Do Consultants Need Lead Magnets? [Part 1]

By Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay, creators of the Building Your Successful Consulting Business online course.

We recently wrote about ways to create an effective website to help you sell your consulting services. But we also know that you’re not likely to create consulting sales from a website visit. You generate leads that can bring sales down the road. Therefore, your website’s ultimate goal should be to establish sufficient credibility and compel the visitor to want to stay in touch and learn more about how you can help them. And the vehicle for that kind of relationship is email. That’s why every entrepreneur must make it a priority to collect email addresses of current and potential clients. And then, to keep in touch with them with relevant, consistent, useful email communication.

How do you do that? With a great lead magnet.

What the Heck is a Lead Magnet and Do You Need One?

A lead magnet, also known as an opt-in or a freebie, is a marketing tool that lets you offer something valuable for free in exchange for an email address and sometimes additional contact information. If you are interested in growing your business or your following, you need a lead magnet.

In our 5-week online course, Building Your Successful Consulting Business, we teach new consultants to begin collecting email addresses as soon as possible – even before launching their business. Once you have a way to stay in touch with these potential clients, you can nurture your email list with consistent, targeted updates and useful information to keep them opening your emails with interest and build trust and credibility over time. Then, when you have an offer to make, you’re more likely to reach them and find them interested in your offer.

Anatomy of a Good Lead Magnet

The most common types of lead magnets are tip sheets, checklists, guides, reports, quizzes, self-assessments, or even events such as a webinar or mini-course. Your lead magnet should offer information that is useful and not otherwise available. It should be enticing and attractive to your potential clients by helping them solve a problem that is currently on their mind. It should make them feel like you understand their problem and are in a position to solve it. And it should make it seem like a ‘no-brainer’ decision to give you their email address immediately to receive this valuable information from you 

Your lead magnet is usually found on your website. Your readers should be able to immediately recognize what valuable content you are offering and what they need to do to get. A call to action (CTA) should be prominently positioned at the top of your website as well as throughout your pages. It can be a “hello bar” running across the top of your website or as a “CTA button” positioned in the top right corner of your website. If you have a blog or a podcast, your lead magnet CTA should be on every post. You want your audience to know that you have an answer they are seeking and what they need to do to get it.

Start by defining what problem your ideal customer has that you are uniquely positioned to solve, and then provide them with a solution or the beginning of a solution via your lead magnet. When thinking about the solution you need to consider it from two perspectives: content and format. The content is the knowledge or skill the audience needs such as actionable tips or a step-by-step process to solve a problem, or a tool that makes life easier for them as they face a difficult challenge.

The format is the form the lead magnet will take. It could be in a written format such as an ebook, template, or checklist. It could also be in an audio or visual format such as a podcast or video. It could be in an offer format such as a coupon, drawing, or gift certificate. The format could even be an experience such as an email course or a consultation call. 

When you combine content that your ideal clients need with a format they can easily use, you have designed an effective lead magnet. For example, often new clients require the confidence to move forward – they may need a different mindset before they can buy something from you. Your lead magnet can help them make that mindset shift to be ready to buy from you. For example, if you encounter ideal clients who don’t think they are ready for what you offer you could present them with a self-assessment to help them realize they may have the skills and are closer than they think. They ARE ready, but just not sure HOW to do it. Then, voila – you share with them how you can help them take the next steps! You provided content they need (skills and knowledge) in a format (self-assessment) that is easy for them to use immediately.

In the second part of this article we will describe the key requirements for good lead magnets from both the client and the consultant perspective. We’ll also share some ideas for how to optimize your lead magnet’s performance. Be sure to check it out next week.

About the Authors

Elaine Biech and Halelly Azulay are successful consultants with a combined 50 years of experience. Both are leaders in the talent development field, volunteers for ATD, and mentors and coaches for new consultants. They are the creators of the online course: Building Your Successful Consulting Business. Elaine, ATD’s 2020 Distinguished Contribution recipient, has published 85 books, including two classics for consultants: The New Business of Consulting and The New Consultant’s Quick Start Guide. Halelly produces and hosts The TalentGrow Show podcast where she interviews legends such as Daniel Pink, Beverly Kaye, Jim Kouzes, Dorie Clark, and others.

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