In my many years in marketing I have built some brilliant campaigns and some that looked brilliant, but turned out not to be. Over time, like any good marketer I was compelled to analyze what I did right and what went wrong; in the hopes of understanding the anatomy of a really effective opt-in lead generation campaign.

I began riffling through old creative briefs, notes, and marketing campaigns analyzing every aspect – including the behavior of lead lifecycle, from prospect to loyal customer. Yeah, I know, there are better things to do with your time, but hay, I’m in marketing. Were else could an anal-retentive with a creative streak a mile long find work that satisfies both needs?

Back-to-the-analysis.

I concluded that the one common element shared by all of the really successful campaigns was the effectiveness of the Offer or also referred to as a “Lead Magnet”. You’re saying to yourself, no duh, of course, I always have a Call to Action or Offer in my lead generation programs. Of course you do, the question is not if you have one, but how good is it? Good campaign ideas and creative are often foiled by weak, or worse, non-relevant offers. Flip Cameras, iPods, GPSs and White Papers are all good Lead Magnets and have proven to be interesting to people, but is that what your audience really wants from you? And more importantly, is that what they need from you to become your customer?

So here is some food for thought that should get you to rethink your Offer:

While good design and clever copy are important, these elements are not essential when it comes time to closing the deal or get an individual to take action and ultimately buy. Blasphemy, I know. Don’t share this with the creative group, least you suffer a let down in their brilliance. You’d like to have both.

A great deal of thought should be given to what you are giving people in exchange for their opt-in.

This three-step filter can help you determine or re-determine whether your Lead Magnet is viable or not. In the end, it’s all about the conversion. Steps one and two, I’m sure you are well versed. It’s number three and its sub-parts that I think people forget about the most and are the keys to effectiveness.

1. Have you made it sound sexy? Yes, I said it. It’s not PC, but the truth often isn’t. It’s one thing to have a great piece of content, but does it sound great to your audience – and is it relevant. How you “sell it” is as important as what it is. (Basic advertising principle here). And if you are selling a house, make sure your Lead Magnet is related to owning or living in a home. Don’t offer a USB stick to potential home buyers; a discount on an appliance upgrade is more relevant.
2. Does it deliver? OK, now that it sounds sexy, can it deliver on the promise? Let’s say you are offering a report that let’s a campaign respondent predict, with 99% accuracy, the stock market for the next 3 months. When you promise the goods, you better darn well deliver or you will lose that person for good. The point here is you may get the opt-in, but they’ll never buy from you if the promise of the Lead Magnet does not deliver what you promised.
3. How does the Lead Magnet frame your desired end result? How does the Lead Magnet frame or push leads towards buying your product. The Lead Magnet has to be valuable or invaluable to your audience. Trinkets may have a “cool factor”, but are they generating interest from individuals that you want to do business with or is the Offer creating urgency to ultimately close the deal. This marketing concept is reinforced from renowned marketing guru and author, Seth Godin, who suggests using his best-selling book, Free Prize Inside, using “soft innovations” or product/service/solution improvements that don’t fundamentally change your product or service, but change the way people interact with it. The simple act of getting something they already find valuable, in a new way, is just the ticket to building a loyal relationship with your contact. Filling a void or solving a person’s challenge is the marketer’s basic building block to solving marketing problems. Let’s break this down further.

a. Create a void. In developing a great Lead Magnet, the opt-in offer should be something extremely useful, but the offer is not complete - yet. The best example that I can give comes from the virus/malware removal software industry. They offered a free diagnostic on your computer to tell you whether your computer was infected. Some even cleaned up the first 10 bugs. Of course, the only way to remove them all was to purchase the software package. The Lead Magnet creates voids and your products/services should fill them. This is a key element in getting the qualified lead as opposed to somebody who just wants the prize.

b. Build credibility. It is very important, if you are in a services business where your team of advisors are the product, that your Lead Magnet be services-centric – like: Special Reports, White Papers or How-To’s. These Lead Magnets should also leave the offer recipient, saying: “Wow, these guys really know what’s going on with my industry and my challenges. I want to do business with them!”

Attracting qualified leads, making a connection, establishing trust and creating a loyal working relationship -- what more could you want?

I’m sure the earth hasn’t shaken under you feet with this information. However, it should have, at the very least, shaken the sleep from your eyes the next time you are developing a Lead Magnet for your lead generation campaign.

Happy Relationship Marketing.

  Categoried under:  Relationship Marketing, Lead Magnet, Lead Generation Programs