How to create a lead magnet that grows your email list, and deliver it from Instagram

A lead magnet is something free, such as a guide, a checklist or a short audio, that people get in exchange for their email address. On WithMe you make it a Lead Capture: people enter their email, get the file on screen straight away and by email, and join your list. An email sequence can then follow up automatically.

WithMe is $25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial and 0% WithMe commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply. More than 8,000 creators use it.

How do you set up a lead magnet?

1. Add a product and choose Capture Leads.
2. Under File to send, upload the freebie: a PDF, a ZIP, an audio or video file, or any format the File product accepts, up to 5GB.
3. Choose what to ask for. Email is always collected. Under Checkout Fields you can add name, address, phone and up to five custom questions, and make each one required.
4. Show it on your hub as a form, or give it its own landing page with media and a longer description.
5. Create an email sequence that starts after a lead capture, so new contacts get a welcome and your best offer over the next few days.

What makes a good lead magnet?

• It solves one small problem fast: a checklist, a template, a 10-minute audio, a recipe pack.
• It leads to what you sell. For example, a free day 1 leads to the paid challenge, and a free preset leads to the full pack.
• It is quick to consume. People should get a result the same day they sign up.

How do you deliver it from Instagram?

Connect your Instagram account and set up Auto DMs. Choose a keyword, for example GUIDE, and the posts it applies to. When someone comments the keyword, they get a DM with a button that links to your lead capture. You can also reply to their comment publicly and ask them to follow you first. Instagram does not deliver every DM, for example to some private accounts.

Can you email people who downloaded a specific freebie?

Yes. When you send a broadcast or build a sequence, choose Custom Selection and pick the lead capture, or send to All Lead Captures. This way, people who took your yoga guide do not get emails meant for your recipe pack.

What sending limits should you know?

Each person receives at most one broadcast or timed sequence email from you a day. If they already had one, the rest waits until the next day. Sequences that start from an action, such as a lead capture or a purchase, are not part of that limit, but each sequence sends a person at most one of its emails in 24 hours. You can send up to 10,000 marketing emails per hour.

To bring an existing list across, import a CSV of up to 5,000 contacts per upload into a lead capture. Only import people who agreed to hear from you.

What is not included?

There is no double opt-in and no marketing consent checkbox on the form, so check what your local rules require and say on the page what people are signing up for. A lead capture delivers one file: it cannot unlock a course or a community. There are no contact tags; you target people by the lead capture or product they signed up for.

How much does WithMe cost?

WithMe is $25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial and 0% WithMe commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply. Free migration of up to 10 GB of your courses and members comes with the yearly plan. One plan covers courses, memberships, community, coaching, webinars and digital products.

Lead magnet questions

Start your 14-day trial at https://www.withme.so/become-a-creator.

Related reading

• Start your 14-day trial
• Creator platform with email marketing built in
• Video lesson: set up Instagram auto DMs
• Sell digital products on Instagram
• Video lesson: create a landing page
• How to sell a PDF ebook online
• How to run a paid online challenge
• Own your audience with a custom domain
• What is WithMe?
• Creator platform comparisons