So you’ve finally finished your website and it is beautiful. You have a subscribe form on every page. Great!
You’ve employed various strategies to drive traffic to your site and analytics show that people are visiting. Good job!
But weeks go by, months even, and your only subscribers are friends and family. People you specifically told to go and subscribe. What gives?
It could be that you aren’t giving anyone a strong enough reason to subscribe to your email list.
As a rule, people online generally need a stronger motivation to hand over their email address than “keep in touch!” It’s good to tell visitors what to expect if they subscribe, such as a monthly newsletter, or book updates, but often that isn’t a compelling reason to subscribe.
That’s where lead magnets (aka reader magnets) and freebies come in.
What exactly is a reader magnet or a freebie?
Defining a reader magnet is easy. It is simply a free resource that you offer in exchange for someone subscribing to your email list. (Hence “freebie.”)
A lead magnet is exactly the same thing as a reader magnet. For writers, it makes sense to call them “reader magnets” since the product is your book.
Either way, the key word to remember is “magnet.” The point is to attract subscribers to your list.
These terms are used interchangeably with “freebie” or “giveaway”; however, I do make a subtle distinction between them.
Freebie or magnet: is there a difference?
To me, a freebie is anything you give people for free when they subscribe. Whereas a lead magnet is a sort of “deluxe” freebie that is so valuable it will draw people to you. A freebie is enticing when someone is already on your website. A lead magnet is so enticing a person will click on an ad and come to your website to find it.
I liken freebies to the plate of free cookie samples a bakery might have on their counter. They’re available when you are inside the shop and the sample proves that they bake delicious treats. Perhaps you’ll end up buying cookies right away, or maybe not. But you are more likely to remember this bakery and their cookies in the future, now that you’ve tried one. The offer is internal and appeals to people already in the location.
A lead magnet, on the other hand, compares to the sign outside of the bakery that says “Free brownies today!” It is something that brings people into the shop who wouldn’t have come otherwise. It has the power to attract people who have never even heard of you.
You offer a freebie to delight subscribers and visitors who are already on your site. A lead or reader magnet, on the other hand, is something that you share externally online. You might even build an advertising campaign around it.
That is a pretty subtle distinction, I admit. From a practical standpoint of setup and delivery, freebies and magnets are pretty much the same. For the rest of this article I will use the terms interchangeably.
What format makes a good reader magnet?
The resource you give to new subscribers can be anything they would find useful. But it is probably going to be a document that you save as a PDF. This is the most common format.
What exactly your resource could be depends upon your goals. What would interest your readers or customers?
Be strategic. Remember the whole point is to grow a subscriber list filled with people who could genuinely be interested in buying your books or services in the future.
Some examples
A few examples for author reader magnets
- Short story or prequel
- Bonus chapter or outtakes
- Character guide
- Reading list
Ideally, what you give away is directly related to what you want to sell later. For example, if your genre is cozy mystery, then a bonus chapter of your historical fiction novel isn’t as good a fit as a short story with the same characters who appear in your upcoming book.
A few examples for business lead magnets
- Checklist
- How-to guide
- Worksheet
- Template
- Resource list
Reader magnet setup and delivery
An overview
This article isn’t a detailed “how to” on setting up the pieces of your subscriber giveaway. However, here’s an overview of how it works, so you know what you’ll be working toward.
Once you decide what your freebie is going to be, you’ll need to put the pieces into place.
You need to prepare:
- The freebie document*
- A description of your offer
- A simple subscribe form
- A delivery message
The delivery message is usually an email that contains a link to the document. (But it could also be a hidden webpage with a download link.)
You need to save your reader magnet somewhere on the Internet. You need to be able to paste a link to the document in your delivery message.
How it works
So what happens is this: someone sees your offer and thinks “OK, I’ll subscribe to get that enticing resource.” They complete the subscribe form. As a result, they receive an email that says “thank you for subscribing” and “here is the link to download your [freebie].”
They are now also on your email list to get your newsletter, announcements, or other offers. Your platform is growing.
And that, in a nutshell, is the whole point!
If you’d like help setting up the pieces of your subscriber giveaway, contact me.
*Tip: Add your copyright and website or other relevant identifying information into the footer of your freebie so when someone opens it months from now or shares it, you as the creator will be clearly identified.
