What's Working Now: Lead Magnets & Email List Building in 2025

Kathy Farah
Sep 18
4 min read

Updated: Sep 30

Remember when the common advice was simple: create a free eBook, slap it on a landing page, and watch your email list explode?

That advice doesn’t work anymore.

In 2025, inboxes are overflowing, attention spans are shorter, and business owners are savvier. They don’t want another “ultimate guide” that sits unopened in their downloads folder. They want clarity. Shortcuts. Connection.

Most lead magnets flop because they’re designed to impress, not to actually help.

So what’s working right now for B2B coaches, consultants, and service providers who want to grow their list in an ethical, permission-based way? Here’s what I’m seeing in 2025.

1. Quizzes & Interactive Tools

Interactive content is leading the pack in 2025. Quizzes and assessments are converting at an average of ~40%, nearly double the rate of a typical landing page (which sits closer to 18%). In coaching niches, that number climbs to 45%.

Why? Curiosity. How many of us used to flip through Cosmo or other magazines just to take the quizzes in the back? The same pull is still there today. People want to know their “type,” their “score,” or their “readiness.” A leadership quiz like “What’s Your Burnout Risk Level?” or a marketing assessment like “Is Your Funnel Ready for Q4?” hooks people instantly.

Even better? Quizzes segment your audience from the start. You don’t just get an email address—you learn what stage they’re in, what challenges they’re facing, and what solution they’re most likely to need from you next.

2. Short & Sharp Wins

Busy professionals don’t have time to waste on surface-level content. They’re not craving more information — they’re craving clarity. That’s why short, actionable freebies are outperforming long ones.

Checklists and cheat sheets convert around 34% of visitors.
Templates and swipe files regularly outperform long guides, sometimes reaching 50%+ conversion rates when hyper-specific.

Think: “3-Step Hiring Checklist” instead of a 50-page HR manual. Or “5 Email Subject Line Templates” instead of a sprawling copywriting guide.

The smaller the resource, the faster someone can use it and the more likely they are to remember you as the one who made life easier.

3. Partner Bundles & Collaborations

List building in 2025 is no longer a solo sport. One of the fastest ways to grow with warm, qualified leads is through collaboration.

Instead of building one freebie on your own, partner with others who serve the same audience and create a bundle.

For example: five consultants who each contribute one resource — a mini-guide, a template, a training — and promote it together. Each partner gets access to new subscribers, but more importantly, the bundle arrives with borrowed trust.

When a new subscriber signs up through someone they already follow, they come into your world already warm. That’s worth more than a thousand cold sign-ups. That’s exactly how I saw a huge jump in my own email list growth this year. By joining a partner bundle, I connected with new subscribers who were already warm and aligned with my work. It wasn’t about chasing big numbers — it was about growing with the right people.

4. Live Experiences

Webinars and workshops might not convert as many people on the front end (~20–30% opt-in rate), but they consistently deliver the highest-quality leads. Demand Gen Report and Hubspot report that more than half of B2B buyers (51%) say they’ll share their email for a webinar, and 53% of marketers report webinars generate their best-quality leads.

Why? Because nothing builds trust like live teaching.

When someone spends 45 minutes with you — hearing your voice, asking questions, seeing your expertise in action — they’re not just a subscriber. They’re a warm prospect who already knows your value. That’s been true in my own business, too. After starting my free monthly Q&A calls, I’ve signed new clients directly from those sessions.

That’s also why more than half of B2B buyers say they’ll share their email for a webinar — it’s one of the few formats they trust to be worth their time.

✨ Want to see how this works in real time? I’m hosting a free 45-minute Q&A on lead magnets and list building this Thursday, September 25, at 2:00 PM ET.

We’ll cover what’s working now, what to avoid, and how to choose the right format for your audience. Save your spot here.

Planting Seeds That Actually Grow From Your Lead Magnets and Email List Building in 2025

Here’s where we step back.

Every opt-in is a seed. Some sprout quickly—a checklist that gets downloaded and used right away. Others take time—a webinar attendee who circles back months later, ready to hire you.

Your job isn’t to plant the biggest, flashiest seed. It’s to plant the right ones and then nurture them.

That’s why a lead magnet alone isn’t enough. Without follow-up, even the best freebie will wither. The welcome emails you send after someone opts in are the water and sunlight that help that seed grow into a real relationship.

As we move into the season of the equinox and eclipse—times of shift, planting, and clarity—it’s the perfect reminder that momentum doesn’t come from one grand gesture. It comes from consistent, small yeses. One freebie created. One subscriber welcomed. One relationship nurtured.

What This Means for You

If you’ve been frustrated with your email list growth, it’s not because you’re failing. It’s because the old playbook has expired.

The best list-building strategies in 2025 are:

Interactive: quizzes, assessments, calculators (~40% conversion).
Actionable: short checklists, templates, and swipe files (~34% conversion).
Collaborative: bundles and partnerships that borrow trust.
Experiential: webinars and workshops (~20–30% opt-in, highest lead quality).

The throughline? They’re designed to connect, not just collect.

Want to Go Deeper?

That’s exactly what we’ll be talking about in my free 45-minute Q&A on Lead Magnets & List Building this Thursday, September 25, at 2:00 PM ET.

We’ll dive into: