Do Consultants Need Lead Magnets? [Part 2]

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

In Part 1 of this sequence we shared thoughts on what a lead magnet is and why you need to make it a priority. You’ll use a lead magnet to collect email addresses of current and potential clients so that you can stay in touch with them with relevant, consistent, useful communication. We recommended that you place a call to action (CTA) prominently on your website so they would know what to do in order to receive your offer. We also explained how content and format combine to attract your ideal clients.

Lead Magnet Design Perspectives

We are currently creating our own new lead magnet and identified important criteria from our potential clients’ perspective and from our business perspective. Here’s what you should consider as you build a lead magnet strategy.

For your clients the lead magnet should be:

• A valuable solution to the problem that brought them to your website
• Unique knowledge that they can’t readily obtain elsewhere
• Easy for them to apply instantly so while an ebook seems generous, many won’t have time to read it to gain your valuable nuggets
• Presented in a format (video, template, assessment) that they prefer and that they can use immediately

From your perspective, the lead magnet should be:

• Irresistible to your audience so they do not hesitate to click the CTA
• Easy for you to administer with no extra follow-up
• Easy to update as things change and you gain new insight
• Able to address a pre-requisite need that might inhibit someone from working with you, for example they may not feel they are ready
• Focused on providing “what” you can offer now, and entices potential clients to want to learn “how” from you in the future
• A first step on a clear path to eventually buying the training, consulting, coaching, or other support you offer 

Optimizing Your Lead Magnet’s Conversion

Getting potential clients to opt in for your lead magnet is just the beginning – but it’s a crucial gateway for follow up and to generate sales. That’s why it’s essential to have an effective lead magnet that converts – that fulfills its purpose of getting your ideal clients’ email addresses. To make the most of your lead magnet, you may want to experiment with more than one lead magnet and then track the performance of each, such as how many visitors opt in and even more important, how many convert into paying clients. You should also review the performance of your lead magnet(s) to determine if they need upgrading, updating, or a complete makeover.

Having a lead magnet is a crucial part of building a successful consulting business that you should not neglect. When done well, lead magnets are a valuable asset for marketing your consulting or coaching practice. Keep in mind that many of us are less inclined to give up our email addresses for a freebie today than we were in recent years. You need to create a lead magnet that grabs attention quickly – some say you have 15 seconds to do that on your website. Your lead magnet must provide an irresistible solution to a specific problem your potential clients have. To be most effective, that solution needs to go above and beyond what your competition offers. 

How can you gain your clients’ attention and get them to part with their email address instantaneously? What do you have to offer that would entice them to click on your CTA? What problem do they have that you can solve? How can you establish credibility and compel people who visit your website to give you their email address so that you can generate leads that can bring sales in the future?

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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