One of the most effective B2B lead generation strategies is to offer irresistible lead magnets to your website, visitors. You must have explored this idea, right?
And probably that’s why you are here. So, let’s end your exploration here because, in this article, I will reveal some of the best B2B lead magnets that you can use to generate quality leads for your business.
But before going ahead, let’s dive into some basic concepts behind lead magnets and how they work.
What is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is a marketing asset that marketers offer as an incentive to prospects in exchange for their contact details.
Lead magnets are resources that add value to the prospects. It can be in documents, videos, or images that people can download or use free of cost.
However, while creating lead magnets for your B2B buyers, you have to keep in mind that because it is free, you cannot just offer anything – it must be useful for them.
That’s why you have to make sure that your lead magnets are packed with value for your target audience.
To create a value-packed lead magnet for B2B customers, make sure it fulfills these criteria –
- It must address a real problem – A lead magnet should highlight a specific problem/question that your buyers might be facing.
- It should be Instantly accessible – A lead magnet works best if it is something that can be accessed right away.
- It must demonstrate your expertise – A lead magnet should show your knowledge of your services.
- It must be scannable – A lead magnet doesn’t have to be like a textbook. Make it scannable using headlines, images, and graphics.
9 B2B Lead Magnet Ideas for lead generation
We have covered what a lead magnet is and what an effective lead magnet for a B2B audience looks like.
Now, let’s see what type of lead magnets you can create to generate high-quality leads from your website.
Ready? Let’s get started.
1. Case studies
Case studies have been one of the most downloaded and effective lead magnets for me. And that’s why it is my favorite type of lead magnet for B2B customers.
B2B buyers do a lot of research before making their purchase decision, and one of the things they want to know about a company during their study is, “Are they as good as they claim on their website?”
And this is where you can offer case studies to back your claims and show how your previous or existing clients have benefited by working with your company.
Also, case study downloaders are more likely to be qualified leads because it shows that they are considering your company and gathering more information to learn about your products and services.
2. Industry reports
B2B buyers trust data more than your verbal claims when making any business decision. And that’s where you can use industry reports to present your insights and translate data to highlight the problem you are solving and why they need you.
For example, Marketo offers marketing automation tools, and that’s why one of their lead magnets to capture B2B buyers is the report on the B2B perspective in Marketing Technology Utilization.
Similarly, you can survey your existing customer, prospects, and industry leaders to gather insights related to your products and compile information in an eBook as a report.
3. Resource guides
In this type of lead magnet, you can create a resource guide by compiling the already published blog posts.
The idea behind this lead magnet is to offer one downloadable guide in which your prospect can learn about every related topic instead of browsing through your website.
For example, WebEngage is a marketing automation tool, and that’s why one of their lead magnets is a guide on Choosing the best B2B marketing automation software.
With this guide, their objective is to help marketers pick the best tool for their business and learn how WebEngage can fulfill their needs.
These types of guides are beneficial at the Top of the Funnel (ToFu) stage where your target audience is researching their problem in the above example, buyers might be looking for automation tools and need help with picking the best.
4. Email Subscription
Another thing that business professionals love is “insightful” newsletters. This is the most challenging type of lead magnet and is usually less convertible because people are afraid that their mailboxes will be spammed with promotional emails.
So, to get email subscriptions from your most potential customers, you need first to win their confidence regarding the quality and quantity of emails they will be receiving.
To achieve that, here are a few tips that you must consider –
- Allow your visitors to select how often they want to receive the newsletter.
- Allow them to select topics from the newsletter.
- Add a checkbox asking if they allow you to send product updates and marketing emails.
- Add a subscriber count in the subscription form.
5. Product demo or trial
If you have a SaaS product, you can allow your prospects to ask for a product demo by filling up a request form or creating a free trial account.
For a product demo, you can redirect the user after submitting the form to a webinar or YouTube video in which the prospect gets a tour of the features of the tool.
Similarly, the user can create a free trial account and experience the tool firsthand for a limited period or feature limitations.
For instance, Marketo and HubSpot both offer CRM tools, but Marketo offers a product tour in which you have to fill up a form to access the video. Afterward, one of their sales representatives will reach you to give a product demo on different use cases.
Whereas HubSpot allows you to create a free account and try the tool yourself with limited features. And once the user sees if it fits their need, they can buy the paid plans.
The objective of this lead magnet is to help users know more about the tool and understand if it is what they need. This lead magnet can be utilized at the middle of the funnel (MoFu), where your prospect might be exploring several tools.
6. Request Quote
If you have services to offer, you can use this lead magnet in which users can fill up a form with contact details to get a price quotation for services they are looking for.
For example, Startwala is an online legal services platform, and on their homepage, you’ll find a “Get a quote” form where users can enter their contact details. Next, they reach out to the users to learn more about their requirements and the pricing structure.
This lead magnet can be very useful to push prospects already at the bottom of the funnel (BoFu). At this stage, they have already decided to use a service from your company.
7. Free Consultation
If you offer services to your clients, you can provide free consultations as a lead magnet.
For example, a content marketing agency can offer a 15-minute free consultation in which one of their sales representatives or content marketing experts can get on a call with the prospect and help them understand the problem with their content marketing and how it can be improved.
Ultimately, the goal of this lead magnet is to make the prospects realize that they have a problem and that your company can help them with it.
8. Webinars
Business professionals love webinars in comparison to any other form of content. It is probably because it allows the users to interact with the host from the company and clarify all their doubts.
Webinar also allows you to showcase your expertise in the field and build authority among your target audience. You can host live webinars to discuss your customers’ challenges and show how your company solves them.
Afterward, you can use a recorded version of the same webinar to make it available for other users. Salesforce is one of the best examples of leveraging webinars as a lead magnet.
9. Lead Capturing Tools
This is the most underused lead magnet among B2B marketers, probably because creating a helpful tool can require more effort and capital than any of the lead magnets listed above.
But if you can come up with a tool that your customer finds useful, it would be the best lead magnet you can have on your site.
HubSpot offers several such lead-capturing tools, and one of my favorite ones is the Blog Ideas Generator. In this tool, you have to enter keywords related to your blog, and it will come up with several blog ideas. It provides seven blog topics instantly, while for more ideas, you have to submit a lead form.
Wrapping Up
While creating lead magnets for your B2B audience, always remember that it must be something that is useful not for an individual but the whole department or team within a company.
This being said, let’s wrap up the article with a checklist of all the B2B lead magnet ideas mentioned above-
- Case studies
- Industry Reports
- Resource Guides
- Email Subscription
- Product demo or trial
- Request a Quote
- Free Consultation
- Webinars
- Lead Capturing Tools
So, which of these lead magnets are you going to create