This article is part of our Email, SMS and Marketing Automation resource section
Email marketing sounds like something out of a 90’s business handbook, however, it’s as relevant today as it ever was. In fact, email marketing is arguably one of the most valuable forms of digital marketing available – when executed well.
Of course, how can one get started with email marketing if you don’t have anyone to send emails to? Don’t panic! In this article, we’re going to talk about how SEO and a quality lead magnet can help prime your website for effective email marketing, as well as how to go paperless in your marketing approach. Let’s get to it!
If you want to build a sustainable system around these efforts, it also helps to understand the broader role of email marketing and how it can support customer relationships beyond the initial lead-generation stage.
Table of Contents
What is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet, as the name suggests, is something that attracts prospective customers. In this case, we’re going to talk about a free, high-value eBook on your website that your visitors can claim by entering their email address.
It’s a simple transaction:
- “Here’s all of this awesome and valuable information condensed into a beautifully designed eBook and it’s yours for FREE!”
- “In exchange, simply give us your email address and join our mailing list” (which people can opt out of whenever they like).
The important thing is that a lead magnet needs to provide genuine value. Visitors are increasingly selective about handing over their contact information, so a generic document or vague promise may not be enough to convince them. Your lead magnet should solve a specific problem, answer an important question, or provide information that your target audience can immediately use.
It should also be closely connected to what your business offers. For example, a web design company could offer a website conversion checklist, while a software company might provide a practical guide explaining how businesses can improve productivity. The closer the connection between the lead magnet and your products or services, the more relevant the resulting email subscribers are likely to be.
How does it work?
Again, any interested prospects who visit your website and see your free eBook will instantly sign up to your mailing list in exchange for the information provided within.
In doing so they register their interest in the products / services you offer.
For example:
- An SEO firm might offer an eBook called: “The Ultimate Guide to SEO in 2023”.
- They offer industry expert advice with tips on how to do your own SEO.
- At the end of the eBook is a CTA encouraging prospects to request a website audit and consultation.
- Most will try to do their own SEO using the information provided; some will realise how much work is involved and decide on hiring the professionals instead.
- Since the SEO firm has clearly demonstrated their expertise in their high-value eBook, they’ll have a good chance at securing more business.
- Those who don’t instantly sign up will be in your email list – awaiting further nurturing.
- You can then send out regular emails with further industry secrets, discounts, announcements, and more. In doing so, you keep your brand alive in their minds and if and when they do decide to sign up, there’s a good chance it will be with you!
This process becomes even more effective when the website, lead magnet, and email campaigns are designed to work together. A visitor may initially discover your website through a Google search, read one of your articles, and then encounter your lead magnet at the right point in their journey. Instead of leaving the site after reading one page, they now have a reason to remain connected with your business.
Once someone joins your mailing list, you can also segment subscribers according to their interests, the pages they visited, or the type of information they requested. This allows you to send more relevant messages rather than sending the same email to everyone.
It is also useful to understand the difference between ongoing email campaigns and automated processes. Email marketing vs. marketing automation can involve different approaches, but they can complement each other when you want to nurture leads consistently.
Where does SEO play into it?
It’s all well and good adding an eBook lead magnet to your website if you aren’t getting any traffic. By establishing a solid SEO strategy and incorporating the elements your website needs to succeed, you can start attracting more organic traffic to your website for the most relevant keywords.
When executed well, your website will start climbing the SERPs (search engine results pages) and you can attract as many ‘ready to spend’ customers to your website as possible. Those who don’t sign up instantly may claim their free eBook and be filtered into your email list.
Following that, you continue nurturing them via email until they either unsubscribe from your email list or invariably sign up to your products and/or services.
SEO is particularly valuable here because it can continue bringing relevant visitors to your website without requiring you to promote the lead magnet to every individual prospect manually. The key is to create content around the questions and problems your ideal customers are already searching for.
For instance, if your lead magnet is a detailed guide for improving online sales, you could create useful articles covering related topics such as conversion rates, landing pages, customer journeys, and website optimisation. Each article can naturally introduce the lead magnet as the next useful resource.
This creates a simple journey: search engine → useful content → lead magnet → email list → customer.
The quality of the lead magnet matters just as much as the traffic itself. Getting thousands of visitors is of limited value if none of them are interested in what you sell. A well-researched lead magnet helps filter that traffic by attracting people who have a genuine interest in the subject.
Turning leads into long-term prospects
Getting someone to provide an email address is only the beginning. The next challenge is keeping subscribers interested enough to eventually become customers. This is where consistent communication becomes important.
Instead of immediately sending promotional messages, businesses can use their email list to educate and nurture subscribers. Helpful tips, industry insights, case studies, answers to common questions, and occasional offers can all contribute to a relationship with the subscriber.
Your emails should also have a clear purpose. One email might encourage someone to read a new article, another might introduce a useful service, while another could invite them to schedule a consultation. By giving each message a clear objective, you make it easier for subscribers to understand what action they should take.
For businesses targeting other companies, this process can be especially useful because purchasing decisions may involve several people and take considerable time. A structured B2B email lead generation approach can help businesses maintain communication with prospects throughout a longer buying journey.
Making your lead-generation process more efficient
As the number of leads increases, manually managing every contact can become difficult. This is where tools and integrations can help businesses organise information, track prospects, and coordinate follow-up activities.
For example, a business may collect contact information through a website form, advertising campaign, or social media lead-generation campaign. Rather than leaving those leads in different platforms, the information can be organised and transferred into a system where sales and marketing teams can follow up.
A platform such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud can be part of a broader lead-generation and marketing workflow, particularly for businesses that need to manage larger volumes of prospects and customer information.
The goal is not simply to collect as many email addresses as possible. Instead, the objective should be to create a reliable system in which relevant visitors become identifiable leads and those leads can be nurtured over time.
Connecting SEO with other lead sources
SEO should not necessarily operate in isolation. A website can receive leads from search engines, social media, paid advertising, referrals, and other channels. Each source can contribute to the same overall marketing system.
For example, someone might first discover your business through a Facebook advertisement, visit your website, and download a lead magnet. Another person might find an SEO article through Google and sign up for the same resource. Both individuals can eventually enter an email nurturing process, even though their original sources were different.
Businesses using Facebook Lead Ads can also collect prospect information directly through advertising campaigns and subsequently organise those contacts for follow-up. In situations where you need to download Facebook leads, having a clear process for managing and integrating that information can make your overall lead-generation strategy easier to maintain.
The bigger the net, the more fish you can catch
And that about sums it up. While SEO and email marketing are two totally different digital marketing strategies, when combined they can be a force to be reckoned with!
The real advantage comes from treating them as connected parts of the same customer journey. SEO brings people to your website, useful content establishes credibility, and a quality lead magnet gives visitors a reason to stay connected with your business. Email marketing can then keep the relationship active until the prospect is ready to take the next step.
The process does require patience. SEO can take time to generate consistent organic traffic, while email subscribers may need several interactions before they become customers. However, by creating useful content and offering genuine value at each stage, businesses can build a marketing system that continues working long after the initial website visit.
How SEO And A Quality Lead Magnet Can Prime Your Website For Effective Email Marketing
