How long should a lead magnet be? A length guide by goal and reader
Long enough to keep its one promise in a single sitting. For a general reader that is about 1,200–1,900 words for a quick win and 2,400–3,600 to teach one method, at 238 words a minute. Pick a goal and a reader for a length in words, minutes and pages.
Lead-magnet length guide
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Aim for
2,400–3,600 words
- Reading time
- 10–15 minutes
- Pages, on US Letter in the Editorial look
- about 13–17
- Shape
- one method in a handful of short chapters
For comparison: Five Pricing Mistakes is 3,735 words on 17 pages and The Welcome Sequence is 3,626 words on 17 pages.
Reading time at 238 words a minute, the average for non-fiction in Brysbaert (2019). The goals’ times are our rule of thumb, not a study of what converts.
It becomes the start of a brief. Nothing runs, and nothing costs a credit, until you choose Generate.
Lengths by goal and reader
Words, inside what a Chapbook lead magnet holds: 1,000 to 10,000.
| Goal | Busy decision-makers: founders, executives | General readers and consumers | Practitioners who want the detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Give a quick win they can use today5–8 minutes for a general reader | 1,000–1,400 | 1,200–1,900 | 1,500–2,400 |
| Teach one method, step by step10–15 minutes for a general reader | 1,800–2,700 | 2,400–3,600 | 3,000–4,500 |
| Show your expertise before a sales call15–25 minutes for a general reader | 2,700–4,500 | 3,600–6,000 | 4,500–7,400 |
| Be the guide they keep and come back to25–40 minutes for a general reader | 4,500–7,100 | 6,000–9,500 | 7,400–10,000 |
How the guide works out a length
Each goal is a reading time: a quick win takes a few minutes, a method a quarter of an hour, a reference most of an hour. The guide scales the time for the reader, a quarter shorter for people who read between meetings and a quarter longer for practitioners who want the detail, and turns it into words at 238 words a minute, the average silent reading rate for non-fiction that Brysbaert’s 2019 review of reading-rate studies measured. Pages come from the words to pages calculator, for a lead magnet on its usual page and look.
The reading times are Chapbook’s rule of thumb, not a study of which lengths convert. Use them as a starting point and let the promise decide: a lead magnet is the right length when it keeps its promise and stops.
