How to deliver a lead magnet: page, sign-up and the email that sends it
A lead magnet is a free guide, checklist or template given in exchange for an email address. Delivering it reliably takes a chain of three parts: a page that makes the offer, a sign-up form that passes the address to your email tool, and an automation in that tool that sends the file. Anticode builds the first two; your email tool does the sending.
How the chain fits together
- A visitor reads the offer on your lead magnet landing page and enters their email in the newsletter form.
- Anticode saves the sign-up and, through the Kit or Mailchimp connector, adds them to your list.
- Kit or Mailchimp sends its welcome email or sequence, which contains the link to the file.
- The subscriber opens the email and downloads the guide from wherever you host it.
Every link in that chain can break, so the work is mostly in setting it up once and testing it end to end.
What to prepare
- The guide itself, finished, as a PDF or a shareable document. Shorter is better: a two-page checklist gets read; a forty-page ebook mostly doesn't.
- A place to host it. Both Kit and Mailchimp let you upload files to use in emails; a shared Google Drive or Dropbox link works too. Use a link that doesn't expire.
- An account with Kit or Mailchimp, and the list, form or audience the sign-ups should join.
- The welcome email, written in that tool: one line of thanks, the download link, and what they'll get from you next.
Step by step
- Build the page. Describe it to Anticode in a sentence ("a one-page offer for a free kitchen renovation budget checklist, with a newsletter sign-up"). Keep it to the offer, three or four lines on what's inside, a picture of the cover or a page, and the form. The newsletter form asks for an email only.
- Connect your email tool. In Connectors, add Kit (sign-ups join the Kit form you choose and its sequences) or Mailchimp (sign-ups join your audience). These connectors receive newsletter sign-ups only, not contact or booking forms.
- Set up the automation in that tool. In Kit, attach a sequence or incentive email to the form; in Mailchimp, create a welcome automation for new subscribers. Put the download link in it.
- Mind the confirmation step. Mailchimp emails each new subscriber to confirm before adding them (double opt-in). Kit sends its own confirmation if the form asks for one. Either way, the guide only goes out after the person confirms, so say on the page: "Check your inbox to confirm, and the guide follows."
- Publish and test with a fresh address. Sign up, confirm, receive the guide, click the link, and check the file opens on a phone.
- Write down the chain (page, connector, list, automation, file link) so whoever looks after it next year can fix it.
Choosing between Kit and Mailchimp
| Kit | Mailchimp | |
|---|---|---|
| What Anticode sends | Newsletter sign-ups | Newsletter sign-ups |
| Where they land | The Kit form you pick, and its sequences | Your audience |
| Confirmation | If the Kit form asks for one | Always (double opt-in) |
| Duplicates | Kit's own rules apply | Someone already on the list isn't added twice |
What goes wrong
- "I never got the guide"
- Usually the confirmation email went unread or to spam. Ask them to search for it; resend from your email tool if needed.
- The sign-up never reached the list
- Each submission goes to a connector once, without retries. The sign-up is still saved in the project, so add the address by hand.
- The link stopped working
- The file was moved or its sharing changed. Use one permanent link and don't rename the file.
- Lots of sign-ups, no buyers
- The guide attracts people who want free things, not customers. Make it narrower and closer to what you sell.
How you know it worked
A test sign-up produces the guide in the inbox within a few minutes of confirming. The number of new subscribers in your email tool matches the sign-ups saved in the project, give or take unconfirmed ones. And the weeks after sign-up bring replies or enquiries, which is the point of the exercise.
What Anticode doesn't do
Anticode doesn't email your list, host the download behind the form or show the file on the thank-you page as a gated link. There's no sequence, no tagging and no unsubscribe handling on Anticode's side; those live in Kit or Mailchimp. Published pages can't embed your email tool's own form either, since they run no outside scripts. For the page itself, see the lead magnet page builder; for growing the list afterwards, the newsletter sign-up campaign.
Questions people ask
Can the PDF download straight from the website after sign-up?
Not as a gated download. The reliable route is the welcome email from Kit or Mailchimp, which also confirms the address is real.
Do I need Kit or Mailchimp to deliver a lead magnet?
You need an email tool that can send an automatic welcome. Kit and Mailchimp connect directly; others can receive sign-ups through a webhook and an automation service.
Is double opt-in worth it?
It costs a few sign-ups and gives you a cleaner list of people who really wanted the guide. With Mailchimp through Anticode it's always on.