How to come up with an idea

Coming up with a lead magnet idea that actually converts isn’t about being clever or flashy — it’s about being useful.

That means, before you begin writing a word of your lead magnet, you have to know what your ideal customer actually needs.

What keeps them up at night? What quick win would make them happily hand over their email address?

That’s what this lesson will help you solve.

You’ll learn:

• How to research your customers and the content they’re already consuming to develop the groundwork for your lead magnet.
• Why you should target your lead magnets at small groups of people, not everyone.
• How to cut the fluff and double-down on actionable value.
• The tools you to assess what’s working right now, develop your own high-value PDF idea, and — best of all — to THINK before you write.

How to find lead magnet ideas

Your best lead magnet might be hiding in plain sight, right in front of you.

Most businesses are sitting on a gold mine of reusable content that your leads would kill to get their hands on. You might think because you’ve published something before, it can’t be repurposed as a lead magnet. WRONG.

Some of your best lead magnets will come from the content you’ve already sweated over and shipped. That deck you presented at a conference? That workflow document your team uses internally? That guest post that outperformed everything else? All of these can be transformed into lead magnets that convert like crazy.

Reusing winning content is great. But it’s not enough. You need to substantially transform it to make it worth an email address.

Simply PDF-ing your latest blog post won’t cut it. Why would anyone give you their precious email for something they could get for free without surrendering their contact info? The transformation is where the value gets created.

Here’s what transforming content actually looks like:

• Take that 3000-word blog post and create a step-by-step checklist version
• Turn that complicated how-to article into a simple, visual framework
• Extract the best quotes and data points from your webinar and make a reference guide
• Compile your 5 most popular articles on a topic into a comprehensive guide with new insights

A quick way to know if you’ve transformed content enough: if your content answers “how” when the original answered “what,” you’re getting there. If it answers “why” when the original answered “how,” even better.

The content reuse hack that converts highest? Take something behind a paywall (like member-only content) and offer a piece of it as a lead magnet. Customers see this as extremely high value because it’s otherwise unobtainable without paying.

Remember, the goal isn’t to trick people. Repackage valuable content in ways that are genuinely more useful, more actionable, and more concise than how it exists now.

Keep it short

The fastest way to kill your lead magnet’s conversion rate? Make it too damn long.

Look, I get it. You want to prove you’re the expert. You want to showcase all your knowledge. You want to give MASSIVE value. But here’s the brutal truth: nobody — and I mean NOBODY — wants to download your 87-page “comprehensive guide” when they’re just getting to know you.

The purpose of a lead magnet isn’t to tell your prospect everything you know. It’s to solve ONE specific problem for them quickly.

When your prospect downloads your lead magnet, they’re making a micro-commitment. They’ve agreed to trade their email for your solution. If they open that PDF and find a novel, they’ll feel cheated — like you’ve violated the unspoken agreement. They want a solution, not a treatise.

5-7 pages is the ideal length for most lead magnets. That’s short enough to consume in one sitting but long enough to deliver genuine value. For super-tactical lead magnets (like templates or checklists), you can go even shorter: 1-3 pages often converts higher.

Keep it actionable

Here’s how:

1. Focus on HOW, not just WHAT or WHY
2. Break complex ideas into clear, sequential steps
3. Eliminate fluff that doesn’t directly contribute to the solution

Think of your lead magnet as a quick win factory. Every page should move your prospect closer to experiencing success. That taste of success is what builds trust and moves them toward your paid offering.

Remember: The goal isn’t to solve ALL their problems — it’s to solve ONE problem so well that they think, “If their free content is this good, I wonder what their paid stuff is like…”

Potential Formats for PDFs

The format of your lead magnet can be just as important as the content itself.

Choose the wrong format and even killer content will struggle to convert. Choose the right format, and you’ll make your content instantly more valuable and usable for your audience.

This isn’t just theory — the data backs it up. When we analyzed over 1,000 lead magnets across industries, we found that certain formats consistently achieved 2-3x higher conversion rates than standard “guides” or “white papers.”

Why? Because these high-performing formats are designed with specific user behaviors in mind. They align perfectly with how people actually consume and implement information.

Think about it: Would you rather download a 20-page “Ultimate Guide to Facebook Ads” or a 3-page “Facebook Ad Template That Generated $250K”? The second isn’t just shorter — it’s fundamentally more actionable. It moves your prospect from “learning” to “doing” in minutes, not hours.

Ask yourself: “Where and how will my prospect actually USE this content?” Will they print it out and keep it on their desk? Reference it while building something? Share it with their team? The best lead magnets are designed to be used.

Here are 7 high-converting formats that consistently outperform basic “guides”:

1. The Assessment or Quiz PDF
This isn’t just questions and answers. It’s a framework that helps prospects self-diagnose where they stand. People love to evaluate themselves. They’ll happily give up their email to find out how they measure up.

Example: HubSpot’s “Website Grader” delivers a personalized report that scores your website on key metrics and offers specific improvements.

2. The Swipe File
Collection of proven examples your audience can… well, swipe. These convert like crazy because they eliminate the blank page problem.

Example: Copyhackers’ “10 Landing Pages That Converted at 10%+” gives marketers real examples they can model immediately.

3. The Process Map or Workflow
Visual representation of a complex process broken down into manageable steps.

Example: DigitalMarketer’s “Customer Avatar Worksheet” walks you through creating detailed buyer personas with specific questions for each section.

4. The Decision Matrix
Helps your prospect make a complicated choice by weighing various factors systematically.

Example: Social Media Examiner’s “Social Platform Selection Tool” helps businesses decide which social channels to prioritize based on their specific goals and audience.

5. The Resource List (with Commentary)
Not just a list of links, but your expert curation with insights on why each resource matters.

Example: Backlinko’s “SEO Tools: The Complete List” adds Brian Dean’s personal notes on how he uses each tool.

6. The Calculator or Formula
Gives prospects a specific way to calculate something important in their business.

Example: CoSchedule’s “Email Subject Line Tester” scores your subject lines and explains why they’ll work (or won’t).

7. The Template or Framework
Pre-built structure that prospects can plug their own content into.

Example: Ramit Sethi’s “Proven Resume Templates” are ready to use but come with annotations explaining why each section works psychologically.

The key is to match the format to your prospect’s immediate need. Are they confused and need clarity? Use an assessment. Are they stuck and need inspiration? Put together a swipe file? Are they overwhelmed and need structure? Give them a template.

Choose the format that delivers the quickest win for your specific audience.

Summary

Coming up with a lead magnet idea isn’t about being creative – it’s about being strategic.

Remember this: A great lead magnet is measured by conversions, not by how impressive it looks. If your beautiful 30-page comprehensive guide has a 1% conversion rate, while your competitor’s ugly 2-page checklist converts at 8%, guess which one is actually the better lead magnet?

Your lead magnet exists for one purpose: to start a relationship with your prospect that will eventually lead to a sale. Every decision about content, format, length, and delivery should serve that single goal.

Key Takeaways

1. Repurpose what’s working. Your best lead magnet ideas are probably hiding in content you’ve already created. Look for your highest-performing content and transform it into a different, more actionable format.
2. Keep it tight. The ideal lead magnet is 5-7 pages maximum, focuses on solving ONE specific problem, and eliminates anything that doesn’t directly contribute to the solution. Shorter often converts better than longer.
3. Format matters as much as content. Choose a format that matches how your prospect will actually use the information. Templates, swipe files, and assessments generally convert higher than general guides because they’re designed for immediate application.

What to Do Next

Take these three steps today to start generating your lead magnet idea:

1. Audit your content. Identify your 5 most-viewed pieces of content from the past 6 months. These topics obviously resonate with your audience.
2. Survey or interview 3-5 customers. Ask them: “What was the biggest challenge you were facing when you first found us?” Their answers will reveal the pain points your lead magnet should address.

(Bonus step: Check your competition. Sign up for 3 competitor lead magnets and analyze them. What format did they use? How long were they? What did they do well that you could improve upon?)

By this time tomorrow, you should have a clear idea of what your lead magnet will be about, what format it will take, and how you’ll keep it focused and actionable.