Build Your List: 7 Irresistible Lead Magnet Ideas

Email marketing requires huge amounts of time to do right. Time spent writing emails, coming up with strategy, and testing, testing, testing.

However, none of the above is possible without a list of folks who are ready to receive your marketing messages. So, before you spend an afternoon crafting the perfect subject line, let’s talk about your list. Or, more specifically, how you can build your list using lead magnets.

What’s a Lead Magnet?

Lead magnets are possibly the single easiest way to begin adding interested, qualified leads to your email list. They’re typically bitesized, snackable pieces of content that your readers can access (for free) in exchange for their email address.

Most web users won’t think twice about handing over their email if it means they get free content as a result— especially if that content is interesting, useful, and relevant to their interests. This makes them extremely powerful when done correctly. Keep reading, and we’ll talk about 7 of the best lead magnets you can begin putting together today!

• Free Checklist

If you have a blog, creating a one-page checklist or worksheet is a great way to turn any of your blog posts into a list-building machine! For example, let’s say you run a men’s fashion blog and have just finished a post about choosing a good pair of shoes. At the bottom of the article, you could create an opt-in box that gives away a free gift, “The Gentleman’s Shoe-Buying Checklist”.

This is a piece of content that will help your readers choose a sharp pair of shoes in exchange for their emails. And, because you’ve included it within the context of the footwear article, you know they’ll be interested in shoe-related marketing emails later on.

Make sense? Here’s a few real-world examples to help you wrap your head around the concept.
On The Social Butterfly Gal, author Christina Jochoa has put together a good article about creating opt-in content for your readers. At the end of the article, she’s added this short form:

This offer fits in neatly with her target audience (entrepreneurs who are new to blogging/social media marketing). It also compliments the content of the article and makes sense within its context.
In another example, an article about creating a resume by The Interview Guys offers, “The Perfect Resume Checklist” to anyone willing to enter their email address:

Again, this is a perfect marriage of lead magnet and content. When creating your own lead magnets, make sure the offer is relevant to your readers and the kind of content they expect from you.

• White papers, Reports, eBooks, or Case Studies

Offering new information to your readers is another great way to get them to hand over their email address and join your list. Try compiling reports, white papers, or case studies that are relevant to your audience.

For example, if you’re a driving school trying to drum up business using the web, you could add leads by giving away, “FREE Report: Driver’s Training Can Add Up To Five Years to Your Life”.

Again, just like with the checklists we mentioned above, this kind of lead magnet is sure to draw attention from folks who are interested in what you have to offer (driver’s training). Otherwise, why would they waste their time reading about its benefits? In your own business, think about what kind of data, facts, and statistics are important to your audience. Then, either collect the data yourself or compile it from other sources.

Want to see a great example of an email marketing lead magnet?

Click here to receive our free eBook, Inbox Better and learn how to maximize email open rates, engagement, and CTR.

In this example, Clear Story Data offers a whitepaper that promises to teach readers why Data Intelligence is, “the new way”. If you were a business intelligence professional, this might be right up your alley.

In another example, Kindle publisher Steve Scott offers a free eBook aimed towards anyone looking to dip their toes in the Kindle publishing industry (Steve’s target market). This is a fantastic example of marketing done right— notice how Steve is offering this lead magnet on his 404 page! So instead of losing leads when they arrive at a dead end, he’s turned his 404 page into yet another lead-generating page.

And, once you click that big, tempting, please-just-click-me button, you’re hit with this pop up:

Now, Steve can collect email addresses from anyone interested in Kindle publishing. In one-click, they’ll be added to his list.

• Toolkits

The last two lead magnet ideas require you to create your own content. This can take a lot of time, especially if you’re putting together entire eBooks or white papers. If you’d like to put something together quickly, try giving away a toolkit.

A toolkit is a collection of resources software and other tools that you feel will be useful to your readers. For example, if you owned an authority site about women’s fitness, you could put together a list of helpful apps to help folks track their exercise and workouts. This takes very little original content creation, as it is simply a curated list of great tools.

What would look like? Here’s a few examples to inspire you.

Here, Hero Health Room is offering a similar lead magnet to the hypothetical toolkit we discussed above. By entering your email, you’ll get immediate access to tools, checklists, and resources to help you get in shape. In return, they’ll add you to their list and begin marketing to you:

In the marketing world, WPBeginner offers its visitors “The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit”. Again, this is simply a collection of tools, plugins, and resources that first-time WordPress users might find helpful.

• Quizzes and Surveys

Us humans, we love a good quiz (just check out Buzzfeed if you need proof). Your readers are no different. By putting together a quick, easy quiz (and sending the results via email), you can both collect data about your audience and build your list.

For example, check out Jean Paul Zogby’s quiz that promises to tell you how fast time runs in your mind— once you’ve given him your email of course.

After you’ve taken the quiz, Zogby follows up with your results and a subtle CTA promoting his book (also related to time perception). It’s an easy way for him to build his list while still providing value to his audience.

• Webinars and Video Training

Video lead magnets can be particularly great for building your list. Why? Video feels valuable. It requires more effort, more commitment, and (hopefully) will provide more value to your audience than a 10-point checklist. If you’ve noticed that your competitors are all beginning to offer eBooks and text-based content to attract new leads, try mixing it up by creating video lead magnets.

Script Magazine offers a free webinar to readers who are interested in learning to write screenplays (their target audience). This gives them an opportunity to connect with their audience, position themselves as an authority in the space, and—their ultimate goal—build their list with qualified, interested leads.

In an entirely different industry, travel blogger and digital nomad, Stephanie Holland, offers free travel advice for anyone willing to enter their email. This is a particularly good example as she’s created a dedicated landing page for this lead magnet. It’s really well-designed page, and worth using as inspiration if you’re looking to do something similar.

Oh, and if you’re wondering where she’s collecting emails, it’s all hidden behind that purple, “Watch Now »” button. Once clicked, you’ll see the following pop up:

• Free Quote

Ah, the free quote. This is perhaps the oldest lead magnet ever thought up. Car salesmen, insurance agents, real estate tycoons, marketing agencies— in just about every industry, the free quote has been a reliable way to gather information from interested prospects.

This kind of lead magnet may take a little more “backend” work than the rest. You’ll need some sort of tool that takes your users’ information and outputs a personalized quote. However, the benefit of this lead magnet is that it specifically talks about money. It’s a lot easier to move prospects from a quote to a sale than it would be to take them from a free report to a final purchase. If you do decide to build a free quote lead magnet, use the following examples to inspire you:

The website, lowestrates.ca uses a very powerful quote building system that allows visitors to easily get a ballpark price for insurance. However, the system also allows them to follow up through email once someone completes their forms.

At Plato Web Design, visitors can quickly get an automatic quote built for them using the web form. This is a much simpler version than the insurance quote above, but is still a fantastic way for Plato to collect emails.

• Coupons/Discounts

If you’re an ecommerce guy or gal, this lead magnet is for you. Offer your readers a small discount in exchange for their email address. You’ll then be able to continue sending them marketing messages related to their interests.

In this example, big box retailer, H&M is offering 20% off any item when visitors join their email list. This will allow them to continue marketing to their customers long after they’ve used their discount code:

We would have preferred to see H&M advertise this offer with a pop up. As it is, users can only access this deal by clicking the small text, “SIGN UP FOR EMAILS” in the site’s header. Notice how in the example below, Austin Kayak uses a pop up to get their lead magnet in front of visitors and drive sign ups:

The Real Secret of High-Conversion Lead Magnets

So you’ve decided on a lead magnet, you’ve built it, and you’re ready to start building your list by exchanging it for email addresses. Great! Now what? As we’ve said again and again on this blog— you should always be testing. Keep designing and deploying new lead magnets for your audience and measure which kinds of content generate the most emails. Your first idea will likely not be your best idea.
So once you’ve finished creating your first lead magnet, start thinking (immediately) about the next. And, if you want more ideas, inspiration, and top email marketing tips, click here to join our newsletter.

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7 Easy Tips to Creating Stellar Email Content

 Once a subscriber opens your email, you’ve got just a few seconds to grab his or her attention. Stellar content can keep them glued to the screen. To help you connect with your readers, we have seven tips to help bolster your email content. 

1. Host a brainstorming session

If you feel like your content is a little drab, host a brainstorming session to help generate some new ideas, says marketer Izabela Socha with Cooking Planit. This company, which is an online site that helps people plan meals, holds bi-weekly brainstorming sessions.

Even if your staff is small, ask everyone – not just marketing – to come to a meeting and toss around ideas. New topic ideas can elevate your writing. And, if you’re a team of one like many small business owners, don’t fret. We’ve got a guide with inspiring ideas and a blog post with even more. 

2. Ask for input

Ideas shouldn’t just come from your staff; they should come from your subscribers, too. Send an email asking recipients what kind of email content they want to see. This gives your customers a voice and gives you more content ideas. Check out the example. This particular online retailer is offering an incentive to participate, which is never a bad idea.

 3. Less is more

With the right design and images, your email doesn’t need a ton of text. A promotional email, for example, may only need the sale details. Take a look at the example below. Notice there’s very little text, but the reader gets the point instantly. 

 

4. Write teaser content

Write short and snappy content, then direct readers to the meat of your content on a blog or a landing page like the folks at Cooking Planit. Tease your readers. Get them to click on your call-to-action button, and lead them to more content, such as specific recipes in the example below.

5. Focus on the reader

When you’re writing, use the word “you” rather than “we.” By doing so, you’ll focus on the customer. Take a look at the example below. Instead of saying, “We offer the following benefits” it says, “As a registered user you can.” The Home Depot focuses on the customer, not the business. 

6. Write with a single goal

As you’re writing, focus your efforts on one goal. Don’t try to cram too many topics into an email. Unless you’re writing a newsletter, the rule of thumb is one topic per email. Keep it simple, like the example below. It’s clear the goal of this email is to introduce recipients to a new pizza.

7. Say it with video

Try adding some video to your next email to mix up your content (you simply include an image of the video and link to where the video is hosted like on YouTube). Whether you record your company’s CEO thanking customers or showing subscribers a new product like the email below does, video is a great way to spice up an email. For a little help creating a video, check out a recent post on this very topic.

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19 Tools to Create Social Media Content

Are you looking for new ways to create content?
Interested in tools that can help you?
In this article, you’ll discover 19 tools to create and share content on social media.

#1: Convert Long Form Content to Slides

Presentations are great for readers who need a little more time to digest bigger pieces of content. They also let you introduce your business in a more visually appealing way. Break your content into slides and share your professional presentations with these tools.
SlideShare

LinkedIn’s SlideShare gives you a platform to build, upload, and edit presentation decks and share them on social media. The list of sharing sites includes Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and of course LinkedIn. Email, links, WordPress shortcodes, and iframe embedding are also available to share your work.
Cost: Free

SlideBoom
SlideBoom can convert your PowerPoint presentations to Flash so you can share them with colleagues, prospects, and customers. As private or public, SlideBoom lets you share your presentations with just the right audience.
Cost: Free and paid versions

Convert your PowerPoint presentations to Flash with SlideBoom.

Prezi
Prezi is available for your desktop or as an online editor. It makes creating an effective presentation a snap. Browse the knowledge base or upload your own presentations. You can add animations and share your content on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Cost: Public accounts are free and will be viewable, searchable, and reusable. Pro accounts run from $5-$20 per month.

Create dynamic presentations with Prezi.

SlideSnack
SlideSnack is a presentation-sharing tool that lets you easily upload presentation slides accompanied by voice overlays. You can share them with Blogger, Facebook, WordPress, My Webs, Weebly, Jimdo, Tumblr, Hi5, Orkut, and YouTube.
Cost: Free

Upload slides and add voice overlays with SlideSnack.

#2: Present Your Business on Video

Video is perhaps the most important medium for sharing and presenting content online. YouTube is the top dog with over 1 billion unique users each month, but other top video-sharing services look to take some of the market share.
Could your bustling business benefit from these top online video tools?

PowToon
PowToon features a user-friendly presentation interface and minimalist design. You can use it to create branded video and share it with prospects and customers.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

PowToon lets you create branded video that you can share on
your social channels.

Magisto
Magisto lets you synchronize audio and visual aspects to make an emotional connection with the viewer. Share your videos on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, or your own blog.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

Magisto lets you turn images and video into short movies.

WeVideo
With WeVideo, you get worry-free cloud access to your media, Ken Burns-style animations, voiceover capabilities, and a library of licensed music to make video editing stress-free. Sharing capabilities include Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, and YouTube.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

WeVideo is a cloud-based video editor.

Wideo
Wideo works in tandem with your marketing strategy to create videos in minutes. You can create professional videos online and share them on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. If you prefer to have Wideo create your video, graphic designers are on hand to assist with your marketing needs.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

You can create video in minutes with Wideo.

Share Your Video Content
Once you create your video, here are some places to upload and share it:
YouTube
Just about everyone is familiar with YouTube for its public and private video upload freedom, customizable thumbnails, and monetization capabilities. An incredible 300 hours of videos are uploaded every minute, and according to a recent report from Digiday, there is something for everyone.
Cost: Free and paid versions available
Vimeo
Vimeo’s platform is similar to YouTube and is ideal for video sharing, discovery, and sparking creativity. You can get inspired by individuals and businesses that are passionate about video.
Cost: Free and paid versions available
Dailymotion
Live and on demand, Dailymotion is the place to watch videos of sporting events, hilarious bloopers, fashion shows, and more.
Cost: Free
Metacafe
With a youthful tone and appearance, Metacafe showcases short-form videos, gaming, television, and music.
Cost: Free

#3: Show Your Story With Infographics

Give your content a huge boost with infographics, which encourage engagement. According to Content Desk, an infographic is 30 times more likely to be read than a purely text article.
In fact, the state of visual content has grown in importance from key marketing decision-makers worldwide, supported by a recent report from eMarketer and the communications firm Lewis. They report that 94% of marketing decision-makers produce visual content.
The reasons behind the popularity of visual content may come as a surprise. According to the study, the top reasons for visual content production are not its aesthetic appeal, but its ability to encourage engagement, the social media requirements, and the customer’s reduced attention.
There are easy and affordable ways to stand out visually on social media. With minimal training, these top infographic websites let you create and share craveworthy content.

Easel.ly
Easel.ly lets you easily edit and customize infographic templates. You can share your new canvas immediately on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Cost: Free

Easel.ly lets you edit and customize a variety of
infographic templates.

Piktochart
Piktochart lets you create innovative, design-intricate infographics complete with icons, images, charts, and interactive maps. Once finished, save and publish your newly minted content directly to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube, and even convert long-form infographics to multi-slide presentations on SlideShare.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

Design innovative infographics with Piktochart.

Canva
With Canva, you can quickly create infographics, along with presentation covers, social media images, online advertisements, flyers, and more. Canva lets you share your work on Facebook and Twitter.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

Choose from Canva’s library of design sizes and styles.

Visme
With Visme, you can easily create beautiful presentations, infographics, reports, web content, and wireframes all in one place. Share your content online as a URL or on social media, embed it on your website, or download it for offline use.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

Visme lets you create presentations, infographics, reports, 
web content, and more.

Share Infographic Content
Here are some platforms where you can share your infographics:
Cool Infographics
Cool Infographics is free to marketers in the design community who want to submit their work to a forum for review. In addition, the service lets you self-publish, connect, and discover visual content. It’s a way to drive more traffic to your business.
Cost: Free
Submit Infographics
Do you have an infographic you’re proud of and want to submit it for review? On Submit Infographics, you can publish and share branded designs to be stored in the site’s visual content library, which is available for the viewing pleasure of the site’s large audience.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

#4: Build Buzz With Quizzes

Want to gain interaction? Try a quiz!
Personality quizzes are fun for readers and informative to marketers. Marketers should expect to see an 80% completion percentage, so set your sights high. If your results drop below the 80% mark, consider shortening or reworking your message.
Pro tip: If you want to build your email list, remember to give your readers the option to have their results sent directly to their inbox. Quizzes give readers an incentive to share information such as email addresses, and give marketers another way to collect audience data.
Start building and sharing your own quizzes with these five sites.

BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed is one of the most popular quiz-sharing websites to date. The site’s editorial style makes it easy to create, view, and share quizzes. You can share your content on practically every device and network.
Cost: Free

BuzzFeed lets you create, view, and share your own quizzes.

Playbuzz
Playbuzz is a digital publishing platform where you can create content and embed quizzes directly on your website. The goal is to share stories that people love, and it seems to be working. Playbuzz is one of BuzzFeed’s biggest competitors. Just as with BuzzFeed, Playbuzz lets you share your content on practically every device and network.
Cost: Free

Playbuzz lets you choose from a number of quiz formats.

Quizworks
With Quizworks, you can choose from multiple question types, view statistics, and get access to sharing tools that allow you to engage with your audience in a highly shareable way on Facebook and Twitter.
Cost: Free and paid options

Quizworks lets you create an online quiz in minutes.

Qzzr
Qzzr is an exciting tool that lets you create personalized quizzes based on your website’s look, feel, and language. Qzzr’s sharing capabilities include Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can also embed code directly to your blog or website.
Cost: Free and paid options

Qzzr lets you customize your quizzes to fit your website’s 
look and feel.

4screens
4screens is a responsive platform that lets you create quizzes, polls, and surveys. You can engage with readers and track leads in real time on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or from the embedded quizzes on your website.
Cost: Free and paid options

4screens lets you track leads in real time.

#5: Share Your Voice With a Podcast

Podcasting is bigger than ever. With the rise of smartphones and tablets, podcasts have become a required accessory for any long road trip or gym session. In fact, the podcast audience is now close to 60 million people in the United States, and according to Edison Research, podcast listening grew an impressive 23% between 2015 and 2016.
Podcasting will continue to grow and become easier for marketers to create, edit, and share. Try these top tools and make your podcasting dreams a reality.

Audacity
Audacity is open-source audio software that lets you record audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, and add your own audio effects to cut, copy, and mix your own podcasts.
Cost: Free

Audacity makes it easy to record audio for your podcast.

Podbean
Podbean lets you create and share professional podcasts in minutes without any programming knowledge. You can publish directly to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, or Instagram accounts. You can also listen for free, or upload, publish, manage, and promote your podcasts with one of Podbean’s paid plans.
Download availability: iOS and Android
Cost: Free and paid options

Podbean makes it easy to create, manage, and 
promote your podcast.

Share Podcasting Content
Here are some places where you can upload and share your podcast:
SoundCloud
You can record and upload audio content to SoundCloud. You can share your work privately or publicly to blogs, sites, and social networks such as Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and Foursquare.
Download availability: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Podomatic
Podomatic lets you create and discover thought-provoking podcasts and share your favorites with your friends on Facebook.
Download availability: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Archive
Internet Archive is a non-profit library of free books, movies, software, music, websites, images, concerts, and podcasts. You can upload content, donate, watch, and listen.
Download availability: Web only
Cost: Free
Stitcher
Stitcher boasts the ability to stream the latest in news, sports, talk, and entertainment radio anywhere, on demand. Stitcher is the easiest way to discover the best of over 65,000+ radio shows, live radio stations, and podcasts. You can “stitch” together your favorite shows into customized station playlists and save them for easy access later.
Download availability: iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire
Cost: Free

Conclusion
Achieving higher reader engagement is all about knowing your audience. After you get a better grasp of your readers’ habits and online routines, you can begin to target them properly in ways they want to interact.
Consider this: According to Salesforce, almost a quarter of all adults online are on at least two social media networks. It’s no surprise that each social networking site is unique in its audience and content, making it crucial to diversify your marketing strategy to interact with your customers where they are in the medium that best fits the network.
Whether you’re looking to convert outdated or overused content, or think a complex piece of content would be best served in bite-sized pieces, don’t miss out on an opportunity to reach a larger audience by presenting content in a new way.

What do you think? Can you use these five content formats and multiple tools to reach your audience and improve engagement? Please let us know in the comments below!

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3 Simple Ways to Bust Stereotypes and Craft a Remarkable Message

 On the snowy, northeastern Christmas of my 11th year, our parents gathered all five kids around the kitchen table to deliver the news.

We were moving to San Antonio, Texas.

I was devastated. Texas? I imagined what our new home would look like.

We’d be miles from any neighbors — who would all look like they walked straight off the “Hee Haw” set — with a dusty, rock-filled front yard punctuated by the occasional tumbleweed rolling by.

If only I had access to online content back in those days, I wouldn’t have been terrified at all by the silly stereotypes I believed to be true.

Here’s the thing — our customers are terrified, too. They’re operating based on stereotypes, fears, and misconceptions.

But every day, the internet makes it easier to inform and educate them so we can bust through stereotypes and really connect.

Their false assumptions don’t stand a chance when you use the three techniques below to create a remarkable message that engages your prospects.

1. Showcase your product

Video is ideal for showing exactly how your product works and why it’s the best on the market.

One company that does this well is OtterBox, whose YouTube channel features lighthearted product demos and user-submitted stories that show customers putting OtterBox technology cases to the test.

Your video doesn’t have to be fancy. It’s more important to:

• Take the time to develop a compelling story
• Write a script; don’t wing it
• Edit carefully so your video comes in under three minutes — bonus points if it’s under two

If you sell a service, video can also make your offerings come to life. Interview customers who’ve gotten good results. Show all the benefits of your service by filming before and after videos. And build interest by aiming your camera at the end result, showing prospects what they can expect.

2. Share your reality

People enjoy doing business with actual people, not faceless corporations.

Show prospects you’re just like them by sharing a little about yourself on social media (once you discover where your customers are hanging out), on your blog, and in your email newsletter.

Keep it light, tie it in with a topic you know your audience is interested in, and include them in the conversation the first chance you get.

If your business is large, you can make your company more approachable by allowing employees to share personal details on your website or company blog.

Let them post photos, share their hobbies, or post short videos that show them outside of work.

Any time you share some of your own reality, your two-dimensional internet presence becomes more three dimensional, and that makes your company — and its offerings — more appealing to prospects.

3. Shatter your stereotypes

You may be in a business that people tend to stereotype:

• All graphic designers are flaky, artsy types who can’t meet their deadlines.
• All engineers are nerdy and use pocket protectors.
• All web developers spend long days in windowless rooms and don’t know how to hold up their end of a conversation.
• All writers are broke and have no business sense.
• All accountants think about numbers all day.

Of course, none of these clichés are true.

If your business is typecast a certain way, accept it and set the record straight online.

• If you’re a graphic designer, post an infographic showing how often you meet or exceed your clients’ deadlines.
• If you own an engineering firm, post photos of the cool hobbies your employees spend time on outside of work.
• If you’re a web developer, host a pool party and invite your best clients, then post a video on your website.
• If you’re a writer, write an article about how you make money with your keyboard and smart business sense.
• If you’re an accountant, post your music playlist on your favorite social media profile.

Showing your prospects how those tired clichés don’t work for you and your company is an excellent way to make your business memorable.

Push boundaries and get more customers

It turns out I loved living in Texas — especially after my ears got used to the accent — and I made many friends I’m still in contact with.

The experience made me who I am today, and I’m grateful for it.

When we ask our prospects to go beyond their ingrained stereotypes, we encourage them to grow and stretch as human beings.

That’s good for them, and it turns out it’s good for business, too.

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4 Ways to Build Facebook Lookalike Audiences to Expand Your Targeting

 Do you want to reach more consumers with your Facebook ads?

Looking for creative ways to reach more people like your ideal customers?

Lookalike audiences allow you to build new audiences using an established source audience such as people who have viewed your video or previously purchased from you.

In this article, you’ll discover how to use Facebook lookalike audiences to successfully scale your ad targeting.

What Are Facebook Lookalike Audiences?

Facebook lookalike audiences are an advanced targeting option that goes beyond the basic interest and demographic targeting functionality. They’re currently the most effective Facebook targeting tool to find your ideal customer.

At the core of all lookalike audiences is a source audience upon which you build a lookalike audience. Facebook takes all of the data points of your source audience and finds new, similar people using a set percentage sample (which you specify) of the population in your chosen country.

Unlike interest-based targeting, lookalike audiences allow you to create the source audience, giving you more control. As a result, you end up with better-quality audiences because you can find new audiences that are almost identical to your existing ones.

Lookalike audiences are best used to target new cold audiences at the top of your sales funnel. For example, you could run top-of-funnel content campaigns to all of the lookalike audiences you build. This would start to warm them up as you take them from the top of the funnel to the bottom.

Now let’s look at how to create four types of lookalike audiences.

#1: Create a Video Lookalike Audience

Facebook users watch 100 million hours of video on the platform every day, so it should come as no surprise that video is Facebook’s best-performing content.

Video allows you to build brand recognition and trust with your target audience quickly. If you’re running a video-based content strategy and want to scale your campaigns to reach more people, lookalike audiences let you find new people based on those who’ve already watched your videos.

Before you can create a video lookalike audience, you first need to create a custom video audience, which will be the source audience for the lookalike.

Create a Custom Video Audience

Custom video audiences allow you to segment your viewers based on what videos they’ve watched and their level of engagement.

To create a custom video audience, open your Facebook Ads Manager and navigate to the Audiences dashboard. To do that, click the menu button and click All Tools.

Under Assets, click Audiences.

Next click Create Audience and select Custom Audience from the drop-down menu.

In the pop-up box that appears, you’ll see four custom audience options. Select Engagement on Facebook.

Next select Video.

You’ll see the box where you create your custom video audience. Select your engagement criteria from the Engagement drop-down list and choose the videos from which you want to build your audience.

Define the time period, give your audience a name, and click Create Audience.

You can create an audience for all video views at every engagement level: 3 seconds, 10 seconds, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95%. To create each one, repeat the process outlined above for the different engagement options.

Build a Video Lookalike Audience

Now you’re ready to create your video lookalike audience. Navigate to the Audiences dashboard in your Ads Manager just like you did when you created the custom video audience. Then click Create Audience and select Lookalike Audience from the drop-down menu.

In the Create a Lookalike Audience box, you’ll see three fields: Source, Country, and Audience Size. For the source, select the custom video audience you created in the previous step.

Next choose your country. This is typically the country in which the majority of your source audience is located. For example, if you work predominantly with UK-based businesses, any lookalike audience you create will be in the UK.

Finally, select your audience size. Audience sizes range from 1% to 10% of the total population in the country you choose, with 1% being those who most closely match your source. You may want to start at 1% and increase the audience size when you want to scale campaigns to reach more people.

When you’re finished, click Create Audience. You’ll receive a notification when your lookalike audience is ready to use, which could take up to 30 minutes.

#2: Set Up Email List Lookalike Audiences

Email-based lookalike audiences often deliver the best results. Why? Because you can take your existing customer list and use that as the source for your lookalike audience, essentially cloning your customer base.

As with video lookalike audiences, first you’ll need a custom email audience of your subscribers/customers before you can create an email-based lookalike audience.

Create a Custom Email Audience

Navigate to the Audiences dashboard, click Create Audience, and select Custom Audience from the drop-down menu. In the first pop-up box, select Customer File.

You have two options for adding your email data: upload your data as a file/copy and paste the data, or import it from MailChimp. If you’re uploading your email list, click Choose a File or Copy and Paste the Data.

Next upload the email list (which is a CSV file in the example).

Then map your identifiers. The more identifiers you use the better match rate you’ll see. In the example, we’ll use First Name, Last Name, and of course, Email Address.

After you click Upload & Create, you’ll see a progress bar and how many rows of data were successfully uploaded.

Now under Next Steps, click Create a Lookalike Audience.

Build an Email Lookalike Audience

In the Create a Lookalike Audience box that opens, you’ll see your custom email audience in the Source field.

Select your target country (from which the majority of your email list comes) and choose the audience size. Consider starting with a 1% lookalike audience and scaling from there. Then click Create Audience.

#3: Create Conversion Lookalike Audiences

Conversion lookalike audiences let you find new target audiences using a website custom audience of people who have completed a specific conversion event.

For example, if you’re an ecommerce business running a discount code lead magnet, create a website custom audience of people who have triggered a lead event action by opting in for the discount code. Then use that audience as the source for your lookalike audience.

Before you can create the source audience for your conversion lookalike audience, make sure that you’ve set up and installed conversion tracking.

As with video and email lookalike audiences, you need to create the source audience first. It will be a website custom audience of people who have completed a specific event action.

Create a Website Custom Audience for Conversions

In the Audiences dashboard in your Facebook Ads Manager, click Create Audience and select Custom Audience from the drop-down menu. In the pop-up box, select Website Traffic.

From the Website Traffic drop-down menu, select Custom Combination.

Click the URL drop-down menu and select Event.

Choose the event you want to create the audience from (Lead, for example). You’ll see a list of event actions you’re currently tracking using the Facebook pixel.

In the field called In the Last, enter the time parameter for how long people will stay in your audience once they’ve completed the specific action. For example, you might choose 120-180 days to have the maximum number of people in your audience.

Finally, make sure the Include Past Website Traffic box is selected, give your audience a name, and click Create Audience.

Build a Conversion Lookalike Audience

Now navigate to the Audiences dashboard, click Create Audience, and select Lookalike Audience from the drop-down menu.

In the Create a Lookalike Audience box, choose your website custom audience from the Source drop-down list.

Then select your country and choose the audience size (1% is a good place to start).

Finally, click Create Audience and wait for Facebook to build your lookalike audience. Once it’s ready to use, you’ll receive a notification and it will appear in your Audiences dashboard.

#4: Construct Page Likes Lookalike Audiences

Lookalike audiences for page likes are the easiest to set up because you build them from the fans of your Facebook page. If you have a large number of Facebook fans who actively engage with your organic posts, a page likes lookalike audience is a great way to find new similar target audiences.

Differing from the three lookalike audiences above, you don’t need to create a custom audience for your source audience.

In the Audiences dashboard in Facebook Ads Manager, click Create Audience and select Lookalike Audience. In the Create a Lookalike Audience box, select your page name from the Source drop-down list.

Then choose your target country and select your audience size.

Tip: With all lookalike audiences, the larger the source audience, the better quality the lookalike audience will be (since there are more data points to use). A general guideline for building lookalike audiences is that the source audience must have at least 1,000 people in it.

Conclusion

One of the advantages of using lookalike audiences is the ability to scale your campaigns quickly and easily. Because you create lookalike audiences based on a percentage sample of people in your target country (from 1% to 10%), you can start with a closely defined 1%, and as you reach higher ad frequency, introduce the 2% audience, and so on.

Compare this approach with interest-based targeting, which is more hit and miss when you have to create new audiences from different related interests.

What do you think? Do you use Facebook lookalike audiences for your Facebook ads? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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