Was my lead magnet a mistake?
Been reflecting on the past month for my October retrospective. I spent all of October working on a lead magnet for my latest project, PageFactory, but this didn't give me any time to work on the product itself.
For the past year I've been consulting on programmatic SEO, and people have often asked me to do a course on the subject. It never seemed important enough to spend time on, until I realized people were signing up for PageFactory with out really understanding how programmatic SEO works.
I decided this was a great opportunity to finally release a course. I could convert my notes into a free resource that covers the basics and addresses a lot of common questions I get on the subject. Then, I could use that as an opportunity to put my product in front of people and see if it catches on.
I thought this would be a quick win. But it took me all of October just to finish a free course that's only 1 hour and 20 min long. 💀
A whole month spent on marketing instead of building. PageFactory is only a few months old, so the product still needs some work. Not surprisingly, I had a lot of churn this month.
Am I focusing on marketing too soon? Should I be focusing on building instead right now?
I know marketing is important but it feels like a waste to put all that effort in before the product is more polished.
I took the course and it was fantastic. It certainly wasn't a lead magnet, it was a product in its own right. It seems that you might now be selling your consulting services, a product and a course :)
Haha yeah basically. Yeah the course probably should have been a product all on it's own. The level of effort I thought it would take was how I determined if it should be a lead magnet. But it took a lot more effort than originally thought!
Is your "churn" mostly relative to after 14 day trial or after one month subscription?
If the drop off is mostly at the 14 days free trial end, extend it?
If the drop off is mostly after one month subscription? Make it free for now?
For what its worth, personally, i wouldn't mind knowing more about this, but I'm not motivated enough to sign up for a trial or commit to a course (both feel like a pressure on my time for something i'm not sure i understand or need).
Creating this course won't have been a waste of time - that is content you can repurpose.
Perhaps consider repurposing into email course/consumption hybrid, meaning each email teaches something but also nudges towards trying it yourself on the platform.
So, then thats not a marketing piece, so much as a retention piece.
However, for someone like me, i guess i need a little more education (just not too much) about the value of this, before i'd be prepared to commit further. Whether i'd be worth the focus of your time is another matter.
Tricky. :)
Repurposing is a great idea!
Here's the thing, you can't sell without marketing...so you need it. But at the end of the day, you also need a polished product.
If I were you, I'd focus on the product a bit more and then go all out on marketing. Not that what you've worked on is to be wasted - you should put this out there and collect emails ASAP as you build.
This way you'll have a ton of people that are ready to listen to you when your product is ready to go...and that means a quick growth in MRR
Right, so maybe a simpler lead magnet that requires much less commitment such as the basics over 5 emails or something, then prompt towards the course if they want more, this keeps them engaged while you work on the product. And maybe ask for beta tester volunteers (which can be a win-win for everyone).
That's a great, balanced point. Thanks :)
A quick question, did your course include how to use PageStory to boosting the SEO process? I thing it might be helpful to drive people to the actual product
Anw, I thing you have build a success magnets, it might now be a direct magnet leading people to your current project but it help you build your own audience (super important) and community
Yeah, PageFactory is one of the options that is covered.