Why is my lead magnet landing page not converting?

7 common pitfalls and how to fix them

If you’ve poured your heart and soul into creating a value-packed lead magnet to warm up ideal clients before a course or program launch only to hear crickets when you promote it, you might feel pretty disheartened. 

The good news is that the problem isn’t your amazing lead magnet, it’s your landing page and the positioning of your offer. 

Your landing page needs to capture the attention of your ideal clients and communicate why they should grab your lead magnet (and give you permission to email them, which is a big deal!). You only have a matter of seconds to do this before they click off your page and head on over to your competitor’s site.

So, how can you maximise conversions to get the greatest number of warm leads on your list?

In this blog post, I’ll explain 7 reasons why your landing page might not be converting as well as you’d hoped, and give you tried-and-true solutions for you how you can fix it today.

But first – your landing page might actually be converting better than you think

If you think your webinar registration page isn’t converting, look at your stats again. The average webinar registration page conversion rate is 30% for cold traffic. While there’s always room for improvement, if your page is converting at 30% or above, it’s better than average. If it’s below this metric, read on for tips on how to improve it. 

1. Lack of relevance to your target audience

If your lead magnet does not align closely with the interests and needs of your target audience, you’ll struggle to generate conversions. Ensure your lead magnet addresses your target audience’s identity (i.e. coach, course creator, service provider, mum, etc) as well as a specific problem or pain point that your audience is facing. The keyword here is specific. The more vague your messaging is, the less likely your ideal client will know the lead magnet is for them. 

For example, if you’re a copywriter who writes launch copy for course creators (hello, it’s me!), a lead magnet titled “8 Ways to Grow Your Email List” might attract anyone and everyone to your list (or get people clicking off because they don’t know if it’s really for them). 

But “8 Ways to Grow Your Email List for Course Creators” is going to specifically draw in course creators (the target audience) because they will see the language and think “this is for me!” 

Below the title of the lead magnet, I could add another touchpoint by speaking to the context the target audience is facing. For example: “Supercharge your email list with hot prospects ahead of your next course launch with these 8 list-building ideas (includes name ideas and real-life examples!).”

Psst: See this in action on my landing page here >>

Pinpoint a specific message by conducting thorough research, engaging with your audience, and understanding their challenges to create a lead magnet that resonates with them.

2. Unclear value proposition 

One of the main reasons for low conversion rates on the landing page for your lead magnet is a vague or poorly communicated value proposition. Visitors need to understand the value they will receive by opting into your lead magnet. 

Your value proposition should answer the following questions: 

• What is the primary, specific benefit someone will gain from your lead magnet? 
• Why should people opt in for your lead magnet over your competitors’ lead magnet?
• Is there a big objection that needs to be addressed that would hold someone back from signing up?

For example, a webinar that teaches creative entrepreneurs how to run their own brand photoshoot could be titled “How to run your own brand photoshoot”. But this doesn’t really provide an incentive for signing up because it doesn’t tell me who it’s for or why being able to host my own brand photoshoot is important. It also doesn’t bust any objections, so I’m left with a lot of questions. 

Instead, the title could be phrased like this: “Free class for creative entrepreneurs: How to run a brand photoshoot that gives you 100s of photos to share on Instagram… even if you’re not a pro photographer!”

The transformation here is very clear. This is for creative entrepreneurs. They will be able to gain the knowledge of how to run a brand photoshoot that results in hundreds of photos. They don’t have to be a pro photographer to be successful at this. 

3. Lengthy or complicated opt-in form

In today’s fast-paced world, people want answers fast. If your opt-in form requires an endless amount of personal information potential leads might shy away from giving it or simply feel overwhelmed by the process and click off your page. 

Keep your opt-in forms concise by requesting only essential information like an email address and/or subscriber’s first name (you shouldn’t need any more information than this!).  

4. Weak call-to-action (CTA)

A weak or ineffective call-to-action can impact conversion rates more than you might think. 

Consider this: If you were on a landing page that promised to give you 8 ways to grow your email list, which CTA would you rather click? A) “Sign me up” or B) “Grow my list!” My thoughts are B, am I right?

B is much more compelling than A because it uses action-oriented language that ties into the transformation the target audience wants, which is to grow their list. 

Transform your boring button copy to action-oriented language and your conversions will increase.

5. Poor landing page design and user experience

I’m not going to sugarcoat things. If your landing page is difficult to navigate or downright ugly, your potential clients may instantly click away from your page. While the messaging is what will make them convert, the design can make or break whether they even read that message in the first place! 

Ensure your landing page has a clean, visually appealing layout that is easy to navigate. Make sure the font is easy to read (consider the style well as the size). Make sure the colours are easy on the eyes. As a general rule, make sure the CTA buttons stand out from the rest of the page by using a designated colour (a bold colour usually works best!). 

Optimise for mobile devices, as most users will be scanning your page via their mobiles. And make sure your page loads quickly and that there are no technical glitches that could hinder the user experience (no one wants to stare at a blank screen willing it to load!).

6. Lack of social proof and trust Indicators

If someone is going to hand over their email address and give you permission to send emails on their timeline, they need to trust you. How do you establish trust in a matter of seconds to someone who’s most likely coming in cold? 

• Incorporate social proof elements like testimonials, case studies, or success stories. 
• Include a bio that explains why you’re credible to teach what you do (reference years’ experience, number of clients served, types of clients served, etc). 
• Display trust indicators such as certifications, affiliations, or notable partnerships to instill confidence in your audience.

7. Incorrectly-targeted traffic or confusing ad creative

If you can say without a shadow of a doubt that you’ve ruled out all of the above common pitfalls and ran traffic to your page (at least 100 visitors) but your registration page still isn’t converting above 30%, then you need to look at your traffic.

If you’re using ads, you may want to tweak your audience targeting to make sure you’re getting in front of the right audience. You’ll also want to check your ad creative to make sure it aligns with the message on your landing page. Because if someone reads one message in your ad but sees a different message on your landing page, they’re going to be confused and they won’t take action.

By going through the above checks and balances and implementing the strategies I’ve shared, you can increase the conversion rate on the landing page for your lead magnet. Coupled with consistent promotion of your landing page, you’ll be able to grow your email list with more of your ideal clients and warm them up ahead of your next course launch.

If you want to increase your landing page conversion rate, I’ve got just what you need!

My Landing Page Checklist for Course Creators gives you 16 tweaks you can make today.

Grab it now >>