Lead Magnets: Why Serving Leftovers is a Bad Move
Evoke visions of your favorite restaurant.
Now, imagine that you have never eaten there before. But one day, you walk past a restaurant you’re no longer familiar with and notice a couple of people out front. They are giving away free samples to anyone who wants one. You walk around, they offer you your favorite food (in a small portion) and you give yourself with enthusiasm, until…
Ewwwwww.
The food is cold. It looks soggy and stale. It feels like it’s been sitting in a cake warmer for 3-4 days. And wait a second… is that a worm?
You throw it in the nearest bin, shake your head and forget to go back there.
No restaurant would be foolish enough to advertise like this.
But online, thousands of companies are happy to offer samples of reheated “seconds” to potential customers.
What I’m talking about?
Lead magnets.
Offers that attract leads and form a key part of lead generation strategies across the global web. They can come in the form of e-books, guides, white papers, videos, or email courses. And while these pieces of content are the most popular, lead magnets can be just about anything you can give a prospect. Testing and demos are popular for cloud applications. Service-based companies offer free consultations or audits as lead magnets.
But they all have one thing in common: attracting potential customers with the goal of building a relationship that will eventually turn them into paying customers.
It makes sense that a lead magnet would be good, if not amazing. If prospects don’t want it, that relationship dies before it’s born and you miss out. If it’s junk, that’s what your prospect equates the business with. Either way, you’re out of luck… and you’re a potential customer.
And while no business wants to be seen as trash, that’s what they serve most of the time. For example, you’ll see dozens of “How to Write a Powerful Headline” guides being used as lead magnets in the marketing world. They all have the same repeated advice about length, using a perk, or wording it with little phrases like “a weird trick.” All of them do not offer much to potential customers. And yet, companies persist in serving this porridge, wondering why so few want to take a bite (and those who do turn and run).
If you have a sales or lead generation funnel that uses a lead magnet, take the time to review that crucial offer. Are you serving your best dish so prospects walk through the door to stay? Or are you handing out the leftovers, hoping that some of those trying won’t mind?