Lead Magnet Delivery 101: An Opt-In Sequence for Course Creators - What to Include

We’ve got our freebie in hand (or rather, in digital form), but how do we make sure it lands safely in the hands of our oh so fortunate readers/followers/subscribers/people who will give us money to help facilitate their life change?

You’re in the right place. So glad you’re here.

We’re about to dive deep (don’t worry, not too deep) into building your entire lead generation sequence, from marketing to delivery and beyond 🚀 

Here’s the outline for getting your opt-in out the door and into the hands of your future customers:

1. Choose an Email Marketing Platform
2. Create a Form for Your Freebie
3. Write the Incentive Email
4. Tag for Future Updates
5. Write the Newsletter Welcome Email
6. Write the Nurture Email Sequence
7. Create a Freebie Page on Your Website
8. Create a Freebie Section on Your Home Page
9. Test The Sequence
10. Implement a Privacy Policy & Ensure GDPR Compliance
11. Market your Freebie

Choose an Email Marketing Platform

The absolute first step (after creating your freebie) is to choose an email marketing platform. This is the service that sends out your freebie, signs people up for your email list, and sends out all of your newsletters.

There are a variety of email marketing platforms available for you to choose. I personally recommend Kit (formerly ConvertKit). After weighing the different platform options, I ultimately chose Kit because they’ve been in business for over 10 years, they offer the ability to create simple forms, they have amazing customer support, and I am able to work their pricing into my budget.

Want to check Kit out for yourself? You can use this link to try it out for free. (Yes, that’s an affiliate link - I’m beyond grateful for your support!)

As a heads up, I have a full post that gives specific, step-by-step instructions for how to add your freebie to Kit.

Create a Form for Your Freebie

Your next step is to create a simple form for your freebie. Ideally, this is a form that only contains a name field, email field, and submit button.

Style your form to match the input fields and buttons on your website. Kit offers a variety of options for changing colors and corners. They even offer a section to input code to allow you to get extra fancy by altering fonts and other attributes.

Write the Incentive Email

Now we write your incentive email - aka the email people get immediately after clicking the “submit” button. I offer an in-depth post on exactly what to touch on in this email, but here are the basics:

• Say thank you
• Restate what the freebie is
• Let them know that they’re also confirming a subscription to your newsletter

Tag for Future Updates

Inside Kit, you’ll have the option to add tags to any email subscriber. Using tags is a great way to organize your audience based on interest, so that you can send them emails that they’re more likely to open and gain value from.

Create a tag that easily identifies your freebie. Make sure it’s something that is descriptive and not too general. For instance, I would create a tag named something like “Spring Meal Prep Checklist” instead of “Checklist”. This prevents you from being confused later on if you end up offering multiple lead magnets that are in a similar format.

Write the Newsletter Welcome Email

The whole reason we created a lead generation tool is to invite someone to your email list and into your regular communications. After they confirm their subscription and download their freebie, they’ve officially been added to your subscriber list 🥳

Take this moment to send them an official welcome email! I'll be creating entire post dedicated to what you can include in your welcome email, but here are some of the highlights:

• Say thank you
• Introduce yourself & your story
• Tell them what to expect in your newsletter

Write the Nurture Email Sequence

Ideally, your new subscriber has downloaded their freebie and started completing it. The next few days offer the perfect time to continue the conversation you started - aka “nurture” them and ultimately guide them through your funnel.

Write a multi-email sequence that relates directly to your opt-in and the next steps someone should be taking after completing the opt-in. Again, I’ve got you covered with a complete post on what to include in these nurture emails coming soon, but here is a quick preview of some ideas to start with:

• Share valuable insight related to the freebie
• Acknowledge a common pain point
• Provide next steps

Create a Freebie Page on Your Website

Now that we’ve covered the email marketing side of setting up your freebie, let’s move on to what needs to happen on your website.

Create a page that is dedicated to presenting and delivering your freebie to your followers. This should include an image that shows what the freebie is, a description, and the sign-up form you created in Kit.

Create a Freebie Section on Your Home Page

If someone were to visit your website, we want eyes on your freebie offer ASAP. I suggest creating a specialized section for your home page that highlights your freebie.

Ideally, this section should be placed near the top of your home page. A great place for this section is right below your hero.

You have two options for creating an action-step for people who want to receive the freebie.

1. Include a button that leads to your freebie page. This option removes the step of creating an additional form and makes it simpler for you or your designer.
2. Include a form that allows someone to sign up right on that section. This removes an additional step for the user, but forces you to create an additional form.

Test the Sequence

⭐️This is probably the most important step!⭐️

We don’t want all of our hard work to go to waste, right?? Take the time to test your entire sequence to ensure everything is working properly.

I typically use one of my own email addresses (why do I have so many?) to sign up and make sure every step of the sequence is behaving exactly as I planned.

Implement a Privacy Policy & Ensure GDPR Compliance

Before you begin collecting any personal information on your website, you will need to include a Privacy Policy.

I highly recommend using Termageddon for legal policies (including a Privacy Policy) on your website. They have a simple step-by-step process to step up all of your policies. Not to mention, their crew is so, so kind and helpful if you run into any questions - they even provide complimentary onboarding! The team at Termageddon generously gave me a code to give you 10% off your first year of payment - use “PAIGE” at checkout 🫶

Market your Freebie

It’s time to tell the world!! I assume that you already have an amazing presence on social media and followers that are basically salivating, waiting for you to drop an insanely valuable freebie. This is such a good place to be in.

Literally all you need to do is start telling your followers about your freebie. It’s not enough to slap a link to your freebie page in your bio - which, yes, is a vital step - but I’m talking about making a series of dedicated posts all about the opt-in you just set up.

Once you start frequently talking about your lead magnet online, more people see those posts, and the more people that see those posts, the more people that sign up to receive your freebie and join your newsletter 🙌🏻

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If you’re thinking “but how do I ACTUALLY do it, like what are the exact steps, and what buttons do I click?” Do not fret, my friend. Step-by-step instructions for how to add your freebie and entire email sequence to Kit is coming up next 🙏🏻

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Loving learning about freebies? Here are other posts that I recommend you check out:

Grow Your Email List: 8 Lead Generation Freebies for Course Creators

How to Create a Freebie - A Tutorial for Course Creators

6 Subtle Freebie Mistakes That Even 7-Figure Course Creators Still Make

Kit (ConvertKit) Tutorial for Course Creators: Build a Lead Magnet Form from Start to Finish

How to Write an Incentive Email: Deliver Your Freebie and Boost Confirmation Rates

How to Write a Welcome Email for Your Newsletter: Nail Your First Impression and Increase Open Rates