Melanie
Welcome to the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast for all decision makers and action takers. Take it away, Esther.
Esther
Good morning and welcome to the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast. Today we are talking about lead magnets. What exactly are they and do you even need them? So-.
Melanie
In a word.
Esther
What are they Melanie?
Melanie
Yes, yes, we do need league magnets. We don't need them desperately. Okay, we don't. Not everybody has to have one. It's, it's a nice to have, I think, and it's a nice way to introduce people to you in sort of like small bite sized pieces. It's also a really fabulous way to reward your potential customer and hopeful customer with something that's going to be useful and helpful to them and they equally reward you with their email address.
Esther
Okay, so it's a quid pro quo. Say that three times fast. There's something in it for you, there's something in it for them. It's a win, win situation. So why isn't everybody using them?
Melanie
Some of it's down to the fact that people don't realize how they're used. Sometimes it's literally down to the fact they haven't got the time at the moment to organize what they're going to create. And I think in some ways it's almost easier to create a sort of lead magnet for products than it is for services.
Esther
Yeah. Because. Okay, so let's take a step back and describe a few ideas of what lead magnets are.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
So it could be a questionnaire. It could be, you know, I have a client who sells English classes. He's an English teacher, work for English as a second Language. And he puts up a questionnaire on, you know, fill in, answer these questions. What is the past tense of this verb? What word would you use to finish this sentence? And that gives him an idea and the participant an idea of the level of English that they have at the minute.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
So then both of them can sort of say, well, I definitely need classes, or I can hold off in classes. But he's going, this is where you need to put in some effort. So it gives them that. It could also be a fun little quiz. It could be a bingo card. It could be as in, go and check out our website. There'll be a bingo card on there soon. For the Monday Morning Marketing podcast, you can tick off how many times we do X, Y and Z from the bingo card. It's. It doesn't have to be serious. It doesn't have to be an accountant talking about the latest budget or the latest government laws. That have been brought in. And it doesn't have to be doom and gloom, it doesn't have to be a checklist. It does. There are so many things that you can do. So us as digital marketers, it's very common for us to see people putting up, here's your customer avatar checklist. Download your free, you know, five things to do and not to do when it comes to your social media marketing. Those are very useful, very helpful, but maybe your competition's already doing them so you need something that will set you out from the rest of the crowd.
Melanie
Yes and no. Yes and no. Because even if your competition is doing it as well, there's no harm in you creating something similar or even the same. Because people arrive at our website or, you know, on our socials at different times and there's no reason to expect that people who are on our socials right now are in the right buying mood for a lead magnet. So a week later they'll go onto our competitors socials and suddenly they're in the right buying mood. So because I think we've put an awful lot of pressure on ourselves to have this amazing USP or have this completely unique thing that nobody else is doing. And frankly that's impossible to do these days.
Esther
Yeah, well, your unique thing is that you are you, I am me, and nobody can be like us, nor would they want to be.
Melanie
Exactly. So, you know, I see. You know, obviously I wouldn't go and copy absolutely everything your competitors are doing, but there's no harm in doing something similar because the hope is, is that when your audience comes to you, they're in the right buying mood and they want that sort of deliverable at the time. Now Esther gave some excellent examples there and obviously we are trying to get people onto our email list which is still the easiest, most cost effective and fastest way to build a closer relationship with our audience. Because let's face it, if they sign up to our email list and they stay on there, it's because they already know who we are, what we do, where we do it, why we do it and how we do it. So we just need to kind of tip them over so that they buy from us that one product or something connected to it, or maybe we partner up and collaborate with another business. Yeah, we mentioned that.
Esther
Yeah, well, we haven't. All those examples I gave are actually for service based businesses. And you said, you know, it's easier for product based businesses because they can give the, you know, give us your email address and we'll give you 10% off.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
You know, it's easier for them to know, you know, what their audience is looking for because when you're going to buy something, you do like a discount. So, you know, and other people go, oh, give us your birthday and we'll give you a free treat also lovely. But at the end of the day, your data is what the company is looking for. So when you go to sign up, and obviously, if you're putting up a lead magnet, put it on your website, promote it across your social platforms, you can even do a little ad promoting it and, you know, getting people's. More people's eyes on it. What would your opinion be, Melanie, on changing your lead magnet every six months, every three months? What would you recommend people do?
Melanie
I think rather than changing it, I think maybe adding a new one would be better because the hope is we're always trying to encourage a new audience to come to our website and I suppose we could take it away for a period of time and create a sense of FOMO that we could do, but then somebody who wants that dopamine hit when they, when they're looking for something don't get it. So I think it is actually better to keep those lead magnets on there and say, coming soon is the next lead magnet. You know, we've listened to our audience, this is what they're looking for, and we've created a resource, whether it's a video webinar or maybe an eBook or something like that.
Esther
Because the, the threat or the problem could be that you get the same people signing up for the next lead magnet. You get the same email addresses. So therefore, you know, you're not actually increasing your, your list at all on your email platform, but it's just you keep giving away. And this is what people, you know, keep saying, but why would I give it away for free? Why would I put this information in a lead magnet and give it away free? So when it comes to, you know, writing your top five tips or your this, that and the other, yes, it'll be free, as in there's no monetary exchange for it. But you're proving that you can give value. You are proving that you know what you're talking about. And when you then go to say, well, if you want the 50 tips instead of the 5, this is how much it'll cost. People are more likely to spend the money because they already got value from the freebie.
Melanie
Exactly.
Esther
It's. There's inverted commas in there, you know.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
Because at the end of the day, their Email address is the most valuable thing that you can get from them because then you can inform them about other things. You can have an exclusive little club going on in your email. When you send out an email, every whatever time you decide to send it out, you can have, you know, this is an exclusive offer for people who are only on my email list. So you have a lot more power when you have their email addresses than you might think. Now, when we're making our lead magnet, what services, tools, et cetera can we use to make it. Should it just be a Word document with just text? Go on, share some knowledge and insights.
Melanie
Well, the first thing I can think of is maybe like a PDF that you can create through Canva, because a lot of our listeners will be using tools like that or Adobe, Adobe Spark. So there's lots of different tools you can use that goes beyond the power that the Word document. But you can also do, like I mentioned earlier, you can create short videos. You've got a virtual assistant course, don't you?
Esther
Yes.
Melanie
And so that's a lead magnet as well. And you know, explain a little bit about that. Seeing as you're, you're asking me most of the questions, explain how that works to the listeners.
Esther
Well, the virtual assistant course that I have is, you know, takes you through, starts with the basics of what you need to do, how to sign up for courses, you know, sorry, how to sign up for your different social media platforms, how to promote yourself, what a social, what a virtual assistant does because the lines get blurred a lot. But it takes you through the basics of that. And it's, you know, $40, 50, $50, whatever it is. I don't remember the conversion rate, but it's a very low cost to get you started on being a virtual assistant. And the way that you can, you know, put the way that it's been put together is short videos of less than 5 minutes each video just to give you the overlay of, okay, so open this up, do this and it shows you a step by step process when you're doing it, but when you're coming to know. So getting back to the making the lead magnet in Adobe Spark or in Canva or whatever platform you decide to make it in, do make it pretty, do have your logo on it because then if people are printing it out, they can remember who it was that they got it from because like I said, if you're doing the same one or something very similar to competitor, then they'll not remember who they actually bought it from. Unless your name, your address, like your email address, your business name, your logo is on it. So put it somewhere, whether it's front page, bottom of all the pages, have it that it's there. And you can get help to build these and make them pretty. I mean we get lots of people sending us their documents, their Word documents. And can you make this pretty for me and put it on my website? Of course we can know it doesn't have to just be a one page Word document. It can be turned into a 10 page PDF or what's the other one? PowerPoint.
Melanie
PowerPoint. Yeah.
Esther
Yeah, things like that that are make it more memorable, make it stand out using your brand colours. Here at the podcast we have, you know, not so much a lead magnet because it does cost money, but you can how to start a podcast, how to get guests on your podcast. We have those as well on our Etsy store. But when you're thinking of all of these things, if you look at our Etsy store, they're all branded up, they all have our logo, they all have our colours, the reds, the blacks, the yellows. It's all got our name on it, it's got information about the podcast. I mean, use these as a way to get your name out there into other people's hands.
Melanie
So now we've given you some ideas on what type of things you can create. It really depends on the type of industry you're in. So like we're digital marketers, social media trainers, that sort of stuff. So largely for us it could be stuff like, I'm just thinking Social Media examiner, they do a trend reports every year, don't they? So that's one thing that you can use as a free download and get people's email addresses. But it could be goal planner. I've got a download on my website which is a goal planner as a lead magnet. And you know how you can grow your business as a digital marketer or as you know, as a small business who wants to improve your social media or something like that.
Esther
Yeah, or how to stand out online, how to show that you're a leader online, things like that.
Melanie
Then there's other industries, like I said. So like copywriters, you can offer a guide on how to repurpose content or host weekly writing sessions. I'm really pulling this out of thinner here.
Esther
But because you're not a copywriter.
Melanie
Well, I'm not, but I do know I, I actually follow one Sue. So you know, there's e-commerce, interior design. Everybody will have something that you can create that will be useful to your audience that won't take a huge amount of your time to create. It doesn't have to be all singing and dancing. In fact, it's not meant to be all singing and dancing because what you're doing is sort of tantalizing your audience with your knowledge and with your offering and then saying, look, this is what you can get for free. Imagine what you can get when you pay for it.
Esther
Yeah. And it doesn't have to actually be a download because currently on the mondaymorningmarketing.com website we have sign up for the newsletter and get 30 days of marketing tips.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
So you get one a day over 30 days. And that was a one and done, you know, a few years ago that we update from time to time. But any new subscriber that comes through will start today to get number one, tomorrow get number two, et cetera, et cetera. And it's just it feeding into their inbox, dripping in rather than, well, now go and download this and print this off and do this or you know, don't print it if you want to save trees. But it doesn't have to be an instantaneous thing. It doesn't. It can be a sign up and every Monday you'll get X, Y, Z or site. You know, set the expectations. Whenever you put up your lead magnet as well, it doesn't have to be something that has been physically made or you know, digitally made that you're giving away. It can be just get added to my newsletter to get the latest updates. And that's the exclusivity thing as well that only people on the newsletter will get these things. I won't be posting them on my social media, etc. Etc.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
So you don't have to go out of your way or rack your brain or you know, try to come up with something new and innovative. You don't need to reinvent, reinvent the wheel when it comes to something like a lead magnet. But I highly recommend having one because without one, then where are you getting your signups from? Where are you getting your customers into your, into your email list from? It's going to be much harder.
Melanie
And there's lots of different ways you can get people to that, to your list or to your lead magnet. So it can be on. You can put a QR code on your business cards, on your flyers, on any merchandise. Maybe you're wearing T-shirts or uniforms or hoodies or something like that. You can put your QR code on that. So it doesn't all have to be online. You could Mention it on your car, you know, so if you're getting your car wrapped, that's something else you can do. And just the simple steps of doing a lead magnet, as long as you understand who your buyer is potentially first, who your potential customer is and solve the pain points that they're experiencing and then create something that's going to actually help them, which is half the battle.
Esther
That's the key. That's, that's the real thing there. What is going to help them? Where will they get value from? Because you have so much knowledge and I'm talking directly to you listener, you have so much knowledge that I'm sure if you sat down to write Elite Magnet, you would come up with 20.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
Because that's just how much knowledge you have. But maybe turn them into a course, you never know.
Melanie
And then once you've decided, you know, of the 20, which one you're going to go with first and create, you kind of do have to have a website to make this effective. In fairness, you need to create a lead magnet page on your website because that's where you're going to send the people to in the first place. And just make it as easy as possible to actually sign up, register, make sure you're following all the, whatever your requirements are locally. So it could be can spam or GDPR or wherever you are based in the world. Just make sure you're following the rules of how people opt in and make sure that they receive that first email. And you may have an email. What's the word I'm looking for? An email-.
Esther
Follow-up.
Melanie
Yeah, an email follow-up, an email delivery system that follows just like ours does for 30 days.
Starting-.
Esther
An automation.
Melanie
Yeah, an automation, that's the word I was thinking of. And you know, try and get that in place beforehand because it's awfully difficult to organize afterwards. And then just promote it, but don't just promote it on social media. Social media is brilliant, but it's not the only resource that's at your disposal. And that's why we talk about so many different methods. And like, yeah, like over five or nearly five years now at the time of recording, we have talked about so many different ways that you can reach your audience through offline and online marketing. And you know, go back and listen to our guests, listen to myself and Esther, because a lot of we talk of what we talk about, not everything, but a lot of what we talk about does remain evergreen. So there is so many, so many resources that we are giving to you freely available every single week.
Esther
Yes.
Melanie
So make sure you sign up to our email list, go and visit our Etsy store, check out our merch. We would love to see more people walking around in our merch, which would be great. We are seeing people wearing our shirts. I've seen a couple of people at the last event we were at, so, you know, it is entirely possible that we will recognize each other from afar.
Esther
And then go, oh, I listened to your voice.
Melanie
But I think that's. That's all the time we have for now. Please let us know what lead banger niche that you go with. Make sure you tag us. We'll share it on our socials and it will definitely be useful to our audience because we. We reach people pretty much globally these days. So make sure you let us know when you're ready with your lead magnets and we'll get the message out there for you.
Esther
Great. Well, we'll be back next week with another episode. Until then, bye-bye.
Melanie
Bye.
Yeah, I was doing so well there. I was really leading off there properly, wasn't I? Was totally leading off there properly and then I kind of froze. And then you ended up doing it for me.
Esther
Well, I thought you were letting me.
Melanie
I kind of was, but I should have been doing it myself.
Esther
You should have.
Melanie
I should have.
Esther
Next time.
