Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

One of the most commonly asked questions for digital marketers is: how can I grow my email list? When so much of a marketing campaign’s success hinges on your ability to capture a prospect’s email and nurture them to sale, how can you get more potential customers into the sales funnel?

Simply asking people for their email address won’t provide stellar results. Understandably so. Why should they willingly give up personal information without receiving anything in return? Instead, marketers are increasingly turning to lead magnets as part of their inbound and content marketing strategy.

What is a lead magnet?

A lead magnet is a valuable offer that you provide to your prospects in exchange for contact information such as name and email. The best way to promote that offer is with a landing page. Therefore, a lead magnet landing page encourages a reciprocal relationship between a company and prospect. They provide their personal information in exchange for what is behind the form.

There are plenty of lead magnet ideas to draw inspiration from on the web, and it’s important to note they do not have to be a content download (PDF file or otherwise). We’ve compiled 15 lead magnet examples that demonstrate the various ways marketers use gated offers to maximize leads and drive sales....

Lead generation has come a long way. According to one analysis, lead generation dates back as far as 27 BC, assuming, of course, that we accept that the Roman trade market was the original lead generation platform for traders. The way in which leads were developed during Roman times was through word of mouth.

By spreading information via word of mouth, people with a network of connections trade information and recommendations based on experience. This still happens today. You may ask your neighbor who they hired to remodel their kitchen or ask a friend which doctor they suggest you visit, but do you seek references for many other reasons? You probably don’t.

As technology advances, the way in which leads are acquired also changes. Nowadays, when you need to buy something specific you rely on the Internet. It is the ultimate convenience, even easier than asking someone you know, and accessible to you wherever you are — at home, at work or on the go. Now that the way in which we seek information has changed, the way in which we receive information is different, as well. Before understanding how far we’ve come today, and where we’re going, we must understand where lead generation started....

The whole lead generation process is tough -- especially when you only rely on traditional methods. Sending cold emails and scraping together lists can be incredibly demoralizing because, let's face it -- most of those people don't really want to talk to you.

What if you could still reach your lead generation goals using methods that actually add value for your prospects?

This utopia of lead generation is, in fact, a possibility. To walk you through some of the different options, we've detailed several examples of modern lead generation methods below. These ideas provide valuable information to prospects that helps them instead of pushing them to buy from your brand. ...