A website that engages visitors with captivating content will encourage them to return again and again. If you provide answers to questions, entertainment, or information that makes life better for users, they will easily become fans. However, if your goal is to convert fans to customers who readily purchase your products or services, you need to capture their attention with effective lead magnets.  

Lead magnets invite your visitors to exchange their information for something they value. Following are seven of the most effective kinds of lead magnets. To avoid overwhelming visitors, you will need to use them strategically. Leveraging two or three that are most compatible with your content and format can turn your website into a lead generating machine!

Wheel of Fortune

Games are fun and relaxing, and give people a chance to let their hair down. Think about icebreakers or card games that help everyone to get comfortable and spark good conversation. You can think of your website’s presentation as a conversation that takes place between consumers and your company, and your game as an icebreaker that makes them comfortable enough to share their information. 

Wheel of Fortune is a popular game that triggers excitement over the idea of winning.  Anticipation will build as visitors spin to win, and you can reward them with free shipping, a gift, or a discount they can immediately use toward their purchases. This type of lead magnet is best placed near key products on your e-commerce site, to provide incentives for checkout. It is also a great tool for collecting email addresses on your landing pages.  

Callback Forms

No matter how convenient and helpful your website is, there will always be customers who want to speak in person to a company representative. They may have specific questions that are unique to their circumstances, or they may need to resolve issues. 

You can make live connection easy by including a callback form on your contact page. In addition to your visitor’s phone number, request the best times to call them. Be sure to display your customer service hours in or near your form. By taking these measures, you can reduce customer frustration and give them a good idea of when they can expect a callback. Just make sure you have a rep in place to follow through. 

Newsletter Signup

Keep your readership growing with a pop-up that offers a quick and easy newsletter signup. You can simply ask for an email address from visitors who want to receive your newsletter, or take it a step further and provide them with a taste of your content. Offer a free ebook, tutorial, or sample article, made exclusively available to subscribers.

You can also invite visitors to subscribe to your RSS Feed. This will send an email with your new content every time you post to your blog. This is known as an automatic email newsletter and provides you with a great advantage for increasing your conversions many times over with less work. 

Price calculator

Take automation one step further and improve the user experience by adding a price calculator to your website. This tool is especially useful for merchants who provide custom quotes for services or bulk products, rather than fixed prices. 

Price calculator tools allow you to input all variables, like discounts and quantities, so your customers don’t have to. An online calculator can save you time and overhead expenses, since customers will not have to call you for this information. 

Surveys

Surveys and polls let your visitors express their opinions and concerns. Customers will know you are dedicated to top-notch service when their feedback translates into tangible improvements. Use surveys and polls to pinpoint customer needs, then modify your services in ways that best meet them. 

You can place survey pop-ups on pages with products you want to improve, alongside blog posts on topics that hit home with your audience, or on the pages visitors are likely to see last. Keep questions as concise as possible to avoid fatiguing visitors, and to obtain the best insights.

Alerts

Alerts, push notifications, or call-to-action buttons let you harness the power of real-time communication. While your invitation to receive notifications does not help  you to collect visitors’ information, the potential for ongoing instant interaction with them is a plus for conversions. 

Include a pop-up on your blog’s landing page that allows visitors to op in and receive alerts about your latest posts. You won’t have to wait for them to open their email or go to your website, because the alert will appear in their browser no matter where they are online.

Exit Pop-ups

Exit popups use algorithms to estimate when visitors are most likely to leave your website, based on the speed and direction of their cursors.  When it senses that a user is about to bounce, it provides a call to action, to retain the visitor’s engagement. 

You can include a pop-up that asks “Are you sure?” whenever someone leaves items behind in their shopping cart, or you can offer one last chance to receive a free ebook. 

Use Pop-ups Sparingly

Lead magnets can go a long way toward creating dynamic interactions between you and your online customers. However, they can undermine your lead generation strategy if your website is perceived as spammy, or if you overwhelm visitors with requests. 

Give visitors time to explore your website’s content and develop an understanding of your business. By delaying your call to action until the customer is fully engaged, you increase your odds of a favorable response, and their conversion will seem like a natural progression.