How to setup and deliver your Lead Magnets (without making a mess)

Last week I showed you how to get 1000 subscribers by creating Unique Freebie Offers called “Lead Magnets” for each of your blog posts.

The single biggest hurdle that I faced when starting was knowing how to wire all of the different components together. Without a plan, it became a mess very quickly.

I was using MailChimp, but after creating content-specific lead magnets, I realized I had created a TON of extra work for myself! I had multiple lists for multiple lead magnets and, of course, duplicate subscribers all over the place.

Figuring out the technology part of it was a massive pain in the rear end!

So the purpose of this post is to help you learn from my mistake. I’m going to show you exactly how to set up the technology piece, the RIGHT WAY — which also happens to be the much easier way.

By following this step-by-step process, you’ll be able to set up your lead magnet with ease (and without messing with a single line of code). In fact, the entire setup should take you under 30 minutes.

Software packages you’ll need

You’ll need two pieces of software:

Autoresponder software
Landing Page Software

The three most popular Autoresponder Software packages are ConvertKit , MailChimp and Aweber.

I’ll be giving you a step-by-step process for how to set this up using ConvertKit. In my opinion, it’s the most user-friendly of the three, and — better yet — it’s only $29 per month for under 1,000 subscribers.

And in addition to automated auto-response emails, it also allows you to easily create landing pages — that’s where your visitors go to enter their name and email to sign up for your email list.

This eliminates the expense and headache of needing a separate landing page software package.

However, if you do decide to use another Autoresponder software package, then you’ll need an additional landing page software such as Leadpages, which will run you around $37 per month.

Now let’s get down to the details.

Setting up your content upgrade in ConvertKit

Step 1: Creating opt-in forms

The first thing you’ll do is create the signup form, which visitors will use to opt-in to your list and get your freebie content upgrade.

One of the great features about ConvertKit is that all of your subscribers are in one list, with a tag that indicates which of your freebies they’ve downloaded.

This is huge because if you have 3 different freebies on your site, and the same visitor opts in to get all three of them, you only have one record to look at (instead of three). ConvertKit just adds a tag, so you can track and filter your subscribers later, based on that tag.

Step 2: Setting up Opt-in forms or Landing Pages

Now you’re ready to set up your landing pages. From the forms page, select the landing page.

The option on the left(“Form”) allows you to create an opt-in form — which then you can add to any page or post on your website.

The option on the right(“Landing Page”) allows you to create an entire page. This option is for those of you who don’t have a website or don’t have access to your website pages; it creates one for you.

Let’s start with Landing pages…

When you click on the Landing Page option, you’re then presented with various templates, organized by categories. As shown below

Choose the one that makes the most sense for your content.

If you’re using a WordPress, or any other website content management software that allows you access to your website, then you have the option of creating your own landing page inside your own website, and only use the Convertkit Form option to set up your opt-in form and opt-in page.

When you click on the Form option, you’ll see 4 various form options (below).

Inline forms are the forms you can display anywhere inside your website content
Modal is the forms that pop up when a visitor lands on a certain page of your website
Just like the name suggest, Slide ins forms slide from the top or bottom corners of the page
The last one is a sticky bar form. They’re normally displayed as a bar on the top or bottom of a website page.

Once you choose one of these options, then ConvertKit presents you with the various templates in their gallery to choose from, as shown below.

Select the one that’s most appropriate for your Lead Magnet content and message.

Then you’ll be taken to the form or landing page editor, where you can customize the look of your form or landing page.

You can edit all the areas that are clickable. That includes editing the title, subtitle, description. Uploading images. You can change the font style, size, and color. The same goes for the button and form fields.

Step 3: Delivering Your Content Upgrade (Lead Magnet)

Now we’re going to set up your content upgrade freebie using the Settings tab.

Main Settings

From this tab, you can write your own success message, which subscribers see when they opt-in, or you can redirect them to a custom thank you page (“Redirect to another page” option).

Content Upgrade (Lead Magnet) Content

Here comes the important part! The Incentive tab takes you to the panel where you’re able to tell Convertkit how to deliver your Lead Magnet.

In this panel, you can customize the “from” name, and email recipients will see, the Subject of the email and the email message itself.

You’ll also be able to either enter a URL to your freebie or upload a file called an “Incentive Download” that people can download from an automated link in the message.

The URL option is great if your Lead Magnet is a video or additional content that’s hosted on your website, and you want to drive traffic there.

The incentive download option is great when the file isn’t on your website (or you’re not sure how to upload it to your site). This option works for any type of downloadable file, such as an e-book, worksheets, Checklists, etc.

And now you’re done setting up your Lead Magnet!

Step 4: Displaying your Opt-in Form

Now you’re ready to display your opt-in form on your Website.

As soon as you click on the “Publish” button, you’ll get a pop-up option, presenting you with various integration options.

You have the option to grab the JavaScript code: if you have access to the code view of your website and you are comfortable working in the code view.
You can also grab the entire HTML code if you’re setting up an entire page for this opt-in form.
If you have a WordPress site, you can just grab the WordPress shortcode.
Another option, if you have a WordPress site, is to install the ConvertKit Plugin to automatically connect your forms to any page of your WordPress site.

Guess what? You’re done!!!

Start to finish, all this should take no more than one hour to set up.

Now, any time someone downloads your freebie, their contact record inside of ConvertKit will be automatically tagged accordingly.

That means all of your contacts will be stored in one list, all nice and neat — making your life much easier.

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