LeadMagnetGeniusThis might sound obvious, but a surprising mistake is not actually treating the lead magnet as a lead magnet! Some people create a great resource and then just put it on their website for free download with no email capture (or they bury the email form). If you’re giving it away without gating, you won’t collect leads – defeating the purpose. On the flip side, some make the sign-up process too cumbersome – asking for lots of info or having technical issues – which leads to drop-offs.
Weirdly enough, some companies have accidentally left lead magnets ungated (like a direct Google Drive link in a blog post) meaning anyone can get it without providing an email. That’s a big missed opportunity; you’d have a piece of content out there creating value but you wouldn’t know who’s consuming it.
The fix: Gate your lead magnet behind a simple opt-in form, always. The standard is to ask for first name and email – that’s usually all you need. Anything more (like phone, company, etc.) can reduce sign-ups drastically unless the magnet is extremely high value for B2B. Ensure the form works and is prominent. If it’s a landing page, have a clear call-to-action “Get the Free Guide” that triggers the form. If it’s a blog content upgrade, put the opt-in box in the middle of the relevant article and at the end.
Also, don’t hide it deep in a menu – actively promote it with a banner, popup, or hello bar on your site (without being too intrusive). ScoreApp advises to make it obvious what users are getting and highlight the value. In other words, clearly communicate the benefit right next to the form so people are enticed to fill it out. For example: “Subscribe to get the 10-page Social Media Strategy Template and double your engagement.”
Keep the form short. Name and email are generally enough to personalize follow-ups and start a relationship. And absolutely, ensure the delivery mechanism is in place – when they fill the form, they should immediately either get a download link on the thank you page or an email with the resource (ideally both). Failing to deliver immediately is another mistake (we’ll talk about that soon).
In summary: always collect the email for the lead magnet, and don’t ask for too much too soon. As ScoreApp’s guide humorously notes, it’s “weird” but they still see businesses not collecting the relevant data or making the process too long. Don’t be one of those.