Social media is an amazing tool to help you be more visible and grow your online business. But, if you are relying on using ONLY social media to attract your ideal audience to your business and convert them into paying clients it can be exhausting.

That’s because it moves so quickly!

• You constantly feel the pressure to come up with new ideas
• You’re stuck on the content creation hamster wheel
• You feel like you have to constantly be on and present to engage with your audience, respond to comments and be chatting in the DMS.

It can be overwhelming and sometimes if you aren’t getting the results you’d hoped for – it can feel fruitless. But, when it comes to content strategy and moving away from the trap of only posting on social media, it can be daunting to know where to start. 

For me, the key to a successful content marketing strategy is to start with solid foundations and with something you can build from. A good content marketing strategy can help you:

• Attract ideal clients to your business in multiple ways and, on autopilot
• Connect the dots with your content to create a customer journey and ensure you’re always leading your audience somewhere
• Take a step back from your business and know that you’re content is still doing some of the heavy liftings in the background for you.

Just because you stop for a little while, doesn’t mean your business has to as well. 

A lead magnet is a great place to start because it’s so multi-functional. A well thought out strategic lead magnet can give you ALOT in return for your efforts and when you get it right, can be a powerful way to help you grow your business. (Click here to read more about how to create a lead magnet with value).

So, in this blog, I’m going to share five ways you can use a lead magnet to grow your business!

1. Using a Lead Magnet to build an email list

The first way a lead magnet can help you grow your business is by helping you to build an email list of the right kind of people by using a lead magnet to attract them to you. 

By creating a lead magnet that solves one of your ideal client’s problems you are able to pre-qualify the people you are attracting to your list. For example, if you have a lead magnet offering 5 tips to help improve your Instagram bio – chances are the person downloading it is interested in learning more about how to use Instagram to help grow their business. This helps you collect information so you can understand your new lead better and serve them more tailored offers that will help solve their problems in the future. (For more information on how to choose the perfect topic for your lead magnet read my blog here!)

Building an email list is beneficial for many reasons, one of them being it is much easier to get your content in front of people via email than via social media. Remember only 1 in 10 people at any time will see your social media posts. If you have a warm, engaged list, more people will open your emails meaning more eyes on your content! They are also more likely to focus on the content without the urge to scroll away. 

Having an email list means you can connect with people outside of social media platforms and if you were to ever lose your account means you still have access to your audience. Email offers a different dynamic compared to social media and using the two in conjunction with each other is the beginning of a great content marketing strategy.

2. Build trust with your email list

The second way a lead magnet can help you grow your business is by using your emails to showcase your skills, personality, knowledge and expertise, build trust with your new subscribers and turn your leads into paying clients.

Once you have people on your list:

• You can then go on to nurture them and help them build trust in you and your business through sending them regular emails. 
• You can have set days where you send emails so people come to expect them, even look for them, and you can send regular newsletters or roundups sharing what’s going on in your business. Don’t feel restricted though, reach out to your list when you feel you have something valuable to share with them.
• Email isn’t as quick-paced as social media and I find people will take more time to read a story you’ve shared via email than via social media – this helps them get to know you and in turn, builds trust in you as a person, a brand and in your offers and services. 
• Create exclusive content and offers for your email list – make them feel special and give them a reason to be there. If you are just recycling content from your social media platforms there’s nothing new for them in your emails – so what’s the point of them being there?

3. Use tags to segment your email list and make tailored offers.

The third way a lead magnet can help you to grow your business is by using tags so you can segment your list. This is good housekeeping and a great habit to get into right from the start (you’ll thank me later, honestly!). 

As your list grows using tags will help you will be able to make more tailored and relevant offers to different groups of people on your list. For example, if your lead magnet was sharing Instagram tips to improve reach, you know they are more likely to be interested when you want to sell your Instagram masterclass! You might therefore tag anyone downloading that lead magnet with the tag INSTATIPS. This means when you come to make your offer of your masterclass you can easily find any groups on your list that may be more interested than others. 

This means you don’t always have to send everything to everyone and hope for the best – sending more targeted emails helps you to send more relevant information and offers and will improve your open and click-through rates.

 It’s also a good idea to tag people when they buy from you. People who buy from you are more likely to buy from you again in the future so it’s useful to be able to easily identify them with a tag. This also allows you to make special offers to them knowing they have purchased from you in the past. 

4. A Lead magnet can help start a customer journey

The fourth way a lead magnet can help you grow your business is by using your nurture sequence to funnel people somewhere.

Before you create a lead magnet you should always know its objective – what do you want it to do for your business? (as well as bring in new leads and build your list obviously!)

It might be that you are creating your lead magnet for a specific reason for example:

• To book a discovery call because you are looking for new clients
• To make them aware of a new service/package or offer that’s aligned with the topic of your lead magnet
• To funnel them into a Facebook Group or a membership 

A great strategy for a lead magnet is to use it to direct your new subscribers to the place you show up most often, and that will be the most beneficial to them. It might be here you build trust and nurture your audience to turn them into paying clients and make your offers. That could be through providing value, sharing free resources and training etc. It might be that you want to continue nurturing them through email and that’s fine too! The point is, you should know what your objective is before you start. This helps you create a more focused funnel.

5. Monetize your lead magnet

The final way you can use a lead magnet to grow your business is by monetizing it and one of the best ways to do this is by adding a tripwire (low cost, paid product or offer) to your nurture sequence.  You can do this by adding it to the thank you page as a limited time offer or you can upsell into your tripwire through your email nurture sequence. 

A good tip is to make your tripwire product the natural next step for your reader, after your lead magnet.  For example, if your lead magnet is 5 ways to improve your marketing emails, your tripwire could be email scripts. Or, if your lead magnet is 10 content ideas to attract your ideal clients, your tripwire could be a 6-month content plan.

Low-cost items work well (usually under $50). This is a useful strategy because once people have purchased something from you they are much more likely to buy from you again in the future as the trust in you has already been established (and don’t forget to tag them!).

So there you have it, five ways a lead magnet can help you grow your business. What do you think?

Lead magnets work but it takes more than just creating a piece of free content, chucking it out into the world and hoping for the best to see results.

Take some time to think strategically and intentionally about your lead magnet to get great results!

If you’d like to learn more about using content to grow your business join my free Facebook Group The Happy Business Hub. Inside you’ll find a wonderful community of female business owners and virtual assistants to get to know and lots of free training and resources to support you on your journey.