These lead magnet Ideas are perfect for Online Coaches, course creators, and Digital Service Providers.
How to Create Your Lead Magnet
A lead magnet can be anything you can link to. Ideally, it should be something only available if someone has a specific link; not something they can find on their own on your website. Examples include:
- A PDF (either attached to the email, or linked to where it’s stored in your Google Drive)
- A link to a Google Doc or Google Spreadsheet
- A link to a private video on YouTube or Vimeo
- A link to a Canva template
- A link to a password protected page on your website
- A single-use-per-person coupon code that allows someone to get something for free from your online store
Where to Embed Your Lead Magnet form
In my opinion, the best place to display a lead magnet on a website is in or after a blog post related to the topic. You can also add a section to your home page advertising your lead magnet.
You should also create a dedicated page for your lead magnet that you can link to from other platforms like your Instagram bio. (Or, if you use WordPress, you can use the Pretty Links plugin to create a unique link to a page hosted by your email software provider.)
A website popup is one of the most common types of lead magnet forms, but perhaps also one of the least effective, since popups tend to annoy website visitors with information they might actually want but aren’t yet ready for. I prefer corner popups and notification bars (and have gotten better results with these) because they don’t prevent people from seeing the information they’re looking for. I like ConvertBox for installing these, but some email software providers have these as built-in features.
1. Tutorial Videos – Short Problem-Solving Demonstrations
A video of you explaining or demonstrating a process is a great lead magnet because it delivers an immediate result in a short amount of time. Keep your video under 20 minutes to make sure it doesn’t feel like too big of a time investment. Your phone will be fine for recording videos of you doing something, or the Loom browser extension works great for demonstrating an online process.
2. Journal Prompts Related to Your Topic
Craft journal prompts that lead people through the initial stages of reflection that will prepare them for your products and services or help them start experiencing breakthroughs on their own. Use Claude.ai if you need help coming up with ideas.
3. Resource Database with Curated Tools
Compile a list of foundational books, best online tools, or most helpful educational resources that will be of value to your audience.
4. Five-Day Email Challenge Building Momentum
A series of emails can work as a lead magnet if they help the recipient achieve a specific outcome. However, I wouldn’t suggest more than five consecutive emails to avoid having people unsubscribe from your list if they don’t end up completing the challenge.
5. Goal-Setting Framework and Progress Tracker
I’m a big fan of lead magnets that empower your audience to achieve their desired outcomes on their own, while simultaneously preparing them for a related offer as an upsell. This way you’re offering real value by telling them WHAT to do and even HOW to do it, without eliminating the need they may have for more individualized support.
6. Free One-on-One Consultation
Not sustainable long-term, but this can be an effective lead magnet for newer businesses. I think it could be particularly powerful to offer at an in-person small group speaking engagement. If someone has already met you in person, then has a one-on-one consultation with you, they are well-primed to want to continue working with you.
Just be sure to put structures in place that let you lead the meeting and keep it to a strict time limit. I would suggest sending them a questionnaire before the meeting and then following that as a guide during the meeting.
7. AI Prompt Templates and Formulas
Help your clients or followers utilize AI to jump-start their thinking and and streamline their processes by providing pre-written AI prompts they can edit and use with ChatGPT, Claude.ai, or Perplexity.ai.
8. Personalized video Feedback
Use the Loom browser extenstion to quickly record a video of yourself talking or record your screen to offer individualized feedback. Try to limit your video to about 5 minutes.
9. Foundational Concepts Guide
One way to offer value to people is to organize information in a way that helps them more easily digest it. An example of this would be a guide to beginner stitches in knitting, a guide to basic equipment needed for hiking, or a guide to fundamental positions or movements in martial arts. If you’re a nuturion coach, you could offer a list of pantry staples or favorite supplements.
10. Industry Calendar of Key Events
Does your niche frequently hold meetups, conventions, or trade shows? How about a calendar showing upcoming events your audience might be interested in? Here’s a good place to look for events. You would just need to update this lead magnet each year.
11. Self-Assessment with Next Steps
This would be like a quiz or checklist, with a suggested course of action based on the results.
12. Live Video Replay Access
A great way to repurpose a particularly valueable Facebook Live or YouTube Live would be to download it, remove it from Facebook, and offer the replay as a lead magnet.
13. Proven Swipe Files That Work
Save you audience time and help them push through writer’s block by providing them with text they can edit and use to write emails or create content.
14. Customizable Canva Templates
Instead of sharing a completed graphic, instead share a template link to Canva where they can edit and customize a graphic before downloading it. Just keep in mind that if your audience doesn’t have a paid Canva plan they won’t be able to use Pro elements, so stick to free elements for your designs.
15. Action Checklists From Your Content
If you have a blog post that details a step-by-step process or gives a list of elements or fundamentals, include a downloadable checklist version at the end to make it easy for people to reference later. An example of this would be an “RV Winter Prepration Checklist” I added to the end of an article I wrote about how to prepare an RV for cold weather.
16. Personalized Q&A
Invite your subscribers to email you a question that you will send them a recorded answer to via voice recording or video.
17. Tracker Spreadsheet
Do you have spreadsheets you use for tracking, recording, or calculating? Share a copy with your subscribers!
18. Complementary Learning Workbooks
A bundle of worksheets or a PDF workbook that helps people implement a concept shared in a free video or blog post would make a great lead magnet.
19. Weekly Live Q&A Access
How about inviting people to submit questions for you to answer in a weekly or monthly live Q&A session? You can require people to be on your email list to receive the link to the live session.
20. Access to a Private Online Community
A popular and active Facebook group can attract new leads who are actively seeking out places to network and connect with others who share their interests or experiences.
While requiring someone to give you their email address to join a Facebook group is a violation of Facebook’s terms and conditions, you can invite people to voluntarily share their email address with you in the questions they answer to join the group, perhaps in incentivized by another lead magnet.
Even if they choose not to share their email address, you’ll still have them in your group where you can promote other offers to them in the future.
Drop a link to your lead magnet in the comments!
This will give other people the chance to see real-life examples of lead magnets and who knows, you might get some new subscribers too!
The suggestion to place a lead magnet within or immediately after a related blog post is especially practical, since it reaches readers when the topic is already relevant to them. Creating a dedicated landing page as a second promotion channel also makes the offer easier to share and track.
Placing a lead magnet within or immediately after a related blog post is a practical strategy because the reader is already engaged with the topic. I also like the suggestion of creating a dedicated landing page, since it gives the offer a focused space beyond the homepage.