8 minute read time
The Best Lead Magnet Ideas for Organic List Growth
Email marketing is one of the most powerful channels for marketing teams, and, while there are many tried-and-true methods to encourage email list growth, some marketing teams find it difficult to generate these leads without coming off as bothersome or salesy.
Although marketing teams can visit vendor shows and pass out business cards with their website information on it to those they encounter in public, those methods won’t help generate continued organic email list growth to help keep your sales funnel full.
20 of the best lead magnet ideas for organic email list growth
So how can you keep your email list growing and keep your funnels full?
Lead magnets—long term, evergreen material that’ll help bring in organic email list growth.
Defining lead magnets for email list growth
Providing your audience with valuable information that suits their needs is a vital part of the digital marketing process. However, providing continuously different materials for new leads is simply impossible. Which is where evergreen materials come into play.
Evergreen materials are pieces of high-quality content that remains the same, long term, or requires little editing to keep it up to par with changes in the industry.
Before we jump into lead magnet ideas to help with organic email list growth, let’s touch on a few basic topics.
What is lead generation?
Lead generation is the marketing process that focuses solely on gathering potential customer information, such as their name and email address. The purpose here isn’t to try and directly sell something to these leads, but rather encourage them to continue interacting with your brand through means such as an email newsletter or following you on social media. This helps classify them as a potential customer.
What is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is the piece (or pieces) of material that helps to draw in organic leads, such as a webinar, whitepaper, or other downloadable content. These help with organic lead generation because brands optimize landing pages dedicated to this content, and, when consumers search the web for specific keywords, their content appears. If it suits the consumer’s need, then they’re likely to follow through with a signup or opt-in in order to have access to that content.
Why is lead nurturing crucial?
Gaining new email leads means nothing if you simply try to get them to purchase something from you instantly. Nurturing each and every new lead is vital to getting them to trust you and want to further interact with your brand.
Ninety-five percent of visitors simply won’t purchase anything from you on their initial visit, so having high-quality lead magnets to help encourage email opt-ins is a great option for organic email list growth.
One thing all marketers must remember is that, once you’ve received a lead’s information, you still must go through an opt-in process with them to ensure that they’re giving you permission to send further marketing content.
20 of the best lead magnet ideas for marketers
There really is no wrong way to go about creating a lead magnet, as long as you remember these essential points:
- Your lead magnet must be immediately available
- It needs to address a specific consumer want/need
- It must be quick/easy to digest
- It demonstrates your expertise
Here’s a list of our favorite types of lead magnet ideas for organic email list growth.
1. Checklist
One of the most popular lead magnet ideas is the ever-popular checklist. These are great because they’re so versatile and can be created for almost any niche.
Source: Classy Yet Trendy
2. Template
Templates are another genius idea for content that makes for excellent lead generation. Just like with checklists, people are always looking for templates for various material.
3. Cheat sheet
Creating a cheat sheet is another great way to help with organic email list growth, considering people in every niche want answers on how to do something. Cheat sheets can be created for so many different things—the possibilities are endless.
Source: Really Good Emails
4. eBook
EBooks are another excellent way to address those ever-popular “how-to” questions, and, better yet, these eBooks can be big or small. However, giving users a smaller eBook to address an initial question is the best way to go, so users know they can come to you again in the future for more information.
Source: Really Good Emails
5. Guide
Guides, much like eBooks, are great because they can address a very specific question/problem, or they can be used to answer a more general question or topic. It all comes down to how much information you want to give to readers.
6. Workbook
A downloadable workbook is great for those who offer a lot of webinars, tutorials, or other free social media chats and lessons for users. These workbooks can also be used to help a consumer outline a project they’re working on or even can work as a note-taking device for something you’re offering them as part of their customer journey.
7. Case study
Case studies help present a quick look into research that you’ve done on a specific topic. These will vary in length and depend on the depth of the study done. However, they make great lead magnets for those looking for information to back up their own ideas and research. These can do wonders to help you solidify your expertise in your niche.
8. Webinar
Webinars create buzz around what you’re providing to the public. These can be on a specific topic or they can be on a broader topic to help answer common questions that consumers ask. Either way, it provides an outlet for open communication and a chance to demonstrate your expertise.
Source: Really Good Emails
9. A script
People often search the internet for ways to respond to something or someone, and supplying them with customizable scripts is a great way to generate new followers.
10. Toolkit
Toolkits are sure to garner interest and new leads because every niche has someone wondering “how to get started” or “what do I need?” Show them the ropes and provide them with some free toolkits to get started.
Source: Put Your Passion to Work
11. App download
Nowadays, more and more people are spending time on their phones and making use of various apps to help make their lives a little easier. If your brand has a handy app that consumers may find interesting, guide them to where they can download it.
12. Resource list
Resource lists are great for guiding consumers on “how to” or answering the question of where they can go for more information. The point is to help answer questions with the support of additional materials.
13. Calendar
Calendar templates and printables are wonderful ways to help guide your new leads, especially if they’re looking for a given timetable for a project they’re working on.
14. Planner
Just like calendars, creating and sharing printable planners is a great way to bring in new leads, especially those looking for help with planning and organizing their daily activities.
15. Tutorials
Tutorials are a great way to help consumers out with common issues, but they also give your followers a sample of what you can do for them. Giving users a free 14-day trial period with a tutorial is an excellent way to demonstrate your expertise in your niche.
16. Prompts
Prompts are another way to generate organic email leads because people are always searching for things to “ask” or answer that need to be answered. For instance, an audience that consists of people from the writing community especially love writing prompts to help them battle through writer’s block.
17. Generator
Name and idea generators are excellent because they can provide users with instant help on something that can be rather stressful.
Source: Shopify
18. Spreadsheet
Spreadsheets, especially for Excel, can be tricky to understand and set up. Why not create a template that users can simply download and use?
19. Infographic
Infographics are an excellent way to provide information to users in a quick and visually appealing manner. These are especially good for displaying quick statistics.
20. Gated content
Gated content is anything that requires a subscription or signup, and content that falls under this category can be just about anything. Most brands use caged content as more detailed “freebies” for those who choose to subscribe to their email newsletters.
Wrap up
Lead generation doesn’t have to be an intimidating task, and there are literally thousands of ideas on how you can use lead magnets to help you increase your email list growth organically.
A high-quality lead magnet will help by:
- Demonstrating your expertise in your niche
- Solving a real consumer problem
- Being specific to a given want/need
- Being easy and quick to digest
- Being instantly accessible to viewers
Ready to take your email signup forms to the next level? Check out our 5 tips to help improve your email signup forms to further empower your email marketing.
