How to Create Lead Magnets for Online Courses?

As a course creator, a major challenge is to convert prospects and retain customers. Although there are numerous strategies on how you can overcome this challenge, here is one way that will guarantee conversions for your online courses. In this article, I will take you through some tips and examples to help you create brilliant lead magnets for online courses and convert prospects into loyal customers.

What is a lead magnet?

Lead Magnet is an item that serves the purpose of collecting contact details from prospective customers in exchange for a free resource. It can be a digital product, a physical product, or even a service. The idea is to build a relationship on mutual grounds to convert leads into customers. It is perhaps the most viable and least irritating form of marketing that reports a great conversion rate.

Due to the increasing popularity of online courses, it is getting tougher to collect potential customers' emails. By using a lead capture tool, you can make this process easier and hassle-free. Moreover, it is a straightforward way of reaching out to people where they get an incentive to respond to you.

Benefits of creating lead magnets for online courses

It is completely free: Undoubtedly, this is the best part about lead magnets. The only expense you have to cover is of financing an email software. Fortunately, some course creation platforms offer in-built email marketing tools. For example, Teachfloor looks after its users by equipping them with essential tools. Overall, creating the lead magnet, collecting emails, and promoting your online courses via email campaigns is free.

It offers value to your prospects: Lead magnets follow the principle of mutual benefit wherein the prospects get an incentive in return for their contact information. Therefore, it increases the chances of prospects responding to your efforts as they are also gaining something from it. Hence, it's a win-win situation for both parties.

Paves the way for the value ladder: A lead magnet is the first step in a value ladder. This value ladder helps you gradually sell your online courses to your audience. Therefore, it is important that the first step in this process is immaculate and functions optimally if it is to convert prospects.

Tips for creating lead magnets for online courses

Firstly, you will need to invest in an email platform that allows you to create targeted lead magnets and launch them using viable email sequences. Besides, here are some quick tips on what is necessary for a lead magnet.

Subject-appropriate: A lead magnet will only be effective if it is specific and targets the correct audience. Therefore, ensure to curate them by your course niche and its targeted audience. Since someone looking for a quick checklist will not take your lead on an ebook.

Overwhelm-free: Do not bombard your prospects with repeated emails. As this can overwhelm them and deter them from responding positively to your efforts. Hence, make specific leads and drip-feed them gradually to the audience so it is easy for them to follow along.

Quick-to-consume: The quick and easy your lead magnet is to follow, the higher the chances of people responding to them. Your goal is not to make people download your leads but instead, it is to drive them to your course page using the leads. So, make quick and effective leads that target the audiences' pain points and convince them to buy your course.

Relationship-focused: The aspect of lead magnet that makes them successful is a mutual connection. You need to make people feel that they are getting some value out of your leads. To do that, you will need to gain their trust. For this, you can add some social proof to your webpage and leads such as testimonials from previous clients.

Ideas for lead magnets

Now that you are aware of what goes into making a lead magnet, let's look at some examples of lead magnets that you can use for your online courses.

1. Free E-book

We all have come across E-books and downloaded them, only to forget about them later on. Nonetheless, E-books are the most popular form of lead magnet. They are easy to create and offer in-depth information on a specific topic. They are a great way of offering value to your prospects. Especially, in a time where books can cost a fortune, these E-books are a great way of offering expert advice for free. However, it does take more time and dedication to write an E-book in comparison to the other lead magnets.

To make your E-book lead effective, you will have to make it both insightful and interesting. You can add graphics, images, bullets, and statistics. Even though it is a book, you can design it in such a way that it breaks down concepts into small sections that are easy and quick to follow.

Here is an example of our E-book, Scale your cohort from 50 to 500 students with 9+ proven strategies. See how the webpage is catchy and at the same time very to the point. It lists the summary for people to know what to expect from the book. At the bottom, there is a download button where you can enter your email and access the book.

It is a great way of offering value to your prospects and providing them with a glimpse of what to expect from your courses and products.

2. Checklists/worksheets

In contrast to E-books, checklists are a quick way of offering information. They come in different formats and help people follow a set path to achieve a certain goal. A worksheet is also similar to a checklist as it too helps prospects in achieving a certain goal, the only difference is its structure.

A great way of making your checklist more effective is by offering it in conjunction with your online course. In this way, prospects will be motivated to purchase your course to learn more about the checklist to achieve their goal with detailed guidance. Checklists and worksheets are super actionable and entertaining in comparison to other lead magnets.

3. Free templates

With free templates, you can have lots of creative options. There is an email template, a webpage design template, a cooking recipe, a graphic design template, a resume template, and so on. They are an interesting way of providing free value to prospects and introducing them to your products.

They are especially beneficial for new creators who do not have the expertise and so look for simpler solutions. These free templates come in handy for them.

4. Video Content and Webinars

Video is a great and interactive way to communicate with your prospects. In comparison to other leads, it is also quick and requires less effort from your prospects. Research shows that people are 75% more likely to watch a video than to read a text.

With video content, you can be sure that your prospects will watch at least a few seconds of your lead. Therefore, increasing the chances of convertibility. It is also a great way of introducing your teaching style to your prospects.

5. Quiz

Quizzes are a fun way of reaching out to your prospects. Instead of making them seem like a task, make them appear like a quick activity or game. These are also great for helping you collect precious data about your prospect's expectations and needs.

6. Online tools

Online tools are great as they solve problems and offer instant solutions. Moreover, due to their problem-solving nature, they appear more appealing to potential customers.

You can create different online tools for different purposes and audiences. Here is a tool by Shopify that helps people find names and domains for their businesses. Depending on your product and course content, you can also offer a solution to something your prospects face. Here, you can also use the lead magnet to lead your prospect to your course for full detail on how to solve their particular problem.

Conclusion

Lead magnets are a great way of reaching out to your prospects and offering them value in exchange for their contact information. The success of a lead magnet lies in your assessment of your prospective audience. Therefore, before you embark on this journey, make sure to know them and their needs well so you can offer them good value. Another important thing to keep in mind is that it needs to be actionable. That is to say, your prospects should feel compelled to access your leads and then, your courses. Hope these tips help you in creating the best lead magnets for your online courses.

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