Lead Magnets in 2024: The Ultimate Guide and 14 Best Examples

You know lead magnets are essential for growing your email list. But a newsletter pop-up isn’t cutting it in 2024. 

To get email addresses, you need to make an irresistible offer – and fast. Once someone signs up, you can build the relationship and move them towards a purchase.

But first, you need to grab their attention.

For a lead magnet to work, you need to grab them first and nurture them later.

In this guide, you’ll learn strategies for creating lead magnets that guarantee conversions down the line – whether you sell courses online or physical products from your garage.

Plus, you’ll get inspired by real lead magnet examples working to build huge email lists right now.

Originally published on February 12th, 2019, this article was updated and republished on September 18th, 2024.

Ready to transform your lead capture? Let’s start at the top.

What Is a Lead Magnet?

A lead magnet is an alluring offer you share with your website visitors in exchange for their personal information. Lead magnets aim to attract potential customers (leads), hoping they’ll agree to be contacted directly by your business.

In digital marketing, a lead magnet is used to build an email list. It can be any valuable resource, offered free of charge when someone signs up to your email list.

Here are just some of the forms a lead magnet can take:

• eBook
• Checklist
• Cheat sheet
• Video course
• Discount on products
• Free trial of a service
• White paper
• App or software tool
• Goal setting worksheet

For example, BidSketch offers a Sample Client Proposal as its lead magnet.

Now that you know what lead magnets are, the next question is:

How do you create lead magnets that attract leads like crazy?

Read on to learn about creating the best lead magnet for your landing pages, blog posts, and affiliate marketing campaigns.

What Makes a Great Lead Magnet

Lead magnets that do an excellent job attracting and converting leads have a few characteristics in common.they are

They are:

1. Specific

A lead magnet works best when it’s ultra-specific.

It’s essential to have a narrow scope of the problem your lead magnet will solve. Aim to address one specific need of your target audience.

For example, Pipedrive offers a free sales pipeline template.

This lead magnet aims to attract people who want to organize how they capture and nurture leads. An eBook on sales and marketing would be too broad and generic.

Instead, this eBook addresses one crucial aspect of sales — the need to develop and manage a pipeline. It’s specific.

Here’s another example to demonstrate how to narrow down your lead magnet. EverCoach offers a Free Coaching Form template to help its audience onboard new clients. 

It solves a single but important issue.

There’s no need for your lead magnet to be an all-action warrior.

To convert site visitors into email subscribers, focus on providing a solution to a single problem for your audience.

2. Easy to Use

When you get a new email subscriber, you haven’t won them over yet. They can easily unsubscribe from your list if they don’t get anything useful from your lead magnet.

Here’s an example of a lead magnet that’s simple to use. It’s a one-page PDF, and bloggers and marketers can put the information to use immediately when they write their next headline:

Even though it’s free, your subscribers expect to achieve the desired result right away from your offer. That’s why lead magnets should be easy to implement and valuable.

If you’re offering a report, guide, or eBook, make it easy to read, with short sentences, short paragraphs, and bullet points.

The same ideas apply to video, audio, or email courses. Keep it simple so your leads can benefit right away.

3. Targeted

When it comes to lead generation, quality over quantity is best.

Strive to attract a specific group of people with your lead magnet — the people who make up your ideal customers. On our list of 101 best business books, we offer a free download of our book. You can’t get much more targeted.

Customers want to feel like you understand their needs, so be clear about who you’re trying to help.

For example, if you’re in the business communication software market, a report on the latest changes in the investment industry is way too generic — it’s for anyone with investments.

To get more targeted, narrow down which investors you want to help. “Baby Boomers’ Guide to Minimizing Estate Taxes,” makes it clear immediately that the lead magnet is for older investors. More specifically, those with sizable assets to pass on to their kids.

The lead magnet below from HubSpot targets online-focused small businesses. Specifically small businesses that want to enhance their website’s performance.

Don’t cast your net too wide or you’ll attract passers-by who don’t care about your business.

4. It’s Action-Driven

Your potential lead should be able to take action immediately based on the information in your lead magnet.

No matter what form it takes, the content that works best is actionable and easily digestible — that means keeping it short.

If it’s too long, your new subscribers will read or watch halfway without getting the promised result.

Marie Forleo offers 3 Secrets to Copy That Connects and Converts as a lead magnet for a copywriting class. The target audience will perceive “3 secrets” as being short, which means they can apply them right away.

Make sure leads can implement your tips right away. That’s why checklists, cheat sheets, and templates make some of the best lead magnets. They promise instant execution.

5. It Solves a Problem

Pain is highly motivating – just like our list of motivation quotes. If your lead magnet promises to solve an urgent problem (or show the steps to fix it), they’ll rush to fill in that opt-in form.

Just remember: your lead magnet has to deliver on that promise.

When you ease that pain point, you immediately build trust. And you’re well on your way to converting leads into customers.

ConversionXL offers a lead magnet promising a solution to low conversion rates. The good thing is the user can download and apply the tactics right now.

Even though your lead magnet is a free offer, it has to deliver. Make sure it really solves a problem (besides your need to capture email leads).

You need to begin your relationship with a subscriber on the right foot to win them over as customers.

6. It’s Delivered Immediately

Never make your potential lead wait.

Don’t forget they want that solution right now. In most cases, there are two ways you can deliver it “right now.”

One way is to place the lead magnet on your thank you page after the lead has entered their information.

AdEspresso delivers its “Guide to Facebook Custom Audiences Guide” on the thank you page.

The other way is to send your lead magnet by email. If you use a double opt-in, which is advisable, you’ll be asking new subscribers to confirm their subscription.

Once they confirm, you can send the lead magnet through an automated welcome email.

7. It’s Free

The worst mistake when it comes to list building is adding a price tag to your lead magnet.

People are giving you something valuable in exchange: access to their inbox.

No matter how much time and money you invested in creating it, you should expect to recoup those costs by converting leads into paying customers down the line. If you don’t, your email marketing strategy needs improvement.

For example, the gym group Anytime Fitness’ lead magnet is valuable. They offer a free gym workout.

The rule is simple: You should offer your lead magnet completely free. That’s the fastest way to build your email list.

Types of Lead Magnets

Lead magnets fall into five main categories. Here’s a look at each one. 

Written

Written lead magnets are just that–written content. Think ebooks and checklists. They’re great for audiences that want to learn something new. 

Ebooks are the more informative written option. But they’re not always the best. It all depends on who your audience is and what their needs are. 

For example, wedding blogger, One Fab Day, offers brides-to-be a free wedding planning checklist to entice prospects. It’s quick, digestible, and simple–perfect for its audience. 

On the other hand, SaaS company RocketSpark has chosen an ebook as its lead magnet–and for good reason. The ebook helps website newbies learn how to build a website click by click. It’s not the kind of information that would fit well in a checklist. Its audience needs detailed explanations and guidance. 

Interactive

Interactive lead magnets require active participation from your prospects. They take the form of live webinars, templates, and quizzes. 

The beauty of interactive lead magnets is that they often work under the radar. When someone wants to complete a quiz or access a template, they’ll share their details with you without thinking twice! 

For example, personality psychology websites have a host of free quizzes that help their audience understand more about their personality types. The quizzes are fun and in-depth, and require an email to access results.

Video

Live webinars fall under the interactive banner, but pre-recorded webinars and courses come under the ‘Video’ bracket: ready-to-go video content that people can access whenever they want, after sharing their information with you. 

This kind of content is a great way to showcase your skills, and get people keen to pay for the rest of your content! 

Flower arranging company, For the Love of Flowers, have done just that with its on-demand, free course. It acts as a gateway to the company’s paid membership community and masterclasses. 

Free Access

Another great lead magnet? Giving your product or service away for free…at least for a little while. 

Free trials, product demos, and free basic accounts are all fantastic ways to reel in prospects without spending a lot of time creating marketing materials. 

For example, website creation company Wix, offers a free plan to anyone wishing to create a website. Once customers sign up, they’ll find that certain add-ons, templates, and features are pay-walled. 

Monetary

If you’re in the ecommerce game, the best lead magnet you can harness is a monetary one. Offers like coupons, discount codes, and freebies will all be irresistible to your audience. 

A go-to monetary lead magnet is the “XX% discount of your first purchase when you sign up,” as showcased by jewelry brand Rebel Nell below. 

It’s a simple, effective way to generate leads and sales.

14 Lead Magnet Ideas & Examples

Many forms of lead magnets can work online. It’s difficult to say that one format is the best.

However, there may be the best format for your business. By testing different offers, you can find out which ones convert.

When you hit on the right format, you’ll know. Your conversions will skyrocket.

What are the types of lead magnets you can use on your landing pages and other website pages?

1. Guides and Reports

Guides and Reports are some of the most popular types of lead magnet.

People are always looking for information about topics that are important to them. In fact, it’s usually what brings them to your website in the first place.

If you make a guide about a topic that your site users (i.e., ideal customers) need help with, they’ll gladly sign up to receive it.

Reports can have the same effect. Did you research a trend in your industry?

You can summarize the results of your research into a report. One example of this is the State of Marketing Report conducted by HubSpot.

Original research reports can provide new industry insights that can’t be found elsewhere. Professionals in that market will be very interested in getting the inside scoop.

HubSpot has many guides and reports on its website. One of them is a guide for people looking to learn how to use Instagram for Business, promising to teach the essential building blocks.

2. Downloads/Toolkits

This type of lead magnet includes resources like templates, a glossary of important terms, or step-by-step instructions and SOPs.

For example, a fitness business might offer a workout tracking log. You could get specific by gearing it towards achieving a short-term goal with pre-set exercise routines.

Another example of a Toolkit is from Scott’s Bass Lessons. When users fill out their form, they’ll get access to a host of videos that help them learn how to play bass and develop their career as a bassist. 

Below is another example by Trello, featuring templates for specific outcomes.

Check this out if you’d like to learn the best online business tools for small businesses.

3. Free trial

Offering a free trial as a lead magnet works exceptionally well for apps and software platforms.

Free trial offers are powerful because, in the end, users are very motivated to upgrade. They’ve already invested time exploring the tools and features. Plus, they know without a doubt if the product delivers on its promises.

ActiveCampaign offers a free trial of its email service. Users love it because they don’t even have to use a credit card to sign up.

When you offer a free trial, you have the opportunity to convince your lead to upgrade to your paid service.

4. Cheat Sheet

Everybody wants a shortcut once in a while.

A cheat sheet doesn’t need to provide too much explanation about a concept. All it needs to do is show your lead how to complete a task better.

Below is an example of a cheat sheet by Jon Morrow. Knowing how much bloggers struggle to write compelling headlines, this lead magnet gets straight to the point with “Cliff Notes” on how to start a blog.

5. Discount/Free shipping

If you have a product that’s in demand, you can offer a discount or free shipping to increase sales.

58% of buyers abandoned items in the cart when they saw shipping charges. Interestingly, half of the customers surveyed said they could wait a few days for free shipping.

This can serve as an incentive for someone interested but not wanting to pay the shipping fee.

In ecommerce, making that first sale is key for growing an email list. Customers who have already made a purchase are the most valuable subscribers —they’re more likely to buy again than brand-new leads.

Anthropologie, an ecommerce store offers 10% off when you sign up for emails and texts.

The same thing applies to discounts. They’re mostly used by ecommerce stores to incentivize an initial purchase.

Another example is Boohoo, which offers 10% Off for new users. However, the user has to create an account and subscribe to its newsletter to claim the coupon.

6. Quizzes/Tests

A cleverly crafted quiz can be irresistible to your website visitors. People love to learn more about themselves.

After completing the quiz, visitors have to submit their email address to get the results and recommendations.

In fact, it works so well that we have our own quiz as a lead magnet. This quiz is aimed at our readers who want to become entrepreneurs.

But guess what? A user has to enter their email address before they can see the quiz results.

Creating your own quiz is simple to do with the Thrive Quiz Builder.

7. Assessments 

This is similar to a quiz, but it’s usually related to a website or a type of content.

For people to have access to the results, they’ll need to provide their email address.

Below is an example by HubSpot with its Email Marketing Assessment. 

8. Consultation

A free 30-minute consultation session is a great incentive for consultants, coaches, and service agencies.

It’s perfect because not only do you get an email signup, but you get a chance to speak directly to your potential customer. If you provide enough value in the initial session, they’ll know it’s a safe bet to sign on as a client.

Check out this example of a free consultation designed to capture leads below.

9. Sales Catalog

If you have a list of products that potential customers want to see, you can create a product catalog.

In markets like fashion and home decor, shoppers are eager to see what’s new each season. It’s a perfect opportunity to capture email leads who want to stay on top of trends.

A company that does this very effectively is Me+Em. It delivers monthly Lookbooks to subscribers, full of fashion inspiration. 

10. Video Series

Sometimes a video tutorial or course is the most effective format for the content you want to share. Although this isn’t a common lead magnet, it might be perfect for your audience.

See this 7-Day Video course by Timothy Sykes which he offers as a lead magnet for free.

11. Templates 

For service-based businesses and consultants, templates are another mighty way to generate leads. Help your audience get better at their craft by providing easy-to-use templates that kick-start their work.

Over at Ashlyn Writes, for example, you can find plenty of template bundles to help would-be copywriters and marketers improve their copy–like the below plug-and-play email subject line templates. 

12. Lessons/Classes 

If you’ve got skills and know-how to share, a free lesson or class is a great way to entice new leads. 

You get to show off your services while helping your audience overcome their pain points.

Clever Girl Finance has aced it with its free budgeting course for beginners, pictured below. 

13. 13. Free Book Chapters

Authors, this one’s for you. Want to boost your book or ebook sales? Then, try offering potential readers a free chapter in exchange for their email addresses. Not only will this make prospects more likely to purchase your entire book, but you can also keep them up-to-date with new launches, book signings, and so on. 

14. Free Tools 

If you’ve got a SaaS product or some kind of online service, offering a free version of your product is a surefire way to drum up leads. 

Just look at link shortening platform Bitly. It offers a free service for people who want to create shortened links–up to 10 per month. From there, customers can start to pay for more advanced features like personalization, additional links, and data analytics.

How to Create a Lead Magnet

Now that you have some ideas about what makes a good lead magnet, you’re ready to take action.

Here are steps you can follow to create an irresistible lead magnet that will grow your email list fast:

1. Define Your Audience of One

“Know your audience” is Marketing 101.

To be able to create any type of content that your target audience will find helpful, you need to know them deeply.

It’s hard to know a crowd — the thousands of customers you want to eventually reach. To make it easier, define one person as your ideal customer. It doesn’t matter if you’re creating a product or starting a podcast, understanding your ideal client is essential.

Begin by creating a detailed persona about that one person you’re serving with your lead magnet: Your Audience of One.

When defining your ideal customer, include as many details as possible. Think about all the aspects of a person’s life, not just those that have to do with your business, to truly understand who they are.

Include details like:

• Name
• Demographics
• Education
• Career
• Primary needs
• Problems
• Desires
• Likes
• Dislikes
• Interests

Here’s a detailed buyer persona as an example of how deep you can go with a profile. It includes personality, life goals, and motivations:

You can read more about creating buyer personas on the Shopify blog:

• How to Build Buyer Personas for Better Marketing

2. Research Specific Problems You Can Solve

When you have deep knowledge of who your potential customer is, the next step is to identify specific frustrations.

Focus on finding an urgent problem that could be solved quickly.

Here are some ways to research:

• Ask questions on forums and discussion boards in your market.
• Browse online communities like Reddit or Facebook groups to see what questions people in your niche are asking.
• Perform keyword research with tools like Semrush to find popular search terms related to your business. (Check out our Semrush review for a full discussion of how to do this. You can sign up for Semrush here.)
• Ask your existing customers what they’re struggling with right now, by survey or talking to them in person.

Once you’ve brainstormed a list of possible issues, narrow it down to one.

Remember, be specific and solve an urgent problem to get the best conversions.

3. Determine the Best Format

Depending on the need or problem you’ll address with your lead magnet, the right format could be obvious. For example:

• Solving the issue of how to pass the final level in a difficult video game might work best as a video walk-through.
• Solving the issue of what to make for dinner on a busy weeknight makes sense as a recipe eBook.
• Solving the issue of finding side hustle ideas you can start while working would make sense as a short report.

If you already have a website or blog, take your cues from what type of content your visitors engage with the most. Is it video, audio, or print?

You can also research by looking at your competitors to see what’s working well for them.

When in doubt about what kind of lead magnet you should offer, just keep it simple.

Remember, the goal is for your lead magnet to solve a specific problem. It’s better to share one idea that works than to share 10 ideas and overwhelm your audience.

Here’s a list of the easiest lead magnets to create:

• Checklist
• 2 – 3 part video series
• Free email course
• Worksheet
• Short Report (5 Steps to…)
• Audio (A recorded interview or webinar)

Here’s a secret to creating an awesome lead magnet without starting from scratch:

Repurpose existing content.

Some websites use their viral content as a lead magnet by repurposing it into another format. Repurposing content offers a lot of benefits:

For example, there might be an option for a page visitor to download a PDF version of a blog post to print as a reference document.

Marketo created a Definitive Guide Series with more than 100 helpful pages.

One of the repurposed guides, “The Definitive Guide to Social Media,” has generated over 102,000 views.

4. Launch and Test

Once you create your first lead magnet, it’s time to put it to work. Place the offer in an opt-in box on your website.

As you send traffic to your site, you’ll be able to see how well your lead magnet performs. The conversion rate tells you how many people sign up to your email list, as a percentage of those who see the offer.

If you’re getting good results, you hit the mark. Good job!

But if your conversions are not stellar, carry out tests and work on improving.

Here are some things you can tweak about your lead magnet offer for better conversions:

• Try different call-to-action buttons for the same lead magnet. Changing the text, color, and placement of your opt-in box could improve results without upgrading the lead magnet.
• Test different formats for the same content. For example, you could test an eBook vs. a video, or a report about a current trend vs. a tool.
• Try variations on the size of your offer. For instance, do your leads prefer a 15-page ultimate guide or a 2-page checklist?

With the results of your tests, you can focus your efforts on refining your offer for maximum results.

OneMan Financial tested its old landing page against a new version and found a winner. Within a few months, email capture rates increased by 29% and the company added additional 1,000 subscribers to its retargeting campaign.

Start Growing Your Email List Faster With Awesome Lead Magnets

The perfect lead magnet is invaluable.

It shows potential customers you understand their challenges. When you deliver value, it proves you can help.

With a high-converting lead magnet, you’re on course to achieving your list-building goals.

The post Lead Magnets in 2024: The Ultimate Guide and 14 Best Examples appeared first on HTE.