into a lead, a prospect, and then a client. And it is all the more effective because your targets will have signed up of their own free will.

However, obtaining these email addresses is not always straightforward. Each person on your list must give you their email address voluntarily. Fortunately, there are several techniques to encourage them to do so: lead magnets (or conversion files).

The lead magnet, also called an incentive, is an anglicism now widely used. This practice consists of offering visitors a gift — a free offer, most often a downloadable file — in exchange for their email address. This offer can take the form of content (an ebook, a video, etc.) with high added value. This is referred to as conversion content.

Lead magnets can take several forms. Here we will describe 7 of them — 7 lead magnets your users will not be able to refuse, from which you can choose or draw inspiration.

Some are achievable very quickly. Others will require a little more time. Moreover, not all will be suited to all types of business. The important thing here is to identify the type of lead magnet that will be both relevant for you and appreciated by your target audience.

1. Lists of tips, tricks, or information

The impact of this type of lead magnet (conversion file) obviously depends on your sector of activity. Not all sectors naturally lend themselves to it. But for the brands that can relate to it, a list that gets straight to the point is ideal.

For example, if you are a restaurateur, you can offer culinary tips.

For a slimming centre, wellness advice.

For an HR brand, management tips.

Or, for a garage owner, vehicle maintenance tricks.

The advantage of a list is twofold. For you, this will generally be content that is easy and quick to create. For your users, lists are easy and quick to read and digest.

Thus, with a well-designed list, you can deliver tips or information that will make your users' daily lives easier.

If your content provides genuine added value, a user may want more. Either because you are delivering information they find relevant. Or because they have applied your advice and been pleased with the result — giving them the desire to receive new tips or information from you.

As well as showcasing your expertise, this can even convince your users to learn more about you. To visit your site in greater depth, to purchase one of your products, or to use one of your services.

Try to see whether your sector of activity lends itself to this practice (and it often does!). A list of 10 or 20 easy-to-follow tips to help your prospective prospects achieve their respective goals. It is therefore a perfect opportunity to offer quality content to your users, downloadable in exchange for their email address. On this point, the list of tips also connects with the next lead magnet: digital documents.

2. Digital documents

An ebook, a white paper, or any other digital document is not necessarily the most innovative lead magnet or conversion file in existence. However, nothing is popular without reason, and the use of digital documents as lead magnets is no exception. The reason it is so widespread is simply because it works.

One of the advantages of an ebook is the ease of creation in terms of the technology required. It is also a product that is easy to consume across multiple devices: computer, smartphone, tablet.

You can create an ebook from your tips, as mentioned above. But not only. It is possible to vary the types of information. Create an ebook from scratch, or, if you are short of time, compile information already written on your website, your blog, and/or in your other documents into a single file.

The aim is to create or compile simple, well-spaced content in a downloadable PDF. You can also place your "premium" content on a page of your site that is secured and visible only to internet users who have signed up with you.

3. Partially gated content

In the same vein as a "premium" page, if you run a blog, you can try blocking certain parts of your articles. This type of lead magnet also includes blocking an article after its introduction, hiding a key paragraph, or even a downloadable file included in your content.

However, this tactic can frustrate and annoy your users. Use it sparingly, therefore. Only use this type of lead magnet when the content in question offers genuinely exceptional added value for your audience.

4. Discount vouchers

Specifically for retailers! If you want to increase your sales as well as grow your email database, offer a discount coupon or promotional code as a lead magnet. This will be a win-win situation for you and your audience. Your customers save money and you increase your number of sales.

The coupon can cover postage costs for products or reduce the total price for services. This will make your offer more attractive to users. Whatever angle you choose, it will genuinely represent added value for your internet users.

If you do not sell products yourself, this technique is still available. You can arrange something with a partner connected to your sector and negotiate a discount for your audience.

Again, it is win-win: the partner seller makes more sales, your audience saves money, and you grow your list. If you can combine a discount code with a seller partnership, you can even generate some revenue for yourself too.

5. Email course series

It is now easy to create a series of emails that will be sent to your new subscribers at regular, pre-defined intervals. This is an opportunity to introduce your users to new concepts or ideas.

If you try this type of lead magnet, create a sequence of several emails that follow on from one another. These messages will subsequently be sent to your users at the frequency of your choice.

The idea here is to provide subscribers with additional information and to familiarise them with concepts they may not already know (new products, new services). You will then appear to them as an expert in your field. And when they are ready to purchase products or services you offer, who will they turn to? You!

6. Free trials

A popular lead magnet you are no doubt already familiar with is the free trial — for a product or a service. Once again, it all depends on your activity. Free trials are most commonly used for web-based businesses and online services — for example, a mobile app that you can make available free of charge for a set period to users who have signed up.

But even outside the internet, you can use this lead magnet — by sending a product sample or offering a tasting box, for instance.

7. Webinars and other online events

This is a lead magnet that requires more investment than the previous ones. However, online seminars are a perfect way to reach a wide audience. If your activity leads you to participate in a seminar or any other event where you can demonstrate your expertise, offering a video of it online as a lead magnet is an effective way to capture attention and collect email addresses.

The added advantage is that once the event is over, you can store the seminar in your archives. If its content remains relevant over time, you can then offer it by email to interested users — long after the seminar has taken place.

How to choose the right lead magnet?

As you will no doubt have noticed, not all lead magnets work for all types of brand. It depends on each business's sector of activity, the resources available, and the goals in view. But also on your target audience.

However, you no doubt have the time and means for at least one or another of these 7 suggestions. These lead magnets will allow you to grow your email address and lead database — material to be developed subsequently in line with your objectives for an optimal result. This is therefore a part of your strategy that will need particular attention, whatever form of offer you choose.

Freely translated from Elegentthemes (Updated 13/04/18)

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