Using evaluations as lead magnets

Lead magnets. They help us get emails for our email lists. In other words, they help us generate leads. As a service provider, sometimes we struggle with lead magnets.

Lead magnets have changed over the years. Some service-based companies have offered a “free quote.” Think your local roofer or plumber. What they are saying is that they will take a look at your situation for free, do a quick analysis, and offer an estimate without charging you.

That allows you, as a consumer, to gather multiple quotes to decide who you want to do that job. If you aren’t careful, that will lead you down the path of choosing the least expensive, not necessarily the best.

That can ultimately lead to a “bottom of the barrel” mentality and it doesn’t help anyone.

Some companies will offer ebooks to download. There is value in doing that, especially if the ebook gives you something you have never had before.

Content upgrades work pretty well according to Brian Dean. It works really well when you have a long-form, deep-dive, how to do something type of post. You offer a checklist or template so the user can do the same thing.

Software companies routinely offer a free trial. This gets people in the door. I always check the price before I engage the trial. There is nothing worse than really liking and wanting to use something only to find out at the end of the trial period that it was never in my budget, to begin with.

Quizzes have become popular recently. No doubt they can be very helpful, especially if your goal is to segment subscribers, put them in a bucket so that you know who you are talking to in your emails. My friend Kim Doyal recently launched LeadSurveys with her business partner. LeadSurveys will help segment your list as well as a simple survey.

Last Fall, I did a few of what I called Homepage Evaluations. These were evaluations that were more from the content or copywriting perspective. Audits and evaluations are fantastic for leads and immediately show your potential customers you know what you are talking about.

The key to doing a website evaluation is to give really good value and to systemize your approach. This allows you to create them quickly. You don’t want to spend more than a few hours on an audit.

These type of simple services solve two problems and are perfect for WordPress consultants. First, it shows that you are an advanced consultant and gives you authority. Second, if they choose to do the audit, they become a legitimate lead and are added to your email list.

Viktor Nagornyy of Project Army uses a “Strategy Session” as a lead magnet. He has told me before that it works well for him.

Years ago, when I was doing WordPress websites regularly, I did website audits. I had a checklist I used to go over a website to make sure they were using standards.

Some areas you could check include:

Design – are they using tables? NO! Do they follow good design techniques?

Speed – No brainer, check it with multiple speed platforms such as GMetrix and Ping

SEO – Run an SEO audit. I usually start with a tool. There are several online you can use or you can use Screaming Frog or Website Auditor by SEO PowerSuite. There are still some free online you can use and it gives you enough to investigate and add opportunities for improvement section.

Other SEO things to consider is where their site shows up in search engines for relevant keywords, especially local. Do they have a Google Business page? Are they taking advantage of Google Analytics? Google Search Console?

Finally, are they using schema markup as well as open graph markup? You can really help people evaluate the technical part of SEO.

Development – Are they using good development standards. If they are using WordPress, are they using good practices with WordPress?

Content – Do they have a blog? Is it active? Do they have a good copy on their website? Does it read well? Are there any grammar or spelling mistakes?

Social Media – Do they have social media accounts and do they have them listed on their website? Are they taking advantage of their social media accounts?

Accessibility – This is a big one. Depending on the company, they may have to comply legally with Web Accessibility. You can be a big help here.

Other – The rise of the GDPR has provided opportunities for companies to help in the process. Lee Jackson’s team at Angled Crown is offering audits for GDPR for pay. Helping companies assess their GDPR is a noble effort but might not be something you do for free unless you are doing basic education. Nevertheless, with things changing quite often, you can help people evaluate their site in light of those changes. Never execute the task for free, save that for paid work.

Wrapping it up

Really, lead magnets are whatever your mind can dream up.  My friend the CopyMonk once wrote an article about 101 lead magnet ideas. I do like the evaluation type of lead magnet because, in addition to adding people to your email list, you really show them your value.

When you create your report, be careful not to overload your client with a series of checklists. Write that report out in an easy to understand format. Explain why something is important to their website.

“Live long and prosper,” my WordPress friends.