Here to learn how to create a lead magnet funnel that actually brings in leads? You’re in the right place.
Whether you're just starting out or looking to revamp your existing strategy, this tutorial has got you covered. I'll keep things simple, practical, and jargon-free.
By the end, you'll have all the info and tool recommendations you need to create a lead magnet funnel that grows your list and brings in the right kind of subscribers - people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
Let’s dive in.
The Key to Creating a Funnel that Brings in Leads
Want to know what makes a lead magnet funnel work? It starts with giving your audience something they actually want.
Your funnel's success kicks off with your lead magnet. It needs to be a free offer your audience thinks is a steal. They need to need it. So, make sure your lead magnet is something so useful that folks are happy to trade their email for it. When you nail this part, you make the rest of the funnel process much, much easier.
Next up is your funnel's setup. This is where you make it easy for people to get their hands on your awesome lead magnet. A smooth, no-fuss process keeps potential subscribers from bailing before they hit 'submit'.
In this tutorial, I'll show you how to build a funnel that works - from tips to create a great lead magnet people want, to putting together a funnel that gets results. The goal here is to give you all the info you need to create something that not only grows your list but sets you up for success with your new subscribers.
Phase 1: Create Your Lead Magnet
Creating a lead magnet that converts isn't rocket science, but it does take some smart thinking. Start by getting inside your ideal customer's head. What problem keeps them up at night? Your lead magnet should be the solution they've been searching for.
Once you know what your audience needs, pick a format that fits. Your options include:
Choose something your audience will actually use. Then, pack it with value. Solve a specific problem, offer actionable tips, and keep it snappy – think 5-15 minutes of pure, useful content.
Don't stress if you're not a design whiz. Tools like Canva can help you create something that looks professional. The key is to make a good first impression without breaking the bank.
Before you hit 'publish', get some feedback. Share your lead magnet with a small group and be open to tweaking it. Remember, it's not set in stone – you can always refine it based on how people respond.
Create a Great Lead Magnet with Beacon
Now, if you want to make this whole process easier, check out Beacon. This free lead magnet solution is the perfect tool for creating high-quality lead magnets. You get a large selection of templates and resources to get this process done well -- and without spending too much time.
Your lead magnet is the first step in building a relationship with potential customers. Make it count, and you'll be well on your way to a funnel that converts like crazy. So roll up your sleeves and get creating – your future customers are waiting.
Phase 2: Build Your Lead Magnet Form
Once you’ve created your lead magnet, your next focus is your opt-in form. This is where your audience will put in their details, in exchange for your valuable offer.
But, if you really want an opt-in form that’ll get your website visitors to take action, you can’t use a basic contact form. And that’s what this next section is about.
I’m going to show you how to set up a lead magnet form you can target on multiple landing pages – not just one. The fun part? It’s not complicated at all.
In this part of the tutorial, you’ll learn about the perfect tool to use to create a form that looks good and works hard to get your audience to convert.
First, Download and Install Thrive Leads
Thrive Leads is a solid lead generation plugin that helps you create lead magnet forms that look great and help you convert more website visitors.
And here’s why I’ve recommended it for creating your lead-gen forms:
1. Low learning curve: Most tech tools require a period of learning – especially if you aren’t a coder or web designer. But Thrive Leads provides a straightforward dashboard that helps you get the hang of the tool quickly.
2. Templates galore: My favorite part of this tool is its wide selection of form templates. The Thrive team has literally gone ahead of you and done all the work for you in terms of creating a conversion-focused opt-in form design. You just need to find a template that suits your preferences, customize it in the visual editor (which is quite easy to use, I might add) to turn it into the perfect lead magnet form.
3. Easy Targeting Functionality: This is where it goes from good to better. Often, your target audience will land on pages and posts that are related to your lead magnet. Now, the idea of manually embedding a form on every page is exhausting and you don’t have the time for that.
That’s where Thrive Leads comes in.
Display Settings in Thrive Leads
For a given form, you can program the display logic to show your forms sitewide, on specific posts and pages, or even exclude specific posts or pages..
For example, if you’re promoting a free fitness guide for women you can set up Thrive Leads to show the opt-in form on all your blog posts about women's fitness. You might also want to display it on your "About" page where you talk about your expertise.
At the same time, you can keep it from appearing on posts about men's fitness or kids' nutrition. This way, you're showing your lead magnet to people who are most likely to be interested in it – increasing your conversion chances.
Creating the Perfect Lead Magnet Form
As I mentioned earlier, Thrive Leads forms are built with conversion-focus in mind, but you can never go wrong with tweaking them here and there to make them better.
Make sure your form includes all these important features, to increase your opt-in chances:
- A headline that grabs attention: Make it clear what you're offering and why it matters. Think "Get More Clients with Our Free Guide" instead of just "Download Our eBook."
- A quick pitch: Tell folks what they'll get and how it'll help them. Keep it short and sweet - a sentence or two should do the trick.
- Only the important form fields: Don't ask for their life story. Stick to name and email. The less you ask, the more likely they are to sign up.
- A standout CTA button: Make your "submit" button pop. Use colors that catch the eye and words that make people want to click. "Get My Free Guide" works better than plain old "Submit."
- A good visual: Add a picture of your lead magnet or a relevant image. It breaks up the text and gives people an idea of what they're getting.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. For more info on how to create the best opt-in forms, check out this tutorial.
Next, Connect to Your Email Marketing Service
You'll need to configure your email provider so that a confirmation email lets them know their signup was successful.
In the Thrive Leads editor, while editing one of the forms in your states, click your form and take a look at the left sidebar:
Click the “Add Connection” button and look for the “Go to API Dashboard” option.
Here, you can connect your email marketing service to your form, so your leads are sent to the right place.
To learn how to connect a specific email marketing service to the Thrive API, check out this hub of tutorials.
Then, Configure Your Display Settings
Once you’ve created your form and saved it, head back to the main Thrive Leads dashboard and find your new form.
There will be a red cog, with an exclamation mark, on the right side of your form.
This is where you’ll set when and how you want your form to display on your site. No need to embed a shortcode or manually add the form to your pages or posts.
Display settings example
Simply tick the relevant checkboxes to indicate where you want your forms to appear.
It all gets taken care of right from your Thrive Leads dashboard.
Here, you can:
Specify on which webpages, posts, categories, or custom post types the form should appear on your WordPress site. You can include or exclude specific pages (e.g. the homepage) or categories.
Define rules based on visitor behavior, such as new vs. returning visitors, or based on referral source.
Choose whether the form should be displayed on desktops, tablets, mobiles, or a combination of these.
Set rules based on the amount of time a visitor has spent on your site before the form is shown.
Enable the form to appear when it seems like the visitor is about to leave your site (this is mainly for popup forms).
Different options will appear, depending on the opt-in form type you’ve chosen.
This feature is useful for your business because it lets you have total control to show your sign-up forms to the right people at the right time, increasing the chances they'll sign up.
Phase 3: Setting Up Your Lead Magnet Funnel
1. Download and Install Thrive Architect for Your Funnel Pages
For your lead magnet funnel, you’re going to need a landing page that catches the eye and keeps your audience engaged.
That’s where Thrive Architect comes in.
Here’s why you should consider Thrive Architect:
1. Easy Building: Thrive Architect’s drag-and-drop editor makes the landing page creation process much easier — and more enjoyable! You can easily move around whole sections, or small design elements without compromising the rest of your page.
Thrive Architect in action
2. Tailored Page Templates: Starting from scratch can be intimidating. That's why Thrive Architect offers a variety of templates designed to make your life much easier. Whether you're creating a landing page for a digital product, physical product, service, or even a membership site, you'll find templates that fit your needs. Using these templates can save you a ton of time. Instead of starting from scratch, you can pick a template that's close to what you want and then tweak it to fit your needs.
Landing page template sets in Thrive Architect
3. Conversion Focus: Thrive Architect is full of features to help your funnel work better. Want to grab your visitors' attention and keep them reading? Thrive Architect lets you add eye-catching buttons and colorful content boxes that stand out. Need to create a sense of urgency? You can add countdown timers with just a few clicks.
Countdown Timers in Thrive Architect
And since so many people use phones to browse these days, you'll be glad to know that Thrive Architect makes sure your funnel looks great and works well on all devices.
In short, Thrive Architect takes the headache out of building a high-converting lead magnet funnel. It lets you focus on what really matters - creating an offer your audience can't resist.
2. Create Your Main Landing Page
Once you’ve set up Thrive Architect, it’s time to get building. If you’re short for time and don’t want to build from scratch, I recommend using one of our Thrive Architect templates.
Landing page sets in Thrive Architect
These templates do the heavy lifting for you. No need to stress over design details - just pick a template and add your personal touch.
And one of the best ways to customize your pages is with our Block templates.
What is a Block?
Thrive Architect's block templates are pre-designed sections you can easily add to your pages with just a click. These templates are made up of various elements like text boxes, images, contact forms, and buttons, all arranged in visually appealing layouts.
You can quickly customize these templates to match your brand, saving you time and effort in designing your website pages from scratch.
Landing pages are easy to put together once you get the hang of it – especially when you have templates and an intuitive editor to help you out.
If you’re new to online marketing, or need a reminder of the landing page basics, check out this tutorial.
And take note: if you’re using a Thrive Leads form for your lead magnet funnel, you can delete the standard forms on your Thrive Architect landing page and embed your Leads form. You can learn how to do this right here.
3. Create Your Confirmation Page
A confirmation page is a key part of your lead magnet funnel. It does more than just confirm a successful sign-up. This page reassures new subscribers, guides them on next steps, and sets clear expectations.
You can use it to prompt subscribers to add your email to their safe senders list, direct them to check their inbox, or explore more of your content. And you can easily set one up in Thrive Architect, using one of our pre-made templates.
Confirmation page built with one of our page templates
4. Create Your Thank You Page
Your thank you page is a golden opportunity to turn new subscribers into engaged followers or even customers. It's the next step in your lead magnet funnel, and it's too valuable to waste on a simple "thanks for signing up" message.
Use this page to guide your new leads towards the next action. You could point them to your best content, offer a quick win related to your lead magnet, or encourage them to connect with you on social media. The goal is to keep the momentum going and deepen the relationship you've just started.
Turn Your Thank You Page into a Second Funnel
Here's where you can really amp up your funnel: turn your thank you page into a tripwire funnel. A tripwire is a low-cost, high-value offer that's hard to pass up. It's designed to quickly convert your free subscribers into paying customers.
For example, if your lead magnet is a free guide on social media marketing, your tripwire could be a $7 template pack for creating engaging social media posts. It's related to the free content they just received, provides immediate value, and is priced low enough to be an easy "yes" for many people.
This is a great way to nurture your new leads and also potentially turn them into a customer right away. Talk about getting maximum results without spending a lot of time or money.
Want to dive deeper into creating an effective tripwire funnel? Check out our detailed tutorial on setting up and optimizing tripwire offers. It'll walk you through the process step-by-step, helping you get the most out of your lead magnet funnel.
5. Test Your Funnel
You've built your funnel. Now it's time to make sure it actually works.
Go through your funnel yourself first. Use your own email to sign up. As you do, ask yourself:
- Can you easily find and use the opt-in form?
- Does the thank you page load quickly?
- Do you get your lead magnet right away?
- Do all the email links work?
- How does it look on your phone?
Don't just test once. Try different browsers. Use your laptop, your tablet, your phone. If you can, get a friend to try it too. They might spot something you missed.
Pay close attention to your email sequence. Check that each email arrives when it should and that they make sense in order.
If you're using a tripwire offer, buy it yourself. Is the price clear? Does checkout work smoothly? Do you get what you paid for without any hassle?
Once everything's working like it should, you're all set to start driving traffic to your funnel and grow your email list.
Next Step: Ace Your Lead Magnet Delivery
Great job setting up your funnel! Now, let's talk about getting your lead magnet into your new subscribers' hands. This step is key - after all, your lead magnet is what your subscribers signed up for. You want to make sure they get it quickly and easily.
There are several ways to deliver your lead magnet. Each has its own strengths, so think about what works best for you and your audience. Here are some popular options:
- Email attachment: Simple and straightforward. Just attach your lead magnet to your welcome email.
- Download link: Include a link in your email that leads to a download page on your website.
- Password-protected page: Send subscribers to a page on your site where they enter a password to access the lead magnet.
- Google Drive or Dropbox link: Host your lead magnet on a cloud service and share the link.
- Membership site: If you're offering ongoing resources, consider setting up a simple membership area.
The easier you make it for subscribers to get their hands on your lead magnet, the happier they'll be. And happy subscribers are more likely to engage with your future emails and offers.
Thrive Tip: Want to dive deeper into lead magnet delivery and pick up some key tips? Check out our article: How to Deliver a Lead Magnet (+Key Tips).
Ready to Build Your Lead Magnet Funnel?
You've got the blueprint now - from crafting an irresistible lead magnet to setting up a funnel that converts. The next step? Putting it all into action.
Remember, your lead magnet needs to be something your audience truly wants. Make it valuable, make it solve a problem, and you'll have people lining up to get it. Then, your funnel does the heavy lifting, turning those curious visitors into eager subscribers.
But let's face it - the tech side of things can be a bit of a headache. That's where Thrive Architect and Thrive Leads come in clutch.
Thrive Architect lets you build slick landing pages without touching a line of code. And Thrive Leads? It's like your personal lead generation assistant, helping you create and fine-tune your opt-in forms for maximum impact.
You can purchase these plugins separately, or get them and 8 other premium plugins by getting our Thrive Suite bundle.
Head over to Thrive Themes and get your funnel building tools today!
