Lead Magnets That Aren’t Discount Codes
Your email list is your most valuable piece of owned media in today’s digital landscape, but what are some other ways to attract leads that don’t discount your products?
Everyone loves a freebie or a discount. But when you’re asked to hand over your email address in exchange, it can make us think twice about whether we really need it.
How many times have you given your email address to a company so they could send you a free resource, and the resource turns out to be complete garbage? Or you don’t use the discount code in the 48 hours they give you? Or the company sends you four emails in a day in their welcome email sequence?
I don’t know about you, but if a company sends me an email more than a few times a week unless it’s super interesting or valuable to me, I’m unsubscribing.
Our inboxes are chaos. And if you’re anything like me, you have several email accounts to manage.
The Point of a Lead Magnet
Lead magnets are essentially a tool to get prospects into the top of your funnel. The standard format is to create something, like an offer or a product, and give it to potential customers in exchange for their email addresses.
Often, a person won’t buy from a brand until they get to know, like, and trust them. Once you have their email address, you can then nurture your relationship with them so they will be more inclined to purchase from you over someone else in the future.
It Better Be Worth It
If I share my email address with your company in exchange for something, I’m always thinking in the back of my mind “this better be worth it.”
The thing I’ve noticed is, in many cases, I don’t end up using the discount code or free resources they send me. Usually, I forget to use it, it wasn’t what I had expected, or it was of poor value.
And granted, I’m not as impressed as I used to be. Competition is fierce and the ceiling keeps being pushed higher and higher, as we expect more from brands. I can only imagine I’m not alone.
So as business owners, we have to constantly over-deliver to keep prospects interested in what we’re doing.
Valuable Lead Magnet Ideas
How do you give your audience a valuable lead magnet? Do you have to spend hours of your time creating something of value just to give it away for free? Do you always have to give a discount code for your products?
Absolutely not.
As a customer, I love getting the introductory “20% off storewide” when I submit my email address. But depending on the brand, sometimes it sets a precedent that, if they’re willing to give me 20% off up front, then maybe they aren’t worth spending full price on their products in the future.
So avoid giving discounts, and think of something else.
With a little imagination, you can deliver something remarkable to your audience that they will truly appreciate and use.
Lead Magnet Ideas for Service-Based Professionals
If you offer services, give your audience special tools to help them with their business. Tools that they can’t get anywhere else, and that make you look like an expert.
In my case, I have a free cloud-based content calendar and content strategy guidebook download that didn't take me too long to create.
The calendar is actually one that I use for my clients’ content strategies. I just copied and tweaked it a little.
I don’t include every single element in the free calendar, because some of it doesn’t make sense without context, and I also don’t want to give everything away for free.
But the calendar is a brilliant template for brands to use when they’re planning content across different channels, and it’s cloud-based so you can collaborate with their team.
And the guidebook I created, is actually this blog post I wrote back in November, made into an ebook on Canva. It took me very little time to create.
Just a little side note; Canva is one of my most-used tools. Even as a graphic designer, I use it because it saves a lot of time. You can use it for things like sourcing graphics, creating social media content, and designing eBooks.
It’s easy to use, and you can collaborate in teams through a cloud-based canvas.
Here’s a list of general lead magnet ideas:
- Cheat sheets
- Workbooks
- Templates
- Swipe files (list of resources)
- Webinars
- Toolkits
- Product trials
- Newsletter signup
- Free 10-minute consultations
- Quizzes
- Generators/Calculators
- Reports
- Infographics
- Gated premium content
- Email courses
- Event tickets
- Presentations
- White papers
- PDF documents
- Planners/Calendars
- Brochures/Catalogs
- Case studies
- Checklists
Lead Magnet Ideas for Product-Based Professionals
If you’re a product-based business, you don’t have to give a discount to collect emails. In my opinion, that’s a lazy way to collect emails, and you shouldn’t have to discount your products if you’re giving value in other ways.
Taking some ideas from the list above, here are some lead magnets, thinking outside the box:
- Daily affirmation newsletter: wellness brands
- Summer wardrobe checklist: fashion brands
- Summer skincare guide: beauty brands
- Sustainability trends report: sustainable brands
- Seasonal trends report: fashion and beauty brands
- Industry event calendar: all brands
- Body shape quiz: fashion brands
- Skin type quiz: beauty brands
- Zero Waste Guidebook: sustainable brands
- Makeup guide for over 50s: beauty brands
- Fitness guide: activewear brands
- Fitness tips newsletter: activewear brands
- Printable shopping lists: all brands
- Product guides: all brands
- Home organization guidebook: packaging and storage brands
Options Are Endless
Hopefully, I’ve sparked some inspiration for you to create a fantastic lead magnet. Remember, you don’t need to discount your products to give prospects value. The options are endless, so come up with something new.
Buy me a coffee or show my some 🫶🏽 here.
