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Lead magnet ideas for e-commerce stores

An e-commerce store’s best lead magnet helps a shopper decide or get more from what they bought: a buying guide, a sizing and fit guide, a care manual, a starter kit for a new hobby. It gives people a reason to sign up besides a discount code. Here are ten, each a brief that opens in Chapbook as a starting point for your own products.

Read all 10 ideas

A brief to start from

An illustrated buying guide to choosing a first chef's knife: blade shapes, steel in plain terms, weight and balance, what size to buy for a home kitchen and how to test one, one picture per idea. Reader: a home cook replacing the block set they got as a gift. Voice: friendly and exact, fair to every type of knife, no invented hardness tests or price claims, and no pretending that one brand wins.

Start from this brief

10 ideas, each a brief to start from

  1. The buying guide for your category

    Shoppers comparing products want to know what matters before they want a coupon. A fair guide to your category earns a sign-up from someone close to buying, without cutting your margin.

    Illustrated guide Start from this brief: The buying guide for your category

  2. The sizing and fit guide that prevents returns

    Returns often begin with a fit question nobody answered. A real fit guide, with how to measure at home, helps the customer and reduces a problem the store pays for.

    Lead magnet Start from this brief: The sizing and fit guide that prevents returns

  3. The care manual people actually keep

    Long after checkout, a good care guide is the thing that keeps your name in the kitchen drawer. It helps the product last, and that gives a customer a reason to come back.

    Lead magnet Start from this brief: The care manual people actually keep

  4. The beginner’s starter kit guide

    New hobbyists don’t know what they need, and they fear wasting money. An honest list of what to buy first, and what to skip, makes a first basket easier and shows you’re on their side.

    Lead magnet Start from this brief: The beginner’s starter kit guide

  5. A gift guide that helps with the hard people

    Gift shoppers arrive with a person in mind and no idea what to buy. A guide organized around who they’re buying for gets you a sign-up before the holidays, when it’s most useful.

    Brochure Start from this brief: A gift guide that helps with the hard people

  6. The recipes or projects your product makes possible

    A customer who has bought a product and doesn’t use it won’t buy again. A set of things to make gives them a reason to open the box, and gives shoppers a reason to imagine owning one.

    Collection Start from this brief: The recipes or projects your product makes possible

  7. The 30-day routine that goes with the product

    Some products only pay off with regular use. A short workbook on the first month helps customers build the habit that makes your product worth buying again.

    Workbook Start from this brief: The 30-day routine that goes with the product

  8. The story of how it’s made

    A shopper paying a higher price wants to know why. A short book on where it comes from and who makes it gives them something real, and it’s something no marketplace listing can copy.

    Lead magnet Start from this brief: The story of how it’s made

  9. A seasonal issue for your customers

    A designed issue gives customers something to look forward to besides another sale. What’s new, how to use it and one good story make them more likely to open the next one.

    Newsletter Start from this brief: A seasonal issue for your customers

  10. The maker’s book on your craft

    When a store is built around a real skill, a longer book reaches people who care about the craft, and turns the founder into someone a journalist or a stockist might call.

    Nonfiction book Start from this brief: The maker’s book on your craft

How to choose one

Look at your support inbox and your returns. If people ask which one to buy, write the buying guide. If they return things because of fit, write the fit guide. If they ask how to clean something, write the care manual, and put it in the box as well as on the sign-up page.

Don’t let a draft state anything about a product you haven’t confirmed. Claims about materials, safety and health can carry legal weight, so give Chapbook your real product facts as a source, and read every line that names a product before you publish it.

Every brief here opens in Chapbook

Each idea comes with the paragraph Chapbook needs to start: the topic, the reader and the voice. The brief at the top of this page is a starting point, not a book we have already made from it: open it, put in your own products and customers, and add your product notes as sources. Chapbook then proposes titles and an outline for you to approve before anything is drafted.

Questions people ask

What is a better lead magnet than a discount code for an online store?

One that helps someone decide or get more from what they buy, such as a buying guide, a fit guide or a care manual. It suits people who aren’t ready to buy today, and it doesn’t cut your margin.

Should a store’s lead magnet mention its own products?

Yes, where they fit, but a guide that is fair to other options is the one shoppers trust. Add your product notes as a source, and tell Chapbook which products it may name so it doesn’t invent any.

Can I put my own product photos in the book?

Yes. Paste or drop your own photos into a chapter in the editor, and upload your own cover if you like. Your readers should see the real product, so swap in your photos wherever a drawn picture would mislead.

Read a chapter of your own book before you pay for it.

The outline, one sample chapter up to 2,500 words and a watermarked cover are free: 60 Book Credits on sign-up, no card.

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