What is a Lead magnet?

Businesses today spend a lot of money trying to reach their full potential by maximising their digital presence and sales. This is because competition across multiple domains has seen a significant rise over the past 5 years, making it ever more difficult for small and medium sized businesses to stand out and get noticed.

The time has passed when a company could depend on passive traffic to reach its monthly sales targets. In today’s competitive world if companies don’t learn how to fish their customers out of the huge ocean, they will likely not make it. According to a 2020 report published by a European E-commerce news source, 96% of the British population use the internet regularly to source information and make purchases.

The same report states that the total value of online sales in the same year was almost £190 billion. Data like this only reinforces the importance of not just having a digital presence, but doing everything possible to get your slice of the pie.

However, building a successful digital business and attracting the right kind of traffic is not exactly a walk in the park, it requires a great deal of knowledge and experience. Companies are now investing heavily into digital marketing and social media advertising as they realise the importance of meeting customers where they are.

Data published by statista.com revealed that companies in the UK spent a whopping £16.5 billion on digital marketing in 2020. This figure is only set to increase through 2021 and beyond, as the global pandemic has forced ever more buyers and sellers online.

Here are some of the most successful strategies companies employ to boost their visibility and sales:

Search Engine Optimisation.

If you’re a medium-sized business in London (or any other major UK city), you will know the importance of digital marketing and advertising. In metropolitan areas, if your business is not online, it may as well not exist. This is why local SEO in London is such a worthy investment for your business, and one you should be making right now. SEO is simply the most effective way to direct organic and highly motivated traffic to your website.

SEO is a widely used strategy in digital marketing. With skilled use of SEO it becomes easy for search engines such as Google and Yahoo to locate your website by improving the quality of content and the user experience. SEO, when implemented well, can be the definitive strategy to scaling your online business.

Search Engine Marketing

Unlike SEO which focuses on organic traffic, search engine marketing is focused on building your brand through paid campaigns. SEM uses Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising platforms like Google, Facebook and Bing to publish advertisements on their digital property, as a way to reach a target audience. Each platform has a different cost associated with its services.

Responsiveness

Responsive websites are those that easily adjust to any screen size, tablet or mobile device. A large chunk of internet users now use their mobile devices to conduct their online activities. If your website does not look good on their device, then you may lose that potential customer. Keeping your website easy to use and highly responsive will also add value to your business from an SEO perspective.

These are three of the most popular tactics digital marketing wizards use to stay ahead of the competition. However, when it comes to collecting leads and increasing conversions, there is an unsung hero that deserves the seat of honour – the ‘Lead Magnet’.

Research shows us that less than 10% of your website traffic directly converts into sales. The figures are even lower for websites that are not optimised. This is why most businesses simultaneously invest in offline campaigns, email marketing campaigns, and other activities that drive traffic to a website and increase the number of inbound opportunities. This is where Lead magnets play a crucial role!

What is a Lead Magnet?

A lead magnet is basically a free item in exchange for contact details (typically an email address). It is a tactic that compels visitors to provide information that is of value and can then be harvested. You can offer visitors video tutorials, ‘how to’ guides, white-papers, or even discount coupons. For example – if you run a financial accounting firm, you could create a guide that helps users make an expense spreadsheet, or a guide to help manage their yearly accounts with ease. Essentially you provide visitors something of value to them, in return for something of value to your company.

What does a lead magnet look like?

The best lead magnets provide authoritative insight, in-depth knowledge, a quick solution to fix problems, or a creative and unique answer that resolves a challenge. They can take a variety of different forms depending on the industry and the requirements of your business. Consider the following:

‘How to’ guides

The best way to create these value-based guides is to target and utilise topics that are already in demand. So, for example – if your customers are posing questions about sales tactics regularly, make a list of these enquiries and create a resource that answers their questions effectively.

‘Best practise’ guides

Another great example of lead magnets is ‘Best Practice’ guides. These guides are basically content that provides support or advice that visitors need and value. For example, the guide could be on – ‘5 top tips to ….’, or ‘Best ways to tackle…’, or ‘20 things to consider before you….’

Podcasts series

Podcasts are a great way to keep customers engaged with your brand. Podcasts can also be an effective way of solving problems that people may face. Not everyone likes to read extensively and some may even see it as a challenge. This is why podcasts make for great resources, especially with a younger audience.

A few things to ensure when considering a podcast series is to ensure the content you put out is engaging, helpful, actionable, and relevant. If listeners find your podcast to be unimpressive, mass-produced or junk – they will associate those negative attributes with your brand.

How can Lead Magnets benefit you?

The contact details that the lead magnet generates can be systematically harvested or nurtured in order to establish a higher rate of conversion. Unfortunately, many businesses under utilise the leads generated through this method.

Think of it this way, if you’ve managed to get the phone number of someone you’re really attracted to, would you drop them a message and then forget about it altogether? Not at all! You engage them with a meaningful and relevant conversation, give them a chance to know you better, and build a relationship that allows for an open channel of communication.

The same goes for a business and its subscribers. For example – you could send them additional guides or tips, an additional podcast, a general query on their wellbeing, a youtube series, etc. This exercise is meant to nurture a sense of trust with the leads.

In time, once the period of nurturing comes to an end, harvesting these leads is the natural outcome. This could be directing them towards a purchase, booking a demo, or whatever the next step may be in your sales process. Using this method effectively and repeatedly will result in higher conversions for your business.

Getting a successful digital campaign up and running is not an easy task. This is why most companies today work with reputed, experienced SEO agencies such as Web Choice. They offer value-driven services for everything from local SEO in London, to creating a truly global presence that reflects in conversions. If you want to build or refine a definite strategy for success, contact Web Choice today!