Lead magnet

What is a lead magnet?

A lead magnet is something useful offered for free in exchange for a person's contact details, usually an email address. Common examples are slide decks, checklists, guides, templates, recordings, worksheets, and discount codes. The offer gives people a concrete reason to sign up, and delivering it right away shows that the exchange was worth making.

The term comes from online marketing, where a lead magnet is often a PDF behind a sign-up form. People who give talks usually just call it "the slides" or "the download."

How is it used?

A lead magnet works as the first half of a trade: you give something now, and in return you get a way to follow up. For that to work, three things have to be true:

1. People want it. It answers a question they have or saves them work. A generic newsletter is a weak offer; the exact checklist from today's session is a strong one.
2. It's described plainly. "Text SLIDES to get today's slides" says what they'll get.
3. It arrives right away. A link in the reply, while they're still interested, beats a promise to email it next week.

The offer also shapes your list. A guide on a specific topic draws people who care about that topic, which makes your follow-up more relevant.

Why it matters at live events

At events, the offer often already exists. A speaker's audience spends the talk photographing slides, so the slides are the obvious thing to give away. A workshop has a worksheet. A band has an unreleased track or a discount at the merch table. A booth team has the spec sheet people keep asking for. A church has a welcome guide for first-time guests.

How many people respond depends most on what you offer. A specific, wanted download, mentioned clearly and more than once, does more than any wording trick. What should I offer people for texting in? has ideas by audience type.

With Textiful, you upload a file once (slides, a PDF, a recording, an image) and use it in any flow. It's sent as a tracked download link by text or email when someone finishes the flow. Handout emails come from your name, replies are forwarded to you, and recipients can unsubscribe. Uploads can be up to 1 GB (100 MB for new accounts). See handouts for details, or lead capture for how the offer fits into the rest of the sign-up.

Key takeaways

• A lead magnet is something free offered in exchange for contact details, usually an email.
• It works when people want it, it's described plainly, and it arrives right away.
• At events, the best offer is often what the audience already wants: the slides, the worksheet, the track.
• How many people respond depends most on what you offer.

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