Lead Magnets: Why serving leftovers is a bad move

Evoke visions of your favorite restaurant.

Now, imagine you’ve never eaten there before. But one day, you walk past a restaurant you’re no longer familiar with, and you notice a couple of people out front. They’re giving away free samples to anyone who wants one. You walk around, they offer you your favorite food (in a small portion) and you indulge with enthusiasm, until…

Ewwwwww.

The food is cold. It looks soggy and stale. It feels like it’s been sitting in a cake warmer for 3-4 days. And wait a second… is that a worm?

You throw it in the nearest trash can, shake your head and forget to go back there.

No restaurant would be foolish enough to advertise like this.

But online, thousands of businesses are happy to offer samples of reheated “seconds” to potential customers.

What I’m talking about?

Lead magnets.

Offers that attract prospects and form a key part of lead generation strategies across the world wide web. They can come in the form of eBooks, guides, reports, videos, or email courses. And while these pieces of content are the most popular, lead magnets can be just about anything you can give a lead. Trials and demos are popular for cloud applications. Service based companies offer free consultations or audits like lead magnets.

But they all have one thing in common: attracting potential customers with the goal of building a relationship that will eventually convert them into paying customers.

It makes sense that a lead magnet would be good, if not amazing. If prospects don’t want it, that relationship dies before it’s born and you lose it. If it’s junk, that’s what your prospect equates the business with. Either way, you’re out of luck… and you’re a potential customer.

And while no business wants to be seen as crap, that’s what they serve up most of the time. For example, you’ll see dozens of “How to Write a Stunning Headline” guides being used as lead magnets in the marketing world. They all have the same repeated advice about length, using a buff or wording it with little phrases like “a weird trick.” All of them don’t offer much to potential customers. And yet, companies persist in serving this mush, wondering why so few want to bite (and those who do turn and run).

If you have a sales or lead generation funnel that uses a lead magnet, take the time to review that crucial offer. Are you serving up your best dish so that the prospects who walk through the door stay? Or are you handing out the leftovers, hoping that some of those who try it won’t bother?