Generating leads is essential for any business looking to grow, and lead magnets are one of the best ways to attract potential customers. When done right, they can help businesses build trust, grow email lists, and nurture leads into paying customers.
In this post, we’ll explore 12 powerful types of lead magnets, with examples to help you choose the right one for your business.
What Is a Lead Magnet?
A lead magnet is a free resource or incentive offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact information, typically an email address. It is designed to attract and convert prospects by providing something valuable, such as an ebook, checklist, webinar, or discount.
Lead magnets help businesses grow their leads and nurture them into paying customers.
How to Use Lead Magnets in Marketing
Lead magnets have a clear objective: Gather contact information from people in your target audience. In a few simple steps, you can use them for marketing.
- You create a resource that addresses a particular problem area your audience faces.
- You add the lead magnet to different places on your site.
- You drive traffic to the lead magnet.
- As people sign up, you move them through your digital marketing funnel towards your business objectives.
Lead magnets have practical use cases across a wide range of industries. Here are some examples of how different types of companies can use lead magnets
- A services company can use them to find people their sales team can contact.
- Blog owners can use them to gain subscribers to email affiliate offers.
- E-commerce stores can use them to send subscribers promotions and new releases.
What Makes a Good Lead Magnet?
Here are some of the key characteristics of a good lead magnet:
Specific Focus
If your lead magnet is vague, it will unlikely gain the interest of your target audience. As such, lead magnets should provide a specific solution for a particular problem. If your business offers solutions in more than one area, you can always create multiple lead magnets.
High Perceived Value
Lead magnets must seem highly valuable to your audience. Otherwise, there is no reason for them to give you their contact information.
Satisfy a Customer's Pain Point
Your lead magnet should directly address your audience’s problems. They should immediately know that your business can offer a potential solution.
Unique Value Proposition
Lead magnets should present your business's unique offering and convince customers you are a better solution to their problems than your competitors.
Fast Consumption
Your lead magnets will be more valuable if your audience can consume them faster. An eBook with hundreds of pages may provide helpful insights, but will your audience have time to read it all? Your prospects understand this and will be more likely to grab a lead magnet they will actually use.
Top 12 Lead Magnet Ideas And Examples
What you can use as a lead magnet is unlimited. As long as your customers find it valuable, it can serve as an effective tool for obtaining their information.
Let’s examine some of the most common types of lead magnets:
1. Free eBooks
eBooks are one of the most effective lead magnets because they allow businesses to provide in-depth insights on a specific topic while positioning themselves as experts.
Typically delivered as a PDF, an eBook can be accessed instantly via a download link or email.
One of the biggest advantages of eBooks is that they’re easy to create. You don’t need to start from scratch, you can repurpose existing blog posts, case studies, or reports and expand on them with additional insights, data, or visuals.
However, keep your eBook concise. A common mistake is making it too long, which can overwhelm readers. Instead, focus on solving a specific problem in a clear and actionable way.
Here are some great examples of free SEO eBooks used by different companies as lead magnets.
2. Trials and Demos
Free trials and demos give potential customers temporary access to a product or service, allowing them to experience its value before committing to a purchase.
These lead magnets work best for subscription-based services, such as software platforms, online courses, or membership sites, where ongoing access is essential.
The key benefit of trials and demos is that they help users experience the products before committing to a paid plan.
To maximize conversions, following up with trial or demo users through email sequences, tutorials, or special offers is important to encourage them to upgrade to a paid plan.
Here is an example from Semrush.
3. Case Studies
Case studies are powerful lead magnets because they showcase real-world success stories, proving how your product or service delivers results.
They help build trust and credibility by demonstrating measurable outcomes, making them especially effective for B2B businesses, agencies, and services providers.
A case study typically includes:
- The Problem: The challenges the customer faces before using your solution.
- The Solution: How your product or service was implemented.
- The Results: Measurable improvements, such as increased revenue, higher conversions, or time saved.
Here is an example of how Matt Digity captures potential customers' information using case studies.
4. Discounts
Everyone loves a good deal, which is why discounts are one of the most effective lead magnets for attracting and converting potential customers. Offering a limited-time discount incentivizes users to take action while growing your leads.
Discounts work well across various industries, including eCommerce websites, SaaS and subscription services, and local businesses.
Here is an example of how we use discounts and special deals to convert more customers who visit our Digital Marketing Full Course sales page.
5. Checklists
Checklists list steps or action items people can use to complete a process. They are a great way to condense information into a short, easy-to-follow resource.
Checklists are also easy to create. You can take the core concepts from your other content and turn them into a list of actionable steps.
Here is an example of our SEO checklist which users can receive in exchange for subscribing to our newsletter.
6. Templates
Templates are ready-to-use resources that help users save time and complete tasks more efficiently. Users can customize the template instead of starting from scratch based on their specific needs.
Common examples include:
- Spreadsheets – Budget planners, SEO tracking sheets, or social media calendars.
- Blog Post Outlines – Pre-structured content frameworks to help writers organize their ideas.
- Prewritten Emails – Cold email templates, customer service scripts, or sales follow-ups.
Templates work well as lead magnets because they provide immediate, practical value while positioning your brand as a helpful resource. To maximize effectiveness, ensure your template is easy to use, customizable, and solves a specific problem for your target audience.
Here is an example from Backlinko.
7. Resource Library
A resource library is a collection of free resources a business gives away. They are a great way of increasing the value offered to subscribers.
Instead of a single book or template, they receive access to a whole assortment of valuable tools.
8. Webinars
Webinars are live video events. Their purpose is generally to educate viewers on a specific topic.
Webinars can be interactive and can include multiple speakers. Businesses often allow attendees to download the webinar as a video once it’s over.
Webinars often include a bonus at the end, such as a discount code or other form of incentive.
9. Free Courses
Free courses are excellent lead magnets because they help people build skills and position your brand as an authority in your niche.
This type of lead magnet works particularly well for consultants, SaaS companies, and online academies.
To maximize conversions, keep your free course actionable and easy to consume. Break it down into short, digestible lessons and include a clear call to action at the end to guide users to becoming paid customers.
Here is a good example from Ahrefs Academy.
10. Quizzes
Online quizzes are an interactive and engaging lead magnet that capture leads and provide personalized value to users. By asking targeted questions, you can offer tailored recommendations, insights, or results that encourage users to share their contact information in exchange for quiz results.
This strategy works well for e-commerce, SaaS, and service-based businesses.
Here is an example of marketing quizzes we offer for free to help our visitors test their knowledge.
11. Free Consultation
A free consultation is a high-value lead magnet that helps businesses attract qualified leads by offering personalized advice. This approach works especially well for service-based businesses, consultants, agencies, and B2B companies looking to build relationships with potential clients.
12. Free Tools
Free tools are among the most commonly used lead magnets because they provide immediate value while encouraging users to engage with your brand. Whether it’s a calculator, template, generator, or browser extension, a free tool helps solve a specific problem and keeps users coming back.
This strategy is widely used by SaaS companies, marketers, and financial services.
Our free AI text generator tools is a good example of how you can use free tools to get leads and repeating visits to your website.
Key Learnings
Lead magnets are key to turning visitors into customers. They allow you to collect valuable contact information and communicate directly with your audience.
With a lead magnet, you can provide value to your users while establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
The best part is that lead magnets are easy to create. Try building one of the lead magnets we’ve discussed and see how it can help your business!
