A little while ago I shared a post about why building an email list is important. This is honestly some of the best advice I’ve been given in my online journey and I’m so glad I received it early on. But many people shy away from creating their own, so today I want to share with you 5 lead magnet ideas to grow your email list.

**This post may contain affiliate links. The services I share are the services I personally use and honestly recommend to anyone. No extra costs are incurred for you; the referral commission simply contributes to bringing you valuable content. 

I think the biggest misconception when it comes to building email lists is that it’s hard. Or you can easily grow a following on social media so why bother? But like I’ve said before, social media is borrowed land.

Your email list is yours for life. So when it comes to raising brand awareness and building a community of raving fans, you really need to be focusing on this.

If this is something you’ve left in the too hard basket. Now is the time to dig it up and get started. And fear not my lovely, I’ve got you covered with my 5 top lead magnet ideas. Once you use these you’ll be wondering why you didn’t start building a list sooner!

Now before I can share my lead magnet ideas with you, I suppose I better backtrack and tell you…

What’s a lead magnet anyway?

A lead magnet is basically a way to get somebody to give you their email in exchange for a valuable piece of free content. It’s a way you can build a really great relationship with a potential customer right from the start.

With so much information online these days people are suffering from information overload. Their inboxes are becoming more and more crowded. And as a result, people are becoming much more hesitant about giving out their emails.

But all is not lost. You just need to create a piece of content so compelling that they will give you their email in order to get it.

And I’m about to give you 5 ideas! So there’s really no excuses for you not to start building an email list after today.

Ok, so let’s talk 5 lead magnet ideas to grow your email list

One: eBook

An ebook was one of the first lead magnets I ever used and to this day it’s still one of my favourite lead magnet ideas. Depending on your business the type of ebook you write will vary. But they should generally have the same main goal. Aim to provide free value to the reader and start to develop a stronger relationship with them.

Ideas for ebooks you could write:

• (pick a number) Must have tools for…
• Ultimate guide to…
• How to….
• Compilation of posts from your blog
• Create a workbook
• Share your story
• Compilation of stories from people within your field

Some ebooks that have worked well for me in the past are shown below.

• The first is a book specifically about Instagram. Because my main source for leads is Instagram this resonates particularly well with my audience.
• The second book is a 5 step guide to creating a location independent life. This is also very relevant to my Aussie Adventuress audience because most of my content is based around living this kind of lifestyle. And breaking it down into 5 simple steps makes it easy for people to implement.
• The third book is my original ebook and this is longer and more personal. It shares my story, the type of businesses I was working on, and explains how someone could start their own business if they wanted to.

To create your own ebook you can do this in Canva – watch my free tutorial here to learn how. (Note some things are slightly different in the current version of Canva but the basic principles and design aspects are the same)

Two: Webinar (or Masterclass)

Webinars are very popular these days with more and more people preferring video content. And according to Facebook ads experts these are the most clicked ads on Facebook.

The benefits of a webinar is that it’s a way to create more of a personal connection with your audience. Because of their ability to interact with you live. You could record it live and then keep sharing the replay as long as the content is still relevant. This is what’s known as an evergreen webinar.

Webinars are also especially great if you have a higher ticket offer you want to share. People aren’t just going to buy from clicking on a link. But if you host a webinar where you share tonnes of free value around the content inside your paid product then by the end of the webinar they’re more likely to want to commit to working with you at a higher level.

And if they don’t, it’s cool because you still have their email to stay in touch.

Here’s an example of a social media graphic I used to promote one of my webinars in the past.

Three: Checklists/Cheat Sheets

Checklists are great because they’re simple and actionable. They’re usually only a couple of pages which is ideal for people who are time poor.

Generally you’ll find they’re scrolling social media during commutes, at night etc. So they want easy content.

If you’re a business selling a product or a service, you can create a simple checklist or a guide to help your target audience realise how your product can benefit them in their day-to-day life or show them how it solves a common issue.

For example: I specialise in teaching people about building powerful personal brands so I made a simple branding checklist. As people go over this they start to realise which aspects of branding they’ve got covered and which ones they don’t. And if they feel like they don’t have enough covered they’ll come to me for more guidance.

If your brand is in need of a review you can get my free checklist here: https://jadescarfone.com/boss-branding-checklist

Four: Challenges

Of all the lead magnet ideas challenges are one of my favourites. They’re so much fun and generate a lot of buzz and excitement. Plus it’s something people are more likely to share with their friends so they can do the challenge together. This means more exposure for you.

Pick a specific area within your business that you know people tend to get frustrated with. Or topics you generally get a lot of questions about.

Then create a 5-7 day challenge (you can do longer but I’ve found the longer they go, the more people tend to lose interest) around that topic. Not only is this great for email list building, but it’s also great for ensuring people actually open your emails. Because they’re going to be excited about receiving a new step in the challenge each day.

Here’s an example of my most recent challenge (click image for access).

*Hint – with Christmas around the corner that’s always a good time to do something around the 12 days of Christmas. Last Christmas I did a 12 days of Instagram challenge and people loved it. Plus since it’s the holidays people are less stressed and have more time to get involved.

Five: Quiz

A quiz is a much more fun and interactive way to get your audience involved because it’s more casual. So people are more likely to participate, especially if they’re looking for a distraction from whatever they’re actually meant to be doing. #procrastinationatitsfinest

It’s also a great way to really understand your audience and segment your list based on where they’re at in their journey.

Since I completed my personal stylist certification earlier this year I decided to create a quiz around determining your personal style and it’s been a huge hit. If you’d like to take the quiz you can do so by clicking the image below.

For more information on how to create your own quiz check out this post.

And there you have it, 5 lead magnet ideas to grow your email list!

Which of these will you start using in your business?

Now the key here is not to get overwhelmed. Remember these are just some lead magnet ideas for you. You don’t need to implement ALL of them. Pick one to start and go from there.

If you’re not too keen on any of the lead magnet ideas I’ve listed here then I have 21 more you can choose from. Download my free resource list of 26 Lead Magnet Ideas right here.

The best thing about any of these lead magnets is once you’ve created that piece of content you can keep using it. The first ebook I wrote was my story one and that was about 3 years ago when I first got started online. I’ve stopped using it now but I was using it for 2 years before I progressed to other types of lead magnets. That’s the beauty of creating quality converting lead magnets.

Then you can focus your efforts on the most important aspect – getting eyeballs on your lead magnet. This is all about raising brand awareness through quality content that makes people want more.

Cool, but how do I do it?

1. First think about the platform/s you’ll be sharing it on. Can you display links, do you need a banner (if it’s going on your blog) etc.
2. Create a compelling call to action that makes people want to click on your link.
3. Have a quality landing page that introduces people to your lead magnet and invites them to enter their email in order to receive their copy.
4. Have a welcome email (and continue to keep in touch via email as you see fit)

For example:

1 – My primary lead generation platform is Instagram so I make the most of being able to have a link in my bio and ensure it’s clear what people should expect if they click on it.

2 – Not only do I use my bio to tell people to click on the link, but I also use CTA’s in my posts. Master the art of storytelling and people will always click your links.

3 – Have a high quality landing page that makes people actually want to enter their email. This is a really important step, if you don’t have a high converting page you will be leaving leads on the table. Check your stats, do split tests, and make sure you know what’s working.

A great platform to create pages like this is Clickfunnels. Up until recently this is what I used for all my lead magnets. If you’d like to test out making your own you can access a free trial right here. (see below for why I made the move away)

4 – Have a welcome email. The whole point of building an email list is to connect with your audience and build a deeper relationship. This is your opportunity to really cement that know, like, trust factor. So make sure you welcome them! And continue to stay in touch so these people know you’re here to help them.

I use a system called GetResponse to set up my automated emails. You can access a free trial right here. Again, up until recently this was the only program I used and I was very satisfied.

*I’ve recently made the switch to Kajabi, purely because I’ve started creating courses and this is an all in one platform so it made sense to move my landing pages and emails there as well. Otherwise, I have been very happy with Clickfunnels and GetResponse. Both are super user friendly and have great support. However I am loving the ease of having everything in one place with Kajabi. They also have a free trial if you wanted to make the decision for yourself.

And there you have it, a straightforward way to take those lead magnet ideas and turn your business around.

Once again, if you’d like even more ideas to choose from you can download my free resource list of 26 Lead Magnet Ideas right here.

And if you’re really looking to take your list building efforts up a notch, check out this free masterclass my mentor Amy Porterfield recorded.

Happy List Building!

Jade xo

P.S. If you like what you’ve read feel free to like, comment, or share. Your time reading my posts is greatly appreciated.