Lead Magnets, sometimes also called ‘freebies’ are a method of attracting right fit people onto your email list so you can then go on to build a relationship with them and sell to them. They are a great way to build your community and audience on an email list, which in turn can make a huge positive difference to your coaching business.

But what works well for lead magnets has shifted in recent years, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed and lack ideas of what to create. In this episode of the show I’m sharing ideas for Lead Magnet formats and some tips for making them work for your health or life coaching business.

Listen to this episode on The Wholehearted Business Show Podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts / Listen on Spotify

What is a Lead Magnet?

A lead magnet, sometimes also called a ‘freebie’ is something you offer in exchange for having someone join your email list. They’re important because growing an email list and more specifically – an audience that isn’t tied to a social media platform or somewhere you can’t control, can play a huge role in your coaching business success. All sorts of things can be offered as lead magnets and we’re going to explore what some of those things are.

How Lead Magnets Have Changed

A few years ago growing your email list by offering an ‘average’ freebie was enough to get you great results. However I feel like people are much more aware now that they already have access to a lot of information, that they don’t want a jam packed inbox and that a lot of stuff they’ve perhaps downloaded in the past hasn’t been of much use to them.

For a lead magnet to be effective today, we need to think a bit more outside the box.

It’s also worth noting that there is a growing trend in replacing your traditional freebie lead magnet for a low ticket offer that is designed to work in the same way, so many of these ideas could also be created as low ticket offers as well as free lead magnets depending on which strategy you’d like to use.

How to Create Good Lead Magnets

Although we might be offering these lead magnets for free or at a low ticket price, that absolutely doesn’t mean it should be crap! It’s important to offer something that is actually useful and good value for your ideal clients.

Try to solve a small, specific problem or address a specific concern with your lead magnet or offer a desired outcome – the idea is that people should want your lead magnet enough to take the action to sign up for it or even pay for it.

Also bear in mind who your ideal clients are and what format they will engage with. If they are busy, they might not be likely to sit down and watch a 60 minute video, however they may love a short private podcast series they can listen to on the go.

Look at Your Existing Content

If you’re getting stuck for actual lead magnet concepts, and if you’re a more established coach – then look at the general marketing content you’re creating and what themes and topics seem to be the most popular or get the most engagement. Does that give you any ideas for something you can expand on or look at within a freebie or lead magnet?

Do bear in mind that freebies that could very easily be blog posts probably aren’t valuable enough to serve as effective lead magnets.

If you’re a newer coach and looking at other similar coaches’ content doesn’t trigger you (it’s ok if it does, but maybe skip this!) then you can always look at what content they’re creating that is working well and – without copying of course – create a lead magnet around an idea from that.

Ideas for Lead Magnets

Let’s explore a few ideas. Remember, what works best will depend on your niche and audience.

A Quiz

Quizzes have been popular for a couple of years now and they can work really well as lead magnets as people enjoy learning something new about themselves, or simply the concept of getting information that is more specific to them.

Quizzes can also help you segment your audience depending on their quiz outcome which can make selling more effective.

However to do a quiz well, you may need additional tech to help you deliver one effectively.

They can work really well for health and life coaches, for example a quiz that leads people towards their stress type or a quiz that helps perimenopausal women get a list of specific foods to include in her diet depending on certain symptoms – get creative!

Private Podcast or Audio Download

Using audio information in a lead magnet can work really well as it means people may engage with the information on the go. It may also be the best format for particular lead magnets such as meditation recordings. A private podcast feed can offer exclusive content that people can access and again, listen to on the go. Hello Audio (affiliate link) is some tech you can use to offer private podcast feeds.

Another great thing about the audio format is that people get to hear your voice, and if you’re not a fan of doing video, this can be a more low key way of creating connection with people.

A Workbook

Workbooks that help people clarify something in their own lives can make really effective lead magnets. I feel that the key with a good workbook is to make it easily fillable. Personally I’m not a massive fan of PDF’s that need to be printed out as not everyone has easy access to a printer. Either fillable PDFs or Google Docs or Notion Documents can work well as workbooks – again, depending on what your ideal client will be able to use and be familiar with.

Planner

A Planner of some sort can also be a very effective lead magnet. Something that is highly usable by your ideal client and helps them create a desired outcome will work well – for example a lesson planner for home schooling parents or a workout planner someone wanting to incorporate more movement into their day.

Templates

Templates which offer people something they can take and duplicate for their own use make another excellent lead magnet. Maybe it’s a template based in an app such as Canva, Google Docs or Notion (again being sure that your audience will be familiar with it). There can be a little crossover here between templates and planners, but what makes both of these options effective is the very practical and tangible way people can use them.

Video Lessons

A lead magnet which teaches people something can work well and sharing those lessons in video form (you could also potentially offer this as an audio podcast as we cover above as well) can offer a lot of value. Even something that would be considered a small course can be useful. The rule of thumb again is whether or not your ideal client will engage with it. Another version of this could be a recorded masterclass almost like an on demand webinar.

Email Series

Sending people a series of emails that contain valuable information can also be a great lead magnet. Whether it’s formatted a little bit like a challenge with specific actions for people to take each day, or it’s a larger amount of written content – if it’s all guiding people towards a specific desired outcome it will be worthwhile.

E Book

Although e books are a bit ‘traditional’ when they’re done well, and for the right audience they can still work wonderfully well as a lead magnet. Just ensure they aren’t a blog post in PDF form, but are a lot more meaty or offer very curated information and they will work well. I’ve recently downloaded ebook PDFs that are specific curated routines for things like haircare and skincare (that promise to offer a specific result) along with product recommendations so this kind of content can also work well.

Next Steps

Lead magnets are an important part of your business, but don’t be afraid to experiment with different ideas, or indeed, have more than one lead magnet to grow your list.

I have several different lead magnets in my business which you can find listed on my Everything Page here.

To see one of them in action, why not sign up for my new Profitable Business Model Training and Business Plan Workbook below:

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