How to Quickly Create an Effective Lead MagnetHow to Quickly Create an Effective Lead Magnet
by Kim Walsh-Phillips
I talk about Facebook more often than any other social media channel. It has nothing to do with my personal affinity for the platform. It is not because of my deep-seated love of baby first step videos in my Newsfeed, or that I can catch up socially without leaving home, or that I can quickly share pictures of my girls with my family. (What can I say? I like efficiency and squishy babies.)
The reason I talk about Facebook so much for business is because of the results it brings my clients and my firm. We have tested advertising on LinkedIn and Twitter and haven’t come close to the return on each lead and sale that we can with Facebook. No other platform matches Facebook’s digital data with prospect behaviors, lets you target your prospect list, or even comes close to Facebook’s ability to build “look-alike” audiences, lists of people with the same demographics and behaviors as your list.
And no other network lets you scale up and down with such precision to maximize your return.
On Facebook especially, you will not be successful, especially long term, if you try to sell directly to cold traffic. Instead, give before you sell.
As Dan shared, your Magnetic Offer is something your best prospects would pay for, even if it weren’t free. But, of course, all they need to do is give you their contact information. This is an effective way to start lifelong customer relationships with cold Facebook traffic.
Why Lead Magnets Work
When it comes to generating leads online, reaching out to prospects on social media and elsewhere isn’t enough. Merely asking people for their contact information won’t get you very far. You need to offer something of value in exchange, and it needs to be something worthwhile to your target audience. Put simply, you need to develop an assortment of lead magnets to walk your target market toward the sale.
Thankfully, you don’t have to pour huge amounts of time, effort, or money into developing lead magnets. In fact you shouldn’t.
For example, if I am going to offer a free guide about Facebook, I am not going to include every step-by-step on how to run an effective Facebook ads campaign because 1) There would be no reason for the students to continue to learn from me, and more importantly 2) they would be completely overwhelmed and most likely run away from the topic altogether. The guide can focus on one aspect of what they need, and give real value but not the entire story.
This isn’t just about selling. It’s about being effective for your prospect.
If it seems like too much work either to consume or execute, it generally does not test well as a lead magnet. Brands, speakers, and experts often think it is their obligation to tell prospects everything. But the contrary is true. You are doing a disservice to your target market if you give too much information. They will not be motivated to move forward to take action.
The reason is in our brain chemistry. Prospects want a quick win, giving themselves a quick dose of dopamine.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action toward them. (Source: Psychology Today.)
Dopamine is one of our body’s triggers for motivation. It is what propels us forward to action. It’s behind all the actions in our day, such as getting out of bed and taking a shower to the more advanced actions like achieving goals. It is our reward trigger that makes sure we don’t sit around like sloths all day.
It is your job to propel prospects forward into action. The moment they consume your lead magnet, they should get a quick dose of dopamine propelling them to continue along the path to a sale. Yes, this is manipulative. But necessary. Your prospect craves it.
If you have a product or service that meets the needs of your target market, then you have a moral obligation to purposefully work triggers to drive them to action. I believe there is nothing immoral or unethical about using triggers to drive your target market to take action in order to ensure they get what they need.
Our favorite lead magnets, because they have proven the most successful, include: guides, a who’s who book, a step-by-step blueprint, an ebook, a gift certificate/discount code, video series, checklist, event tickets, webinar registrations, and contests.
GUIDE
Develop a guide focusing on something that matters to your target audience. Give people real value as a starting point to building your relationship to a point. It should have real content in it, with the main purpose being to drive them to the next step in your sales process.
To get started, make a list of the top 20 questions prospects ask you, and simply answer them. In this type of guide you are starting the sales conversion by answering what the prospect would have asked you if you met face-to-face. We developed one for our client, a granite and marble supply company, “Top Ten Questions about Granite.” (See Figure 6.1 on page 77 and Figure 6.2 on page 78.)
A WHO’S WHO BOOK
This strategy serves a dual purpose because it feeds helpful content to the prospect AND it serves as a trust builder with your target market. You are showcasing who (besides you) chooses to work with you. An accounting firm might create “How 5 Businesses Cut Their Expenses by More Than 27%.” A catering facility might offer “Ten of the Best Weddings in Our Town.”
One of our successful client campaigns was for The Fertility Center. We put together “Stories of Hope” from its patients. Those struggling with issues surrounding fertility are hungry for information, and this book lets them envision the result they are looking for.
FIGURE 6.1: Atlantic Granite Landing Page
FIGURE 6.2: Atlantic Granite Lead Generation Magnet
The practice has received positive feedback from those who received the booklet and has put new patients into the practice for less than $30 each. (See Figures 6.3 through 6.6, starting on page 79.)
FIGURE 6.3: The Fertility Center Landing Page
FIGURE 6.4: The Fertility Center “Stories of Hope” Book
FIGURE 6.5: The Fertility Center “Stories of Hope” Marketing Funnel
FIGURE 6.6: The Fertility Center “Stories of Hope” Marketing Funnel
STEP-BY-STEP BLUEPRINT
For example, we created a Facebook Ads Template (See an example at www.NoBSSocialMediaBook.com.) The document gives real value, but is a small sliver into what the prospect needs to be successful in Facebook marketing.
The copy is:
Uncover . . .
• The blueprint for creating more effective Facebook ad images that can increase your sales conversions 3x or more.
• What to do to get the most out of your Facebook Ad Post Content. Use the copy examples to trigger an emotional response to take action in your prospect.
• How to utilize promise sentencing, calls to action, open loops and more as your secret hidden ad strategies the prospects won’t notice but will drive them to action.
EBOOK
Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of writing an ebook. It can simply be a collection of your blogs or answers to the top questions asked by prospects. If you are writing a blog, take the last 30 to 50 of them, add an intro and a call to action at the end, and you have your ebook. When people are offered an ebook, they feel they’re getting something of large value. This also sets you up as the authority and expert in your industry by being the author of a book. When you describe a prospect’s problem effectively and ensure a solution for your niche audience, prospects will feel they’re getting a bargain by simply having to provide their contact information.
GIFT CERTIFICATE/DISCOUNT CODE
Social media has the power to make people feel as if they are getting a deal in front of everyone else. Utilize this principle by offering a discount code or gift certificate to lure them in. Both discount codes and gift certificates have a higher perceived value than a coupon. It should be so enticing an offer that your prospect feels compelled to move forward. Remember this is part of your lead generation so the offer discount is really part of your marketing cost. (See Figure 6.7.)
FIGURE 6.7: Katie K Active Wear Landing Page
Katie K Active Wear (www.KatieKActive.com) used to offer a 15% discount code to anyone who signed up for their mailing list. We changed it to a $15 gift certificate toward a first purchase. It is conditioning prospects to make a purchase.
According to online shopping store Shopify.com, customers are 70% more likely to purchase again than noncustomers. The key is getting them to make that first purchase—and a gift certificate is an effective tactic for doing that.
VIDEO SERIES
Some brands build their entire sales funnel around a series of videos. Internet marketing superstar Jeff Walker’s entire business is based on these video launches. In my opinion, this is a dangerous place to start. While landing pages and reports can be changed quickly, videos aren’t nearly as nimble. When just starting out, it may not be your best bet because they take more time and equipment to produce.
I have successfully used video for Facebook sales training launches and several of our clients such as Ron LeGrand and GKIC Insider’s Circle have as well, but knowing the work and time needed, it is not where I suggest you start.
CHECKLIST
People love instant gratification, and that’s even truer online. A checklist offers the promise of useful information in small, easy-to-understand blurbs, so it tends to be a very effective lead magnet. Your checklist just needs to explain how to do something simply and logically. It can take many forms, including a flow chart, a cheat sheet, a process chart, or even an infographic. It is also a very valuable tool if given before a webinar or teleseminar as an outline of what you will be covering. It creates buzz and is a tease for your presentation. It also helps the attendee pay more attention becuase they are actively engaged while you are presenting. (Keep those hands busy working on something for you instead of texting or surfing the web!)
EVENT TICKETS
This is another example of luring people in by offering them something at no charge they’d otherwise pay for. The event can be one you’re holding yourself, or it could be some event that offers extremely cheap or discounted bulk tickets. From time to time, we get tickets to our clients’ events and use them as lead magnets. When prospects realize they can get their hands on the tickets by merely providing their contact information, they’re very likely to act. With this one, however, free isn’t always the best. Test “no commitment” vs. asking for a refundable monetary reservation fee to ensure only those who plan on going register.
I’ve also charged a fee of $10 and donated it to charity. Ryan Deiss’s Digital Marketer does the same thing each Black Friday with fantastic results. Last year it raised over $100,000. Make sure you tell the audience what the actual ticket value is, whether or not you are charging for it. (See Figure 6.8 on page 87.)
WEBINAR REGISTRATION
Webinars are one of the easiest ways to build your list. Most webinar software has landing pages and built-in forms to make the tech side quick. It doesn’t require you to create a report or video series ahead of time. Of course they do require you actually create effective content, but since you are combining an opt-in with a sales opportunity, you can shorten your entire cycle.
Different lead magnets may be more effective with certain audiences than others, so test several for best results. Regardless of which ones you use, before you offer one, always ask yourself:
• Would someone pay for it if it wasn’t being offered for free?
• Does it meet the needs of your target market?
• Does it set you up as the authority and expert?
• Does it help qualify your target market?
FIGURE 6.8: Digital Marketer “Black Friday Boot Camp” Landing Page
CONTESTS AS LEAD MAGNETS
Why would they enter this? No, really?
Contests can be an effective way to build your list and sales.
We ran one for this book and had over 1,000 people apply for a social media package and to be spotlighted in this book. (To see who won, see Chapter 15.) This gave us a lot of content for the book, new contacts on our email list, and hundreds of warm leads.
Engaging through a contest is effective.
This is the thought process behind “gamification,” defined as the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g., point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service.
Put another way, make your marketing more “fun” so your prospects are eager to participate. Leverage gamification as a lead magnet to acquire new prospects.
However, do not run your contest directly on your Facebook timeline. While now “legal” by Facebook’s rules, if you run your contest on your page, you cannot require people to give you their email address and/or like your page in order to enter. Instead, send your traffic to a landing page outside of Facebook (instead of using on the Facebook plugins to host the page on a Facebook tab). Move your prospects to a channel with the greatest chance of entering.
And importantly, give away a prize that also works as a way to qualify your leads. Instead of a generic iPad or Visa gift card, give away something your quality prospects would like, such as a gift certificate to your business, consulting time, a ticket to an event, merchandise, etc. For Bath Planet we gave away a bathroom remodeling and for One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning, a furnace.
Whatever your lead magnet is, use it to draw your lead away from social media in order to acquire people’s contact information so you can nurture them into a sale. (See Figures 6.9 through 6.12 on pages 89 through 92.)
Start with one, optimize it, and move onto the next. See what your audience responds best to in not just opt-ins but in full conversions to customers.
Because in the end, the dollars generated through your lead magnet and the sales funnel that follows is the only metric that really matters.
For a speed method in creating lead magnets, visit www.NoBSSocialMediaBook.com.
FIGURE 6.9: No B.S. Social Media Marketing Contest Landing Page
FIGURE 6.10: No B.S. Social Media Marketing Contest Additional Landing Page Content
FIGURE 6.11: No B.S. Social Media Marketing Contest Opt-In Form
FIGURE 6.12: No B.S. Social Media Marketing Contest Thank-You Page
And nothing has proven to give a higher ROI than social media marketing. Dollar for dollar, day in and day out, over and over again—you get the idea. Social media marketing produces a higher return per dollar spent than anything else.
How Do I Reach My Target Audience?
Once you have your lead generation magnet ready, it is time to get your perfect prospects to fill it in.
After new email subscribers join our list, they are offered the opportunity to ask me a marketing question. I am often asked a question about choosing their exact target market. I’ve been asked, “How do I reach seniors?” “How do I reach an affluent group?” “How do I reach small-business owners?” or “How do I reach owners of Sugar Gliders?” (which by the way are the cutest nocturnal flying creatures you ever did see and the niche of one of our www.FBSalesFunnel.com students).
How do you reach any specific market you are looking to conquer?
In 99% of cases, I have found Facebook to be the best place for mass marketing sales with the highest ROI. From small business to large business, business to consumer, and professional services, Facebook continues to outperform other media when targeting people for generating leads and subsequent sales.
Why?
Because Facebook combines behaviors with data mining to give you access to exactly who you are going after without having to buy a list.
Facebook partnered with data giants Epsilon, Acxiom, and Datalogix to allow brands to match data gathered through things like shopper loyalty programs, sweepstakes, credit card data, and government records.
You can access this information using Facebook’s Partner Categories.
What Are Partner Categories?
Partner categories are a targeting option you can use with your ad to identify and reach the right people with the right message on Facebook—based on their activity outside of Facebook. For example, you can use these targeting options to show your ads to people who have taken actions that indicate they may be shopping for a new car.
Partner categories are available as a targeting option to advertisers in the United States. (See Figure 6.13 on page 94.)
The information is gathered from a host of both online and offline consumer activity.
By using a Facebook ad rather than buying a list, you can now target the exact prospect you are going after, like people who are interested in vacationing in Utah who are likely to move in the next year and have two young children.
Facebook also acquires their information on behavior, demographic, and interest data from its users’ behaviors. Additionally, Facebook collects data from external sources such as the U.S. Census, warranty cards, registration information, the Department of Motor Vehicles, public record information, survey data, sweepstakes, and other offline sources.
FIGURE 6.13: Partner Categories
As a consumer, it may feel kind of creepy to know that Facebook collects so much personal data. As an advertiser, it’s fantastic. Facebook uses the data it collects to provide you with deep demographic targeting.
Currently, Facebook’s demographic targeting offers thousands of behavior and demographic categories. The ten examples below are courtesy of www.SocialMediaExaminer.com.
Ten examples that provide a glimpse into the power of Partner Categories:
1. Household size of 6 (8,842,800 users)
2. Upscale department store credit card user (34,618,400 users)
3. Home office supply purchases (2,638,300 users)
4. Aftermarket vehicle purchase over 48 months ago (11,952,800 users)
5. Baby food and products buyers (10,497,100 users)
6. Casino vacations (4,242,000 users)
7. Dog owner (12,643,500 users)
8. Fitness buyers—runners (5,950,600 users)
9. Teacher/educator (223,000 users)
10. Donate to veteran causes (7,016,400)
Segment Interests to Optimize Effectively
We optimize ads daily, and one of the key ways we do this is by narrowing the targeted audience of each ad. If you want to sell tennis racquets, you could target fans of the U.S. Open, Nike Tennis, and Andre Agassi plus those who like tennis. But if you combine all of these, you will never know which is getting you the best return. We generally always start with a look-alike of the client’s best customers plus one partner category. When we find one that performs well, we begin to add another category to see if it improves results. (For more on testing, see Chapter 14.)
Play around with each of the main options (demographic, interests, and behavior), run some A/B tests, and determine which avenue works best for your business. This is the kind of marketing none of your competitors are doing but can give you an incredible ROI. Most who read this book won’t take action, but if you do, you will quickly grow your return on investment.
Now go find your equivalent of the Ohio Family with six kids that likes HGTV that converts really well for one of our financial planners.
You have been challenged. Be different than most and accept.
Get Your Target Market to Opt-InGet Your Target Market to Opt-In
by Kim Walsh-Phillips
I am fascinated by the story of Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos. I am also one of their Prime Members and a company stockholder.
Jeff Bezos got the idea to start Amazon after he came across the fact that Web usage was growing at 2,300% annually. He had just turned 30 years old and been married for a year. When he told his wife he wanted to quit his job and do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most startups don’t, she told him to go for it.
Interestingly, Amazon’s initial public offering went nuts in 1997—but then came the crash.
According to Business Insider, “For a while, analysts called the company ‘Amazon Bomb.’ But Amazon survived for two reasons: Users kept coming to the site in bigger numbers, and Jeff never promised shareholders anything but a long-term vision.” Since then, Amazon.com has expanded beyond selling books to selling almost everything, from clothes to bird cages to a grossly dramatic replica of five pounds of human flesh, for example. (And some day when you have time on your hands, check out the reviews for Sugar-Free Gummy Bears. It’s interesting because people love it and hate it for the same reason, it’s a gastric nightmare! It has 1,400+ (humorous!) product reviews.)
By 2009, Amazon was up 5,000% since its IPO. And I am a happy stockholder.
(If you want to read more about Amazon’s story, check out The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone, [Back Bay Books, 2014]). It is a very candid telling of how Bezos created a new disruptive way of doing business.)
You may not be trying to create the next Amazon.
But if you offer a quality product or service you believe in, people have a need for what you offer, you want to get more customers, clients, or patients, and you want to increase sales to your current customers, clients, or patients, then you are going to need your target market to respond to your ads.
When you have determined who you are going after and narrowed your target market, established your unique selling proposition and brand message, and have a working sales funnel, it is time to put some money in the game and launch.
When you are ready to launch your ad campaign, be sure to avoid these mistakes.
• Do not boost your post. Doing so is like turning your money into a paper airplane and sending it into the sky with the hopes it will bring you money back. Facebook puts the “Boost Post” button below every post you have in order to entice you to click it and spend money with them. You can’t blame them. Just like Vegas, they want to give you opportunities to spend your money. But there are much more effective ways to advertise on Facebook.
• Do not target too broadly. Make sure your copy and images speak to a specific audience. We’ve seen businesses set up their audience to be very narrow but then use the same image for every audience. Being broad is a quick way to waste your money.
• Do not make the ad about you or your product/program/service/event. Ads that speak directly to your target market and share why someone should click on the ad (or play the video or Like your page) will perform a lot better.
• Do not copy other ads you see on Facebook. Most of the people doing social media marketing are doing it terribly, terribly wrong and are not seeing measurable success.
Instead, read the next chapter on how to write an effective ad.
#NoBSsm Tweetable Takeaways#NoBSsm Tweetable Takeaways
Don’t just ask people for their email address. Offer something of value in exchange that is worthwhile to your target audience. #NoBSsm
It is your job to propel the prospect forward into action. #NoBSsm
People love instant gratification, and that’s even truer online. #NoBSsm
Make your marketing more “fun” so your prospects are eager to participate. #NoBSsm
Facebook combines behaviors with data mining to give you access to exactly who you are going after without having to buy a list. #NoBSsm
Do not target too broadly. Make sure your copy and images speak to a specific audience. #NoBSsm