1 change to increase opt-in conversions from 38% conversion to 53%
The simple positioning shift that changed everything for my lead magnet opt-in page
New week, new funnel numbers to crunch. 🤓
If you’re new here, hey! 👋 I’m Jill Wise, strategist and copywriter. This is where I talk about how I’m scaling my digital product shop this year.
I have multiple funnels on the go. Sometimes we talk about the one that guides leads from email marketing newsletter prompts through to my done-with-you Intensives. The last few weeks, I’ve been sharing the process of turning ads back onto my coaching side of the business as I build the waitlist for my upcoming group program launch.
In this post, I’m going to show you how I updated one of my lead magnet opt-ins to optimize conversions for cold traffic. This page was doing well in the past with passive organic traffic (not actively promoted, but those who found the download through my past blog posts, etc.). Cold traffic was a different situation.
But 1 simple change took me a couple of hours total brought the daily conversion rate from 35% up to 53%… That’s what we call needle moving work. The stuff that actually makes a difference. In this case, a 15% difference.
We’re going to cover:
Problems with the original lead magnet.
The change I made to reposition the lead magnet.
How good data can help you prioritize your efforts.
Messaging lessons to takeaway from this.
The original lead magnet
The lead magnet in question has served me well over the years, bringing hundreds of subscribers to my list, and helping me qualify those who are a good fit for my Align Coaching program and Mastermind.
The 6-Figure Schedule: A behind-the-scenes look at how I run a 6-figure business in 15 hours a week.
It includes a breakdown of my weekly schedule (2 types of weeks for max productivity); My monthly, weekly, and daily to-dos; a same job description, and more. It’s meant to give female business owners who are burnt out trying to do it all inspiration for what’s possible if they learn how to work smarter and prioritize better.
In the first week of ads running, the overall conversion rate was hovering around 40%, but my ads were costing more than I’d like. See my meta ads strategy here if you missed that.
With help from my ads coach via a membership I’m in, she helped me adjust the strategy and creative to bring the cost per lead down (now closer to $4 / lead). The new messaging on the creative converted better in the ads immediately, but the landing page didn’t quite match now. So those numbers dropped a bit.
On Monday, the opt-in conversion rate was only 38%…
On Tuesday, after the changes I made, that increased to 53%…
The problems with my opt-in
There’s a few things I felt were off with this lead magnet before turning ads on, but because it has worked historically I wanted to let the audience confirm my hunches vs going on my gut alone. Because we like data.
The problems with the original opt-in…
Money messaging isn’t the main thing
I’ve never liked the money messaging as the main point for this lead magnet because it’s not the main point of the work we do together inside these programs. Yes, increasing sales is often a goal. Hitting certain revenue milestones too. But that’s not the main thing, so why does it need to be the main thing here?
I chose this name because this was an important want for my ideal clients. They really want to have a 6-figure business. It’s a case of hiding medicine in peanut butter—people think more revenue will solve all their business problems, so I started there. Then throughout the funnel showed them how much more there is to running their business in part-time hours than just making more sales.
More money won’t solve all your business problems.
It wasn’t specific enough to the largest audience segment
I’ve fallen into a niche in recent years that I haven’t been able to fully accept until now: The majority of my clients are moms (or want to be) across both sides of the business (copywriting / marketing services vs coaching). Those who come to me for business coaching and consulting are often in that pivotal season of preparing their business for having a baby soon, taking maternity leave, or wanting things to run better so they can spend more time with their kids.
Many of those who come for coaching are also copywriters, freelancers, and creative service-providers.
It wasn’t intentional to end up here, but that’s where I am. The original messaging for this opt-in was more vague: A general “make more money with this schedule” vs speaking directly to the moms and creatives who want to have both a successful online business and be a present mom.
Repositioning the lead magnet to increase opt-ins
Fixing this problem was actually an easy fix: Look at the messaging that’s performing well on the paid ads compared to the voice of customer data I have available for this funnel sequence and offers, and find the through lines to reposition the main thing.
The main thing being: Work less without sacrificing business revenue. Growth without burnout trying to do it all as a busy mama and business owner. So I renamed it.
Shoutout to ChatGPT for helping me brainstorm 20+ new names and angles to go with (after feeding it relevant ad copy, messaging data, etc.). I’m a big fan of using AI to brainstorm, organize ideas, and spot trends.
The new new…
✨ The Anti-Burnout CEO Schedule
How I Plan My Week to Work Less, Earn More, and Actually Live My Life
I’m also testing some new talking head style ads alongside this change. These lean further into the positioning of not doing it all, having the space to take maternity leave 2x in 2 years, and knowing what to focus on every day to move the needle.
So now the new hero looks like this… This is what leads see when they click from my ads and organic channels now.
And just like that, a 15% jump in conversions on this landing page.
While it’s still early to say the problem is totally fixed, the day over day comparison in that conversion rate is on the right track. I’m excited to see how the week shapes up as the meta algorithm continues to learn who to show my ads to.
Prioritize your efforts better with data
Too often, I see solopreneurs choosing their priorities based off vibes then you wonder why you feel like you didn’t accomplish anything by the end of the week. You feel behind, overwhelmed, like you’re failing and not doing enough.
All those emotions are often because of an expectations issue. Not that you’re not actually clocking hours. You’re probably doing too much to be honest!
This is why I focus on priorities based on the numbers in your business.
✅ If you’re posting on social media consistently (and stressing out in the process), but aren’t seeing qualified inbound leads, we should look at your offers, messaging, and pipeline.
✅ If you have a funnel and it’s not converting (despite following the exact formula a biz celeb sold you last year), we should look at the numbers at each step to find the gaps that need attention.
✅ If you have a lead magnet that’s not getting downloads (even though you thought it was the missing thing), we should look at the positioning and messaging of the offer compared to your ideal client’s wants and needs, and the channels you’re active on.
If you’ve been following here for a while, you’ll notice that what I choose to focus on each week is methodical. It either follows a process or responds to metrics I’m tracking… Like choosing to spend 2 hours repositioning this lead magnet and making all the necessary updates throughout the funnel. I don’t work off vibes alone.
The messaging lesson we all need
The lesson here: Your messaging needs to be specific and personalized.
Everyone in the online business world (and the real world) feels different lately. We’re skeptical. We want nuance. The stakes are higher and we do more homework before investing.
I personally want to know that anything I sign up for is the best fit for me… Even if it’s a free download. Because I know there’s going to be a funnel on the backend, I want to be sure it makes sense for me to enter that funnel.
It’s funny that in a world where all the business gurus are slinging ChatGPT prompts to do more—sell more, post more, create more content faster—we’re all craving human connection. We want to feel seen and understood, and good messaging can do that.
If your messaging hasn’t been hitting the same lately even though it was once before, maybe it’s time for a refresh. I’d love to help you elevate your messaging from meh to this sh*t is working in the weird world of 2025—in 4 weeks or less. Check out my Intensives here.
