How To Set Up A Lead Magnet Funnel For Your Service Business

Looking to set up an automated lead magnet funnel for your service business, so you can capture and nurture new client leads, without having to do too much work? You’ve come to the right place.

First up, let’s do a quick re-cap on what a lead magnet is.

A Lead Magnet is a free or cheap download or service that you offer potential clients, in return for handing over their contact details. It might be a checklist, a guide, or perhaps a low-cost business audit. It has to be something that your ideal clients actually want, and that is relevant to your service offering.

There’s much to consider when deciding on a lead magnet, and you can find out more about that here: How A Lead Magnet Can Help Your Service Business Get Clients.

Once you have your potential client’s contact details, you can then set up an automated marketing funnel to send a series of follow-on emails that endear you to the reader and encourage them to hire you.

In this blog we’ll look at how to set up your lead magnet funnel so that it automatically delivers your lead magnet and nurtures your clients with minimum intervention from you.

How can I distribute my lead magnet with minimal effort?

The landing page

Delivery mechanism

Email follow on series

How to set up your lead magnet funnel

How to promote your lead magnet

Reminders For A Successful Lead Magnet Marketing Funnel

How Can I Distribute My Lead Magnet With Minimal Effort?

This is where the wonders of an automated marketing funnel come in.

An automated lead magnet funnel typically consists of a landing page, lead magnet delivery mechanism, and follow-on email series.

The Landing Page

This is an online page that explains what the lead magnet is, outlines its benefits, and captures contact details via a sign-up form. Make sure your landing page has:

A catchy headline that summarises your offer
What problem your lead magnet helps solve
Key features and benefits of the lead magnet (how it helps solve the problem)
A captivating image
A streamlined opt-in form (only capture details you absolutely need)
A strong call to action (Download now, Get your free trial)

Keep your landing page short, clear, and remove any links or navigation menus that will take the reader off the page. If you create the landing page on your website, that means removing the navigation menu on that page.

Delivery Mechanism

Once the contact details have been entered, you then need a way to automatically distribute the lead magnet. Often, this will be an automated email, which contains a downloadable file, or a link to download.

If you’re offering a service, such as a phone consultation or audit, part of the next steps will be manual. However, you can use automated emails and an online booking system to gather further details and schedule appointments in as streamlined a way as possible.

Make sure there is minimal delay in your delivery mechanism – your first email and any downloads should be delivered immediately and in full.

Email Follow On Series

Finally, comes your email sequence. This is an automated series of 4-5 emails that build rapport with your prospective client, show off your expertise, and present your paid offerings. The idea is to take the client on a journey that will eventually lead to a sale … or at least make them more inclined to seek you out when they’re ready to buy in future.

A quick Google search will show you there are many different recommendations for what to include in your email sequence. The following sequence is a good starting point, delivering both added value and a sales offer to your client.

Email 1: Deliver your lead magnet (and say thank you). Keep it short and sweet.

Email 2: Ask what they thought of the lead magnet. Offer an insight that expands on the lead magnet topic.

Email 3: Offer additional value, such as additional related insights, or another free download.

Email 4: Create a special limited time offer.

Email 5: Last chance for the limited time offer.

By now you’ll be realising that there’s actually a lot of writing involved in setting your lead magnet funnel up. The good news is, you only have to do it once. The even better news is … you can outsource to a copywriter that specialises in this stuff.

How To Set Up Your Marketing Funnel

There are plenty of purpose-built programs that allow you to create and manage the whole lead magnet funnel. They have inbuilt templates, monitor results, and easily integrate into other email or marketing campaigns you might run. ClickFunnels, Leadpages, Zendesk and ActiveCampaign are examples of marketing funnel software. You will usually need to purchase a subscription to use these programs.

For a zero-cost solution, you can also create landing pages on your own website, then use free emailing software, such as Mailchimp, to create the automated email sequence. Hosting a landing page on your website gives you an additional opportunity to draw traffic to your site, using search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques on the landing page. That can give your website an overall boost to its Google rank. Note that, as your email list grows, you may end up having to upgrade to a paid email account.

I’m not getting into technical details here, but all of these software programs publish tutorials, and you can also search YouTube if you ever get stuck. However, you may prefer to outsource the setup to an expert virtual assistant, so you can focus on doing what you do best.

How To Promote Your Lead Magnet

Built it and they will come … with a bit of promotional effort from you.

Once you’ve created your lead magnet and marketing funnel, you need to get the word out there that it exists.

If you’ve created your landing page using your website, be sure to Search Engine Optimise that page. When your ideal client enters a question in Google that your lead magnet helps answer, you want your landing page to come up in the search results. Attending to SEO on the landing page will help achieve that. So you’ll need to use relevant keywords on the landing page, plus plug in keywords and meta data in the back end of your website.

If this sounds like complete gobbledegook to you, you might consider outsourcing to an SEO copywriter who has the expertise you need.

You can also create an SEO blog about your lead magnet or a relevant topic, that will help draw additional web traffic. For example, that Moving House Checklist can be advertised in a blog titled ‘How To Prepare For Moving House.’ Once again, a copywriter can help you with SEO blog writing if it isn’t your cup of tea.

11 free ways to promote your lead magnet

Next, mention or link back to your lead magnet at every opportunity. Here are a whole varietyof ways you can promote your lead magnet without spending extra money:

Put a link or QR code on your business card.
Put a link in your email signature.
Show your lead magnet on your Facebook or LinkedIn banner and add a button linking to your landing page.
Add a link to your Instagram bio.
Pin it on Pinterest.
Add it to YouTube descriptions.
Post about it on social media.
Write about it in your newsletter, and add a link in the newsletter footer.
Mention your lead magnet when you speak to clients or are networking, and hand out your business card with the link.
Collect signups on your iPad when you’re presenting a workshop.

Finally, consider paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. Make sure your ad is well targeted to your ideal client, for maximum effectiveness.

And remember – while a lead magnet funnel is automated to keep on going, you will need to keep up your efforts to promote it. Post every month on every social platform, include it in every few newsletters, and so on.

Reminders For A Successful Lead Magnet Marketing Funnel

Make sure your lead magnet is something your target market will find useful! Read more about what makes a great lead magnet.

Make your landing page compelling by mentioning the problem your lead magnet helps to solve, and including the key features and benefits (ie: how will this lead magnet help to solve that problem).

Be sure to offer value in the follow-on email sequence. Build rapport by providing additional useful information or freebies, before you make any sales pitch.

When your emails do move to selling mode, create a compelling special offer, ideally time-limited, to prompt take-up.

Keep promoting your lead magnet! This is the one thing you do need to put ongoing effort into.

In Summary

When you combine a great lead magnet with a well-written email follow-on series, you have a powerful tool to capture and nurture prospects without having to be too hands-on in the process.

While it can take a bit of time to create your lead magnet and set up the automated marketing funnel, once it’s done, it will continue to work for your business with limited extra expense.

This is an effective marketing method that any service business can try, whether you are an interior decorator, family lawyer, coach or tutor.

Now, go create your awesome lead magnet funnel!

Need some help with writing your landing page and email series? If you’re an Australian based service business, Keep Up Copywriting can help you write your lead magnet funnel.