I’ve categorized the ideas by stage of funnel, but I also know that every business has a different funnel and customer journey, so adapt these ideas accordingly.
9. Cheatsheets
Webinars are all the rage these days. I’m a big fan of virtual lunch-and-learns, particularly featuring how-tos or trending topics. Even better, any webinar can be recorded and reused, or emailed out as part of a nurture campaign.
Quick note on these lead magnet ideas
You’ll definitely want to put these leads through a nurture flow so that the ones that reach sales reps have intent to buy.
While most companies will share a case study with a title like, “X company helped Y company increase revenue by 50%! See how we did it.” And there is nothing wrong with that. But if you take the time to insert actionable data and insights into your case study, it’ll make it worth an email submission.
7. Podcasting
Plenty of mobile games and apps already utilize beta versions and early access. If you offer an app in the Google Play Store or the Apple Store, you can enter it onto a list for users to access in beta. Even Disneyland has extended early hours for visitors to get early access to the rides!
It’s prime time to set up some fresh, new lead magnets!
Also, many of the content-based lead magnets are versatile. For example, a downloadable checklist could be used at the top of the funnel (wedding planning checklist) and in the middle (questions to ask before choosing a wedding planner).
1. Giveaways
25. Free quote or consultation
8. Idea generators
24. Free shipping
3. Influencer collaborations
More top-of-funnel lead magnet ideas:
I recommend reaching out to your partners to let them know that anyone who submits their information with a specific code or through a certain page will receive a percent off the purchase of your product.
4. Blog post downloads
For top-of-funnel lead magnets, you don’t need a form requiring details. Just first name, last name, and email will do. Make sure that each lead magnet is properly tagged with a lead source so you can track the ROI down the road.
If your product helps streamline a solution or gives your team intimate knowledge into a niche process, checklists give you a high-level, low-effort way to share that know-how. Hot tip: downloadable checklists typically perform well in Google ad campaigns.
You decide the event, and let the leads pour in.
And finally, since you’re going to be generating more leads now, you’ll first want to invest in marketing automation software to track, segment, and nurture them. In this remote world, I recommend Marketo, Hubspot, or ActOn.
These lead magnets can be topically broad compared to your product or service—but related in some sense. Remember, this is the awareness stage of your funnel. Your prospects may not even know you exist!
As the summer gets into full swing and Q3 approaches, the familiar lead generation slump hits. We’ve all been there: people start taking vacations, stop answering their phones, and your sales team starts getting antsy for more SQLs. Oh, and there’s also the whole cookieless internet thing, where first-party data collection on websites is more important than ever.
10. Webinars
Releasing a new feature? Testing new copy or UX? Advertise it to prospects. You can learn about their behaviors while shaping your offering to their exact tastes.
11. Checklists
Find an influencer in your niche, sponsor a couple posts, and collect your leads. Remember to tag them properly, especially if you choose to pay influencers on a commission or per-lead basis.
Visitors coming to your blog are most likely in the awareness and information-gathering stage, so focus on free and easy offers here. Free and easy for you too! Simply offer to send the post (or an abridged version) to their inbox so they can read later. All they need to do is fill out their email address. How convenient!
17. Product picker
Make sure your landing page copy and design matches the original offer, as well as your CTA. For example, if you’re luring prospects in with a promise of 15% off for subscribing to your email list, your CTA after filling out the form should be “get my 15% off coupon.”
This might be my favorite type of lead magnet. I know, you probably thought I was going to say whitepapers were my bread-and-butter but WHEW. I love quizzes.
Have any tried and true lead magnet ideas that we missed? Share your landing pages and forms, we want to sign up!
19. Event tickets
Assuming you want to start generating more leads, I’m going to finish off with tips on creating lead magnets for your prospects.
Seems like everyone and their mom is trying to be an influencer these days. Who can blame them, with all the TikTok and YouTube fame being tossed around? This is the perfect time to test out lead generation through micro-influencers.
20. Early access
6. How-to and examples content (i.e., a free guide on how to write a networking email, or networking email examples)
Lead magnets are often associated with the top of the funnel, but they can actually be used at every stage. After all, new prospects can slide into your funnel at any point. Or if they are entering in at the top, you’ll need a way to keep them engaged and moving along through. So consider lead magnets to be offers that both attract leads to your funnel and keep them there.
I also recommend a website pop-up tool. There are plenty of platforms today that enable you to create tasteful popups and use specific criteria to trigger them—such as page their on, topic of blog post they’re reading, whether or not they’re a returning visitor, where they came in from, and more.
Get your prospects in the door with a variety of giveaway options, from free NBA tickets to a discounted annual subscription to your product. Keep in mind that the quality of your leads will vary depending on how relevant your offering is to your product or service.
How to create a lead magnet for your business
Here are the 25 lead magnet ideas and examples covered in this post:
You can also do this with customers who have had a good experience! Referrals are like good reviews, they hold a lot of weight with prospects doing investigation into a new company. While Instagram giveaways are a great way to expand your reach and brand awareness, you’re not going to get any leads unless you have entrants DM you with their email addresses. Instead, create a landing page on your website for the giveaway, and then share that link in your social media posts.
First up, giveaways. There is plenty of finesse that goes into planning and executing a giveaway, but we won’t go into all that here. What you need to know is that giveaways are great lead magnets!
For the actual lead magnet, you’ll need:
Lead magnet ideas [recap]
Everyone loves free stuff. I had some coworkers who created email addresses specifically to enter contests to win concert tickets. While I hope your prospects won’t do the same, you could run a promotion where those who sign up for a free demo or consultation will be entered into a random drawing for free tickets to a conference.
- Giveaways
- Face-to-face field marketing
- Influencer collaborations
- Blog post downloads
- Free tools
- How-to and examples content
- Podcasting
- Idea generators
- Cheatsheets
- Webinars
- Checklists
- Templates
- Original data reports
- Product comparisons
- Email courses
- Case studies
- Product pickers
- Partner referral discounts
- Event tickets
- Early access
- Free trials
- Newsletter referrals
- Discounts and promo codes
- Free shipping
- Free quote or consultation
The image below is top-of-funnel checklist, from a process management software company: “Effective Onboarding in 31 Steps.” A mid-funnel checklist for this same company might be something like “10 Features to Look for in an SOP Automation Software Provider.”
