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how to grow your list with a lead magnet

How to Grow Your Email List with a Lead Magnet

Oct 5, 2019

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You’ve likely heard it a million times before: In digital marketing, your email list is everything. But how do you grow a list full of engaged subscribers who actually want to read what you have to share. Let’s start from the beginning.

(This article contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through links in this post at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I 100% believe in. Read the Privacy Policy for details.)

What is a lead magnet?

Let’s not make this too complicated. A lead magnet is something that attracts leads to your business (like a magnet), hence the name. There isn’t one designated format you have to use for your lead magnet, but some popular examples are whitepapers, case studies, workbooks, checklists, templates, or coupons. Another great format for lead magnets that is gaining popularity is the quiz. I use Interact for mine and have been able to see a 38.5% conversion rating! All of these are examples of valuable tools that your audience can opt into (or obtain) by providing you their email address. You get a new subscriber, they get an awesome thing for free(ish) – everybody wins.

Conversions results from my Quiz Lead Magnet
Conversions from my Quiz Lead Magnet

Related Post: Professional Email Signatures: Girl, You’re Doing it Wrong

How do you create a lead magnet?

So, the first step to grow your email list with a lead magnet then is to create one. You’ll need to decide on two things: 1) the format and 2) the topic. Consider each carefully because the wrong topic or format could majorly affect your success and the ability of your lead magnet to persuade your audience to offer up their precioius email addresses. Depending on your industry, niche and audience, certain formats may do better than others. For example, if you are a B2B company, you may find that a more formal whitepaper or case study is more palatable for your audience. On the otherhand, if you own an online boutique, an Interact quiz or coupon may be a more enticing offer.

Related Post: 5 Tips To Engage Your Customers With Your eNewsletter

How do you promote your lead magnet?

While it’s pretty clear to see how you can use your lead magnet to obtain email addresses, you may be wondering how do you even get the word out about your awesome lead magnet to begin with? The two best places you can promote your lead magnet are 1) your own website 2) social media.

On your website, you can and should promote your lead magnet in your most high-traffic areas. Use a tool like Google Analytics to check what your highest ranking pages are. Personally, my blog gets a ton of traffic, which is why I try to ensure every blog I write includes a lead magnet. Like 99% of the internet, your homepage is also probably one of the most visited pages too, so you better believe you need to have your lead magnet featured there also!

Related Post: How to Create Gorgeous Pinterest Pins That Explode Your Traffic

Leveraging your social media accounts is another crucial part of promoting your lead magnet. At minimum, you should be creating and sharing a post featuring your lead magnet every couple of weeks. However, I would recommend going beyond that and promoting it as frequently as once a week, if not more (especially on platforms like Twitter and Pinterest.) With social media, you don’t have as much control over your audience so the more you can reiterate the value you are providing and stay visible, the better. All you need is a killer social media graphic design and value-driven copy and you are on your way to exponential growth.

pinterest traffic

By far and away, the social media platform I’ve found that gives me the best results for my opt-ins on my lead magnets and growing my lists is Pinterest. It has been a total game-changer for my online presence and my business in general. Just looking at September 2018 alone, I’ve essentially doubled the amount of visits that come to my website through Pinterest…However, every good digital marketer knows that traffic alone won’t grow your email list, which is why I spent the past year making it as easy as possible for people to sign-up for my lead magnet(s) on my site and blog. The results speak for themselves:

grow your email list

This chart shows the growth of my active email subscribers. As you can see, I went from less than 200 active subscribers last September (2018) to just over 1600 at the beginning of October in 2019. This is just an example of the kind of results you can expect when you commit to growing your list in a strategic way like using a lead magnet. PS. I don’t have a huge marketing team or tons of free time to dedicate towards marketing my business, and these results were even possible for me.

What other questions do you have about using a lead magnet to grow your email list? Let me know in the comments and I’d love to answer them! Or reach out to K Design Co. to talk about how we can help you integrate a lead magnet campaign into your website design or marketing efforts.

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Armed with a decade of design prowess and keen business insights to boot, she's the creative powerhouse behind these digital musings.

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When she's not crafting brands and websites that turn heads, you'll find her penning blog gems that cut through the noise with wit and wisdom. Get ready for a rollercoaster ride through the world of branding, design, and entrepreneurship – with a side of sass and humor. Buckle up, babe - you're in for one heck of a journey!

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