Excel to the rescue

At Rocket SaaS, we recently created a lead magnet for a client that generated 80 downloads in the first month. The magnet played a key role in the marketing funnel, which generated 15 demo requests in the same period.

In this blog, I’m excited to share this successful lead magnet strategy with you. By implementing a similar approach, you could potentially see a significant boost in your business’s lead generation.

Use Excel or Google Sheets to create a basic version of your product

Think about what problem your SaaS product solves for your clients. Most SaaS products help with admin, organisation and logging data.

You can create a free tool using Excel or Google Sheets that helps your target audience partially solve the same problem that your main product addresses.

Many of your target audience will already use Excel to solve this problem, but it’s likely quite basic and cumbersome. You could create a tool that visually looks beautiful and has an impressive array of filters and macros.

Why This Works

1. Higher Engagement: Free tools receive more attention and downloads compared to direct advertisements for a paid product.
2. Product Awareness: Users who find the free tool useful will likely be interested in your product’s full version.
3. Lead Generation: By gating the resource, you can collect email addresses and follow up with leads. “If you like our free tool, you’re going to LOVE our product”

This free tool can be shared via social media, ads, email newsletters, and even used by your sales team. You’ll need to create a landing page with a form for people to download the tool. I’ll share an example at the bottom of this blog.

Here are some examples from different industries

HR SaaS

• Free Tool: Employee Time Off Tracker
• Description: A Google Sheets template to track employee holidays, sick days, and other time off.
• Value: Helps HR departments stay organised, highlighting the benefits of a full-featured HR management system.

Accounting SaaS

• Free Tool: Expense Tracking Template
• Description: An Excel template for tracking business expenses and income.
• Value: It provides a basic tool for financial tracking, enticing users to upgrade to more robust accounting software.

Cybersecurity SaaS

• Free Tool: Security Checklist
• Description: A comprehensive checklist for assessing a company’s cybersecurity measures.
• Value: Provides businesses with actionable steps to improve their security, leading them to consider more robust cybersecurity solutions.

Customer Feedback SaaS

• Free Tool: Survey Questionnaire Template
• Description: A ready-to-use template for creating customer feedback surveys.
• Value: Allows businesses to gather customer insights easily, highlighting the advantages of a dedicated feedback platform.

Recruitment SaaS

• Free Tool: Job Application Tracker
• Description: A spreadsheet template for tracking job applications and candidate progress.
• Value: Helps HR teams manage recruitment processes, highlighting the benefits of a dedicated recruitment platform.

A real-world example

At Rocket SaaS, we recently implemented this strategy for our client, SiSo, which offers an M&A platform to track diligence and risk.

We created a free Excel sheet that serves as a simplified version of their platform.

You can check out the free tool here: SISO Diligence Tracker.

Here’s one of the LinkedIn ads we created:

Need help creating a lead magnet like this?

Whether you need strategic ideas, lead magnet creation or overall marketing support for scaling your SaaS brand, you can send an email. I’d love to hear from you.

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By Ryan James

Founder @ Rocket SaaS