This is the second blog post in our mini-series about lead magnets. In case you missed Part 1, you can catch up on it here.

Do you know what the best part is about having an irresistible freebie?

Most of the time, you don’t even have to push it. As cheesy as it sounds, it will push itself. People will seek it out and sign up for it.

That being said, it helps if you have great copy to go along with your awesome lead magnet… and you don’t make website visitors search high and low for the opt-in form.

Today, we’ll show you a simple step-by-step formula to writing ridiculously seductive copy to convert your visitors into subscribers.

By the time we’re done, you will never again have to rake your brain looking for the right words! Sounds good? Then read on.

Lead Magnet 2

3 Components that Impossible-to-Ignore Opt-ins Have in Common

Whether it’s a landing page or a lightbox, all perfect opt-ins feature these 3 elements:

  1. An attention-grabbing headline that glues people’s eyes to the screen.
  2. Irresistible benefits that generate interest and create desire (usually in the form of bullet points).
  3. A simple call to action.

By the way, if you’ve read our post about copywriting formulas, you will recognize the good old AIDA hiding in that list!

Now that we know what we need, let’s roll up our sleeves and figure out how to write it!

1. The unmissable headline

Your headline has one job – getting people to read what’s beneath it. To capture people’s attention, it has to be immediately relevant, emotional, and specific.

There are hundreds of ways to craft a compelling headline. We’re going to show you three – for a great opt-in form, you only need one.

– Call them out on their big problem

Remember: your visitors are looking for a solution. Showing them right away that you know what the problem is – in specific detail – is a great way to grab attention.

Take a look at these two examples:

“Second year on the job, and STILL no raise? This will help”

“Sick of babysitting low-value, high-maintenance clients?”

– Identify who they are

Want to know the biggest reason people don’t trust most solutions they see online? Those solutions are positioned as being “for everyone”.

For better or for worse, your website visitors don’t think of themselves as “everyone”. This is known as the “above average effect” – or as normal folks call it, “special snowflake syndrome”.

If you want to disarm that skepticism and prove that you know your target audience, your headline should be the first to reflect that knowledge.

Like so:

“Are you a self-taught photographer who wants to freelance?”

“Dear Entrepreneur searching for a big idea… You need this.”

– Highlight the transformation

Finally, the main reason for website visitors to want your lead magnet is simple: they want to get a certain outcome. Want them to leap at the opportunity to download your lead magnet? Let them know what the outcome is, right away.

You can do that by creating a “character” who has undergone the same transformation you are promising, or talking about your own results. Some examples include:

“Meet Nancy, who used to spend days in bed because of back pain… Now her morning starts with a run and 50 jumping jacks!”

“I hated my day job so much I’d have panic attacks on my morning commute… now I am making six figures working remotely”

And let’s not forget this classic headline: “They laughed when I sat down at the piano – but when I started to play!”

2. The attractive benefits

You have your headline, and it’s magnificent. Then, you have an introductory phrase that says, “Sign up below for this exclusive bonus and get…”

And that’s where you need to bring out the big guns, i.e. your irresistible benefits that pop and sizzle. The easiest way to do that is with a list of 3+ bullets.

Here’s a basic 4-step formula that never fails to create compelling bullets:

  1. Take the basic promise of what you want to offer.
  2. Ramp up the emotional intensity.
  3. Add a surprising twist to overcome an objection.
  4. Saturate it with vivid, specific details.

Here’s how it works in practice…

Step 1. Let’s take a regular benefit – e.g., “Get a raise”. Not particularly exciting, is it?

Step 2. Now, let’s increase the emotional intensity…

“Get a raise” becomes “Get a huge raise – plus TONS of juicy perks”.

Step 3. Adding a twist could be as easy as inserting an “even if” statement, like this…

“Get a huge raise – plus TONS of juicy perks… even if it’s your first year on the job!”

By the way, you can create an unexpected twist in other ways: giving a warning, making a bold claim, or naming a technique or strategy you’re giving away, etc… But we like “even if” statements because they a no-brainer trick, and they work like a charm.

Step 4. Finally, let’s spiff things up with details, and see what happens:

“Get a huge raise – plus TONS of juicy perks like two additional weeks of paid vacation and permission to work from home… even if it’s your first year on the job!”

We could improve this further, but you get the idea!

And don’t worry if it sounds cheesy to you – studies show that emotion doesn’t carry well in written text. In other words, what sounds cheesy and overhyped to you will come across as relatively tame to a website visitor.

Worst-case scenario, you can always tone things down later.

3. The compelling call to action

Once you’ve done your due diligence on components 1-3, #4 is a piece of cake!

All you need to do is get out of the way, and let the opt-in copy work its magic – simply nudge your website visitors in the right direction.

Just please-please-pleeease don’t be like everyone else and use “Submit”, or “Join”, or any other lame, generic phrase as your call to action!

We’re going to give you 3 examples that work really well:

“Send me the free checklist” – replace “checklist” with the type of your lead magnet (PDF, video, cheat sheet, etc.)

“YES, I want the free checklist!” – again, if you’re giving away something different, see above. There are many other variations: for example, “YES, I want in!”

“Get Instant Access” – an oldie but a goodie.

Now that you’ve created all three components of your opt-in, your work is done! You can use your newly written mouthwatering copy absolutely anywhere:

  • On your landing page.
  • In your website’s sidebar.
  • Inside a pop-up.
  • At the end of blog posts.

A terrific lead magnet combined with compelling opt-in copy is all you need to make your subscriber numbers explode. In the long run, that means more customers for you, and bigger revenues for your business. Enjoy!

Know someone with a lukewarm opt-in copy? Do them (and us) a solid and share today’s post on Facebook – they will thank you for giving them some great advice on growing their business!

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