Now, actually produce the thing! This is where many fall short – a lead magnet must genuinely be high-quality to “convert like crazy” and to set the stage for a good relationship. If you throw together something sloppy, you might get the initial opt-in, but people will tune out or unsubscribe later (and certainly won’t be primed to buy from you) because you’ve signaled low value.
Some tips for creating a top-notch lead magnet: - Invest Time and Effort: Yes, it’s free to the user, but it shouldn’t feel cheap. Dedicate effort to make it useful and well-crafted. For a PDF guide, that means solid writing, good examples, maybe nice layout/design. For a video, good audio/video quality and clear teaching. - Be Specific and Actionable: Especially for things like guides, checklists, templates – make sure the user can implement something right away. If it’s theoretical fluff, it won’t impress. For example, a lead magnet “Email Marketing Tips” is vague, but “Email Marketing Checklist: 5 Things To Do Before You Hit Send” with specific items (like check subject line for 50 characters or less, one CTA per email, etc.) – that’s actionable. - Include Quick Wins: Jenna Kutcher emphasizes breaking off “meaningful pieces” of your knowledge that are immediately useful. In other words, don’t give a vague preview that requires them to buy something to actually get the benefit. Give them a standalone win. Ironically, giving away real value builds more trust and goodwill (they’ll think, if the free stuff is this good, the paid stuff must be even better). - Keep it Focused: One lead magnet = one main topic or solution. Don’t try to cover everything. If it’s “Beginner’s Guide to Home Brewing Beer,” that’s clear. But if you try to combine beer brewing, wine making, and cheese making tips in one, it dilutes the focus. You can always make multiple lead magnets for different segments. - Professional Presentation: You don’t need to hire a fancy designer necessarily, but do pay attention to formatting and clarity. Use tools like Canva for nice PDF designs or PowerPoint/Keynote to design slides for a PDF. Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to make content scannable. If recording a video, ensure you have decent lighting and sound (a cheap lapel mic can do wonders for sound). The polish reflects on your brand; it doesn’t have to be perfect, but should feel legit. - Length – Enough to Matter, Not Overwhelming: There’s no hard rule, but an eBook might be 5-15 pages rather than 50 (unless your audience expects a very deep dive). A checklist is 1-2 pages. A webinar maybe 30-60 minutes. Give enough content to deliver the promised value fully, but not so much that it sits in their download folder untouched. People are more likely to consume shorter content, and you want them to actually consume it, because that’s what warms them up to you.
During creation, always put yourself in the user’s shoes: is this solving my problem or answering my question in a straightforward way? Is it enjoyable or at least easy to go through? If you can, beta test it – give it to a friend or someone in your target demographic to get feedback.
Also, in your magnet, consider planting some seeds for your paid offerings if relevant – not a hard sell, but mention concepts or tools that relate to what you eventually offer. For instance, if you eventually sell an online course, your free guide could naturally say “In my full course, we dive deeper into X, but here’s a quick tip...”. Or at the end of a checklist, a call-to-action like “Ready to take it to the next level? Join our upcoming webinar/course/etc.” But even if you do that, ensure the lead magnet stands on its own merits first.