Are Lead Magnets Worth It for Coaches?

Investing in a lead magnet for your coaching business requires you to spend money on something that does not directly make you money. It may raise a few questions like are lead magnets worth it and do lead magnets actually work? Let’s take a look at the benefits of lead magnets and how to make money from lead magnets.

Benefits of Lead Magnets for Coaches

The role of a lead magnet is to help coaches like you to build an email list by dangling a freebie to entice your followers. If used correctly, your lead magnet can:

• Convert unsure website visitors – Lead magnets allow fence-sitters looking for coaching to try before they buy. A well-written lead magnet can show them the value you will provide as their coach and show them how to take the next step to work with you.
• Prompt social media lurkers to take action – Social media followers can stagnate over time. A lead magnet allows you to get social media lurkers to take option so you can warm them back up. It also reminds them that you can offer far more value than what you give them in free social media content.
• Warm clients to your coaching program – Coaching programs are large investments, even with a payment plan. Lead magnets are an evergreen sales asset that can sell your coaching program long after your prospective coaching clients download them.
• Upsell to a masterclass or low-ticket product – Your lead magnet doesn’t necessarily have to upsell to your coaching program. Many coaches use lead magnets to upsell to a low-cost product or service instead. This allows them to increase the lifetime value of their clients and see a higher conversion rate for their lead magnet.
• Generate new leads for your coaching business – With the right strategy, you can use your lead magnet to attract brand new leads to your business. Many coaches advertise their lead magnets to get their coaching business in front of new people or they may promote it to the audiences of others through affiliate partnerships or collaborations.
• Establish your credibility – A lead magnet will show your authority and credibility instead of just showing it. Prospective coaching clients will be able to see how your experience translates into helping them.

When hiring a lead magnet copywriter, identify which lead magnet benefit is the most important for your business and which are secondary. A copywriter needs to understand the results you want to see from your lead magnet and how you will use it in your coaching business.

How Much Does a Lead Magnet Cost?

The cost of lead magnets will vary depending on the kind of lead magnet and its inclusions so you may need to shop around to see what’s on offer. For example, a checklist will cost less than a 10k eBook. Purchasing a lead magnet by itself will cost less than purchasing a lead magnet, a welcome sequence, and landing page.

For reference, we create comprehensive 5-7k word lead magnets for our clients that includes a strategy session, a 3-email welcome sequence and a short landing page for £1,250. However, we also provide custom lead magnet quotes for coaches. Our services are copywriting only but we will gladly recommend graphic designers.

What Is a Good Conversion Rate for Coaching Lead Magnets?

There are 2 lead magnet conversion rates we are interested in. The first is the opt-in conversion rate – how many people download the lead magnet. The second is how many people who download the lead magnet go on to make a purchase.

The opt-in conversion rate is really easy to measure as your landing page will be able to measure the traffic vs sign ups. The average conversion rate is between 5 and 15%. An excellent conversion rate is 30%. There are 3 things you can do to increase your lead magnet opt-in landing page:

1. Send better qualified traffic to your lead magnet landing page.
2. Revise your lead magnet offer.
3. Make your lead magnet landing page more compelling.

The second lead magnet conversion rate – how many lead magnet downloaders make a purchase can be a little harder to measure because in most cases there are more variables involved. This is especially true if your lead magnet upsell is your coaching program as a lead may need time to consider a high-ticket program. Your conversion rate will be impacted by how you nurture and sell to your email list, so it is not solely based on your lead magnet.

In addition to tracking the CTR (click through rate) of your welcome sequence upsell, you can segment your email list to label the lead magnet downloaders. This will allow you to compare stats from your lead magnet downloaders email subscribers and non-lead magnet downloaders email subscribers. You can view the lifetime value of your lead magnet downloaders and how long it takes them to make a purchase.

This data will allow you to make decisions about whether your lead magnet is worth it and if you want to make changes to your lead magnet sales funnel. For example, you could test a new upsell to see if you increase the conversion rate. You could also test an upsell campaign to send a few weeks after the welcome sequence to remind lead magnet downloaders of your offer.

According to WPForms, 50% of marketers who use lead magnets gain higher conversion rates. Segmenting your email list and tracking your stats will allow you to see if your lead magnet is converting well.

Can You Make Money from Your Lead Magnet

Just because your prospective coaching clients are downloading your lead magnet for free doesn’t mean you can’t make money from it. Here are 3 popular ways you can make money from your lead magnet. 

Affiliate Links

The most popular way to make money from your lead magnet is by using affiliate links when you are recommending products or services. When someone makes a purchase using your link, you will receive a cut of the sale. The percentage or amount will vary depending on the business offering the affiliate partnership.

For example, a podcast coach might include a list of suggested podcast equipment in their lead magnet. Using affiliate links for the products they recommend mean that the coach will get a percentage of any purchases made using their affiliate link.

Upsell

We recommend all coaches use their lead magnet to upsell to a product or service. During our strategy call, while we are discussing lead magnet topics, we guide coaches to choose a lead magnet topic that would make for an easy upsell to an existing product or service. You want your leads to see your upsell as the next logical step to continue the progress they made with the lead magnet.

For example, a debt counsellor could offer a lead magnet that listed common loan forgiveness programs and interest-free debt consolidation options so that their prospects can get some breathing room. The welcome sequence and lead magnet may then offer 2 options the lead can use to continue their progress.

1. A £99 consultation to create a debt repayment plan.
2. A 6-month private coaching program to support the lead through their debt repayment.

The lead can then choose which one suits their needs.

Add-On

If you have a lead magnet landing page, you could even offer a relevant add-on at “check out.” This would be something that supports the lead in implementing what they learn in the lead magnet or otherwise improves the results they will see. Templates are a popular add-on, and so are your current low-ticket products.

Are Lead Magnets Worth It?

Lead magnets may require upfront time and money getting them set up, but once it is, your lead magnet will send you a steady stream of leads (as long as you keep sending it traffic.) In some cases, your lead magnet may even provide you with an additional income stream through affiliate income and upsells. So the question is, is that something that you want in your coaching business?

Learn more about lead magnets on our lead magnet hub or browse our lead magnet copywriting services here.