Lead Magnets in B2B Marketing
If you work in B2B marketing, then you’re probably familiar with the term lead magnet.
It is often used within online and digital marketing circles to describe something that a company offers in exchange for a lead handing over their contact details.
Lead magnets can come in a range of different shapes and sizes.
Not sure where to start? Don’t worry. In this guide, we’re going to help you fine-tune your needs so you can pull out the ones which are going to be the most effective for you.
Finding the right leads
We often hear people say that their goal is simply to bring in more leads. But to be truly successful, you need to be more specific than that.
You don’t want just any old lead. You want the right kind of leads. Those that are most likely to turn into paying customers and are most deserving of your time and efforts. Your goal should actually be to generate more of the kind of leads.
Let’s assume you’ve done your homework and you know what a good lead looks like for you. The next step is to figure out what type of content your target audience wants and will respond to at each stage of the buyer journey. This comes down to understanding who your target audience is and what their most pressing questions and problems are.
Content Segmentation for B2B Marketing
Once you have some ideas about the content you will supply, you need to start narrowing it down and to hone in on your specific audiences even further.
If you work with customers based across different industries then you may be tempted to just throw them all in together. But that’s a mistake, as a tailored marketing approach is likely to achieve a far higher conversion rate.
As an example, look at the content we share here at Lead Forensics. The top subject of interest to our customers and, any potential prospect, is effective online lead generation. It’s hugely important to them (and it’s why they use our software).
Top Tip: Check out which content format performs the best:
The basic principles behind online lead generation are the same, no matter what the industry or type of business, we will produce content that is narrowed down to certain segments of our wider audience, because that will make it more attractive to them.
In many cases, you are able to take the same piece of content and slightly adjust it, to market it at a specific audience.
The concept behind account-based marketing (ABM) is the same. In that situation, instead of varying your content by industry, you will generate content that is specific to one particular company.
What you want is to create powerful lead magnets that offer a tailored solution for a particular segment of your target audience – one that addresses a specific ‘pain’ they have.
Multiple Lead Magnets
To be ultra-successful, you need to have multiple offers. As well as creating different offers for specific segments of your audience, the second element you need to factor in is the stage a prospect has reached in the buyer journey.
What you’re aiming for is to have a lead magnet prepared that will appeal to each of your target audiences, at each stage of the buyer journey.
They don’t all need to be linked to the main navigation menu on your website. To the contrary, they should be promoted through links in blog posts, emails, social media post and ads, etc.
Creating a lead magnet that is directly relevant to your blog post can more than double your opt-in conversion rate.
The Squeeze in the Middle
One of the most effective ways to use lead magnets is to have lots of different offers at the top of your funnel (the awareness stage), then a squeeze offer in the middle that will help you better qualify leads – free consultations, assessments and reports can work well for this.
If you get loads of leads coming through, then create an online form which people need to fill in before talking to you. Use some form of online scheduling software to send them a link where they can pick a date to talk to you. The more digital you can make the process, the more manageable it will be.
When it’s time for the call, a team member who is knowledgeable on the topic should then look at the answers they gave beforehand, so they know what’s going to be the best advice to give them.
During the conversation, their aim should be to qualify the lead in terms of their probability to become a paying client.
Components of a lead magnet campaign
Apart from the piece of content itself (the magnet), you will also need the following for the process to work:
1. Landing and thank you page
The landing page will be an individual page on your website that describes the particular offer and what it is. This page should also include the form that people have to fill in to be able to download it. (The mechanism which will help you turn website visitors into contacts in your database).
The thank-you page is what should be shown once the person has filled out the form. It needs to contain a link to download the offer.
If you’re using social ads with a conversion pixel, then this is the place to add that pixel. Google, Facebook or whichever platform you use, will then know exactly how many people converted from which particular ad. This will help you fine-tune your advertising campaigns.
2. Autoresponder
Once someone fills out the form it’s a good idea to ping them an email across right away. Thank them for their interest and give them the link again. Perhaps also include a second link and details about another offer, as further reading they may be interested in.
If you don’t do this right away, then make sure it goes out the next day, or at the most a few days later. Leave it too long and they may have forgotten you and moved on!
An email drip campaign can work really well in combination with lead magnets. It is simply a way to nurture your leads along. You can pick up some more pointers on doing that here: B2B email marketing.
3. Call to action (CTA)
In order to drive people to the landing page you have created, you need to help them find it. That means giving them a direct link to the page and encouraging them to click on it.
This is generally referred to as a “call to action”, as you are suggesting an action they may like to take.
The promise of what they are going to get is the key to getting your audience to click. It needs to be a strong and enticing offer. And of course, highly targeted, so it is of interest and will have value for them.
Graphics can work particularly well here and the less text the better. Just make sure the messaging is clear and understandable.
If you are promoting your lead magnets on social media, then a nice big image is essential. When you post a link on such platforms, they will often pull out an image from the page to use in the post. You don’t have to go with that one. Check it is the best choice. If not, then upload your own.
Sometimes when your images have changed, various platforms may still use an old one. To prevent this happening you need to find the debugging tool. Always make sure you are also using correct on-page SEO, to support all your efforts.
Remember, CTAs can be text only or an image. Test and see what works best and where. You may need to use different formats for different platforms, depending on where you decide to promote your content.
How To Make lead magnets work In B2B Marketing:
What have we learned? Here are our top tips for you to work through and start pulling in those leads for B2B marketing:
Create many top-of-the-funnel offers that will lead on to a mid-funnel offer, which will, in turn, help you qualify your incoming B2B marketing leads.
The data gathered through this mid-funnel offer needs to be fed back to the B2B marketing team, to help them adjust and optimize the entire process.
Monitor all your numbers. Make a checklist of the most important KPIs you need to track on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Look closely at the conversion rates across the entire sales funnel. Check the stats from your sales pipeline too and try to figure out which conversion paths generate the best leads for you.
Use A/B testing to check your assumptions, wherever possible. Are there significant changes in the conversion numbers when you change the copy on a landing page or redesign the CTA? Just remember, change one element at a time so you know what was responsible for any improvement.
Vary the type of content you are offering. Are eBooks the best option, or would your audience prefer short videos? Mix it up. This will also keep it more interesting.
Don’t try to cram too much into one offer. If you are trying to speak to everyone through one landing page and one lead magnet, it won’t work as well as having a tailored offer for each specific audience segment. If you only have the time and budget to create one offer, then that’s ok. Get that one up and running, then move on to the next one. Then the next. Before you know it, you’ll have multiple offers, each individually optimized.
Deliver value. We can’t stress how important that is. If you promise the world but can’t deliver, you’re in trouble. Apart from failing to generate any good leads, you may also damage your reputation. Something you cannot afford to do in today’s transparent and globally connected world.
Concentrate on only those leads you really need. It’s no use having 10,000 email addresses in your database if none of them will ever buy from you. Targeting, accurate segmentation, and knowing your audience really well, are key to getting this right.
Lastly, consider your presentation carefully. Use bullets on a landing page for the most important points, so they’re clear and easy to read. Avoid talking too much about features, it’s one of the most common traps you can fall into. Instead, focus on the benefits. What will they gain when they take the time to read or watch your content?
And there you have it. A way to use lead magnets creatively and strategically, to gain the greatest potential benefit in B2B marketing.
Ready to elevate your lead generation game and connect with high-quality prospects? Lead Forensics is your answer… we have the tools to help you turn insights into actionable results. Start leveraging our powerful solutions today by booking a FREE demo and trial.
