When people create a new lead magnet for their site or blog, they usually get so wrapped up in the creation process that they breeze right through there-work and have no energy left for the post-work. Understandably! Working on a new idea is exciting business.

Here’s a couple of things to remember to do before you create a new lead magnet and the things that you should do afterwards to set it up for success (a.k.a. building your community of subscribers who will love and adore your free and paid offers)

Before You Create a Lead Magnet

1. Make sure that it’s something that the right people are going to actually want!

Right people = People who fit into your ideal customer base 

Actually, want = Solves a real problem they’re experiencing in a short amount of time 

Making sure that these two boxes are ticked off before spending your valuable time and energy on a new freebie are essential steps to creating something that’s going to do a dang thing for your business. 

A good way of testing if you’ve got a winner? 

Send your list a survey: If you currently have a list & if your list is made up of your ideal customer base. If it isn’t made up of people who’d buy your paid offers or who you’d love to work with, no bueno – move on to the next method of validating your idea. 

Go to a Facebook group where your ideal peeps hang out and ask your survey question there

There’s no need to overcomplicate this step, but it is crucial that you do it. 

2. Make sure your lead magnet relates to what you’re selling

Ideally, your lead magnet provides a sneak peak or a segment of what you do in your paid offers. This is the best way to attract subscribers who need help solving a problem that you solve, build genuine relationships with your community and then offer them the full meal deal (a.k.a. your paid offer!)

After You Create a Lead Magnet

1. Create a designated opt-in page 

Just adding opt-in forms and pop-up boxes aren’t enough, you’ll want a designated URL to send people to from your posts and social media ads. You’ve spent a lot of effort on your lead magnet, so it deserves the mini sales page treatment. 

2. Write a welcome email + a follow-up autoresponder series 

Let your new subscriber know that you think they’re the cat’s meow and continue to provide value even after they’ve downloaded your free gift. This should be an easy step because you’ll likely have other content that you’ve written (for your blog, other newsletters, other content freebies) that relates to the topic of your lead magnet. 

The very beginning of your relationship with your new subscriber is when they’re the most interested what you have to offer so this is when you’ll want to make the emails more frequent before you move them to your regular weekly, bi-weekly or monthly newsletter list. Since they’re more engaged during the first few weeks of signing up, this is also when you’ll likely notice the highest open rates. 

Here’s a basic formula for your follow up emails (for a single digital downloadable lead magnet) –

Day 0:

{ Email 1 – Welcome Email with Link to Download The Lead Magnet – Invite them to write you back! } 

 1-2 days later: 

{ Email 2 – How are you making out with the freebie – Here’s the link again just in case – Here’s a blog post that you might find interesting } 

 1-2 days later:

{ Email 3 – An email that educates your new subscriber on the problem that the lead magnet solves – could be something along the lines of 5 Biggest Myths about X, 6 Reasons Why X } 

 1 – 2 days later: 

{ Email 4 – Introduce your paid offer } 

1 – 2 days later: 

{ Email 5 – Provide more value – Send them another freebie or blog post that relate to the original lead magnet } 

1 – 3 days later: 

{ Email 6 – Educational Email – Send another email that educates them about their problem – could be something along the lines of 10 biggest things you’re missing out on because of X, 6 things you should know about X } 

1 – 3 days later (usually the last email before moving them to your regular list)

{ Email 7 – Your Paid Offer – People who join your list and were attracted to your freebie should be of your ideal customer base (if you followed the pre-steps!), let them know how much you appreciate them by offering them a bonus when they sign up or an exclusive discount on your paid offer within a certain amount of time – Educate them about your paid offer, the benefits of working with you and include some words of people who’ve hired or purchased from you before } 

So there you have it! The 2 steps that you can do before and after creating your lead magnet that will set it up for success.

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