A lot of the food bloggers and food content creators I work with ask me if they need a lead magnet to help grow their email list. So let’s talk about it – are lead magnets worth it, or not?
Let’s start with the basics. Before you decide if you want a lead magnet or not, let’s answer the most important question first…
WHAT IS A LEAD MAGNET?
If you’re not 100% sure what a lead magnet is, let’s start there with a quick introduction.A lead magnet is an incentive that you give away to readers or visitors to your website in exchange for having them sign up to your email list. Quid pro quo!
A lead magnet doesn’t have to be complex, in depth or fancy. An ideal magnet should be low effort for you to create and high value for the person signing up for your list.
Do not confuse what you consider to be high value with what your reader considers high value. This is a common mistake content creators make.
You’re the expert. When we’re the expert or when something comes easily or seems obvious to us, it’s easy for us to forget that’s not the case for others.
Sometimes, high value may be as simple as saving somebody time (anything that saves me time is extremely high value to me).
I’m not going to get into a comprehensive list of lead magnet ideas here – I’ll save that for the next post But if you’re considering creating a lead magnet or two, think about what you can quickly and easily provide that makes life easier for your readers?
DO I NEED A LEAD MAGNET FOR MY FOOD BLOG?
No, you do not need a lead magnet.
I get asked this all the time and no, you really don’t. You can still build a good, healthy list without a lead magnet.
But… (I always have a “but”, right? 🤣), you will have to work harder to get subscribers and it will be a slower process.
Signing up for a newsletter is generally not the reason people land on your site and it’s not going to be top of mind. With or without a lead magnet, you’ll need to make it top of mind for them. And with no incentive, you’ll need to work harder to do that.
Make sure people have lots of visual queues to sign up on your website with popups, inline forms on individual blogs posts, text links and sidebar boxes.
You’ll need to ask people to signup via your social media channels – and make it easy for them to do so. Create an easy landing page URL where the only thing people can do is sign up for your list. (This is mine – and for what it’s worth, I don’t currently have a lead magnet!)
The upside of this? People who do sign up for your list will be there because they really want to hear from you – and that, my friends, is the basis for a healthy list!
THE #1 REASON PEOPLE TELL ME THEY DON’T HAVE A LEAD MAGNET
The biggest reason I hear for not having a lead magnet (and I hear it again and again) is that “people just sign up to get the freebie and then they unsubscribe”.
This doesn’t cut the mustard with me.
If you don’t want to have a lead magnet, don’t have one. That’s totally fine.
But if you have a lead magnet and you wind up with a net increase in subscribers every month, the lead magnet is doing its job. Why would you ditch it?
If you have a net decrease in subscribers then sure, get rid of it. And then you probably need to dive deeper into why you’re losing more subscribers than you’re gaining every month. Because, it’s probably not the lead magnet!
PEOPLE WHO UNSUBSCRIBE AFTER GETTING THE LEAD MAGNET
Yes, some people are going to sign up for your list, grab the freebie and run. That’s life. Just like they land on your website from google, get the recipe they wanted and wave buh-bye. How many of us drop into Walmart to buy the loss leader in that week’s circular and then get the heck out of there?
We all do stuff like this from time to time when it comes to the businesses we interact with.
If your lead magnet is low effort for you, then it’s really not a big deal if somebody unsubscribes after they get your lead magnet.
Let them go.
They were never going to engage with your emails anyway and they wind up costing you money instead of making you money.
But, the people who do this are almost always the minority. It just feels like they’re the majority because they’re actively letting you know that you’re not for them and that always sucks. (think about how we obsess over the one negative or ignorant comment on a recipe but disregard the dozens of positive comments??)
THE OTHER REASONS PEOPLE UNSUBSCRIBE SHORTLY AFTER GETTING YOUR FREEBIE
It’s more likely that people unsubscribe from your email list after getting your lead magnet for one of these reasons:
they read it and realized your tone or style is not for them
the lead magnet didn’t deliver what it promised
they were inundated with multiple emails from you in a very short period of time
your send frequency is too high for their tolerance
your list onboarding is clunky
The first? Well that stinks but, we can’t be for everyone. We shouldn’t even try. Having a unique voice and a strong point of view will help you stand out and build a strong following. But it will also turn some people off. And that’s ok!
It wouldn’t hurt, though, to have a few friends or food content creator peers review your lead magnet and your initial emails to see if maybe the tone is coming across awkwardly or your humour or words are falling flat.
The other reasons? Those are all things that are fixable! But it’ll mean you need to sit down and have an honest talk with yourself about what you’re doing.
⭐️ Are you delivering what you promised in the lead magnet? ⭐️ How many emails did they get from you in the first week? 1? 3? 7? TEN??? ⭐️ Were you up front about how often they can expect to hear from you in the welcome email you sent them? ⭐️ Did they have to jump through hoops for the lead magnet to drop in their inbox? (and yes, you should be using double opt-in)
THE LAST WORD ON LEAD MAGNETS FOR FOOD CONTENT CREATORS
No, you don’t need one.
But having one will help you grow your list faster – especially if it’s something your ideal subscriber values.
If you have a lead magnet and you’re getting a net increase in subscribers every month, it’s doing it’s job. I would keep it
Don’t worry about unsubscribes so much as long as you’re growing, your open rate is steady and people are engaging with your email content.
I’ll be back soon to talk about the kinds of lead magnets you can offer that will be easy for you to make and highly valued by your audience!
Want More Tips?
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A detailed list of May food observances makes it easy for food content creators to brainstorm blog and email content ideas.
If you’re looking for ideas for May content for your food blog’s email newsletters or social media channels, or you’re wanting to brainstorm recipe ideas or come up with fun food videos for your YouTube channel, check out all of these May food holidays. You’re sure to find something that gets your mouth watering – there’s suitable topics for every kind of food blogger and food content creator.
Many of these observances are based on dates in the United States but are often celebrated in the food community at large. I’ve tried to note where a month, week or day is tied to a specific country other than the USA. And where a day is observed globally, that has been noted as well.
Some food observance dates do shift from year to year but these dates should be current for 2024
Want more email tips? Subscribe to my monthly newsletter! Each month I write an exclusive newsletter full of tips, tricks and ideas for food content creators and their email lists!
May is the time of year where everyone starts to venture outdoors! And that means that there’s lots of fresh ideas for May newsletter content if you’re a food bloggers or food content creator.
May is when we start to feel like it’s safe to plan outdoor gatherings with a little more certainty when it comes to the weather. It’s warm but not stinking hot yet and the spring rain (or snow) has usually settled down!
SEASONAL HOLIDAYS:
There are multiple holidays in May: Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day (North America), Victoria Day Long Weekend (Canada) and Memorial Day Weekend (USA). All of them have a big food component.
Mexican dishes and drinks (both traditional and modern twists)
afternoon tea
brunches
desserts
easy to make breakfasts for mom (so the kids don’t destroy the kitchen)
pampering mom
picnics, BBQs and potlucks
SEASONAL FOOD:
A steady stream of in season produce is on the way now so be sure to take advantage of it with your evergreen content!
asparagus
strawberries
rhubarb
peas and pea shoots
artichokes
lettuces and baby spinach
other baby greens
OUTDOOR COOKING SEASON
May is the month that grillers and smokers get serious. May also hosts what is, for many, the first camping weekend of the year which means cooking outdoors on campfires and cooking stoves and… road trips!
grilling recipes
smoker recipes
campfire cooking
cooking stove recipes
road trips and road trip snacks and meals
meal prep for camping
Now’s the time to get started. Plan out your May newsletter calendar and batch write your emails. Schedule them and you’re good to go!
Want more email tips? Subscribe to my monthly newsletter! Each month I write an exclusive newsletter full of tips, tricks and ideas for food content creators and their email lists!
April is the time of year where we really start to see the first fresh, local produce start to make an appearance. Team that up seasonal holidays like Ramadan, Passover and Earth Day and there’s no shortage of April newsletter ideas for food bloggers and food content creators.
April offers up a wealth of content ideas for your email newsletters so now is the time to start writing and scheduling so they’re all ready to go next month.
SEASONAL HOLIDAYS:
In 2024, Easter is early (in March) so that means the major observances for April this year are Ramadan (which continues from March until April 10), Passover (April 22- April 30) and Earth Day (April 22). Each with their own unique food based traditions. That means lots of content ideas!
the food!
entertaining – small groups, large groups, casual, budget friendly, upscale, planning and prepping
kid friendly projects
classic traditions
modern twists on tradition
don’t forget leftovers!
sustainable ingredients
reducing food waste
trying a local diet (100km diet etc)
SEASONAL FOOD:
April can be a wild ride depending on where you live and how angry winter has been! Not all of these foods will be in season everywhere just yet (but they’re coming!)
asparagus
lettuce – a wide variety
spinach
radishes
rhubarb
fiddleheads
ramps
greenhouse produce: tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers and strawberries
BRUNCH IS BACK!
Early spring means brunch is back and patios are opening up – maybe even the one in your back yard! Start putting those brunch recipes and entertaining ideas out there. People will be looking for them!
EARLY MOTHER’S DAY:
People plan ahead for Mother’s Day in North America so it’s appropriate to start dripping content out in late April newsletters:
brunch and lunch
afternoon tea
cakes, pastries and desserts
outdoor dining
dinner menus
prep ahead
EARLY VEGGIE GARDENING:
Veggie gardening is food content and more and more people are interested in growing their own food! There is interest in small space gardening, container gardening and full scale backyard growing… and what they can cook with their new bounty!
TAILOR YOUR APRIL NEWSLETTER CONTENT FOR YOUR EMAIL AUDIENCE
As always, these are ideas to help you brainstorm. Adapt them to fit your audience and your niche, which you know better than anyone else.
Remember that your email audience may be different from the audience that finds you through search.
Focus on what your newsletter subscribers respond to. If you have the data available in your newsletter marketing platform, look at which content they responded to this time last year. Then create newsletter content that’s a good fit!
Now’s the time to get started. Plan out your April newsletter calendar and batch write your emails. Schedule them and you’re good to go!
** remember that you cannot use your direct Amazon affiliate product links in your emails but you can link to blog posts that contain Amazon affiliate links and you can link to your Amazon influencer shop. Check the rules of any other affiliate programs you use before including your links.
Want more email tips? Subscribe to my monthly newsletter! Each month I write an exclusive newsletter full of tips, tricks and ideas for food content creators and their email lists!
