LinkedIn lead magnet posts that fill your DMs

A lead magnet post offers one useful resource, a checklist, a template or a short guide, in return for a simple action such as commenting or sending a message. It works when the resource solves a narrow problem for a specific reader, the post gives away enough to prove it, and you answer the people who respond as individuals. Sellinger's post wizard has a lead magnet step where you attach a PDF or a link and state a delivery condition, and it writes the post around it. It does not turn post engagers into leads for you.

Lead magnet posts are among the oldest tricks on LinkedIn, and most of them fail for the same reason: the resource is too broad, the post is too thin, and the person who commented gets a link and silence. This post is about doing the three parts properly, and about what to do with the replies.

What is a lead magnet post?

It has three parts.

1. The resource. A PDF guide, a checklist, a template, a spreadsheet, a short video, a calculator.
2. The offer in the post. A few paragraphs that show a piece of the value and say what you will send.
3. The condition. What the reader does to get it: comment a word, send a message, connect, or just click a link.

The condition decides what you get back. A comment gives you reach and a list of names. A message gives you a private conversation. A plain link gives you traffic and a download count, but not a name.

Which resources do people actually want?

Pick the resource by the problem, not the format. A good one has four traits.

• It is narrow. "The cold email setup checklist for a new domain" beats "The ultimate sales guide".
• It is usable in ten minutes. A template people can copy, a checklist they can tick, a worked example.
• It is not already free everywhere. If a quick search finds ten copies, why would anyone comment for yours?
• It leads to a natural next question. A reader who finishes it should be able to say what they need next. That is the question you answer in the message.

Some ideas that fit this test: a pricing page teardown, a first message template with three variations, a list of questions to ask a vendor, a short audit of a profile, a calendar of posts. The four week content calendar is an example of a resource of this size.

How should the post be written?

A simple structure works:

• Line one: the problem or the result. Specific and short.
• A few lines of proof. Give away one real tip from the resource, in full. If the post teases without giving, the reader leaves.
• The offer. "I put the full checklist in a one page PDF."
• The condition. One clear sentence: "Comment 'checklist' and I'll send it" or "Message me and I'll send it".
• No link in the body if your goal is a conversation. Send the resource by message, or put the link in a reply under your own post, so the post itself stays a plain piece of writing.

The posting rules that survive scrutiny, such as timing and format, are covered in what LinkedIn posting rules actually matter. Keep one idea per post.

A template you can adapt

Most {audience} get {problem} wrong in the first week. Here is the one change that fixes {specific symptom}: {the tip, in two or three lines}. I wrote the full {resource} as a one page PDF: {three bullet points of what is inside}. Comment "{keyword}" and I'll send it to you.

Fill in the braces with your own audience, problem and tip. Read it aloud once: if any line could appear in a post by a competitor, make it more specific.

What does the Sellinger post wizard do?

The post wizard has seven steps: pick the accounts, give a concept or a file, generate the post, add a lead magnet, choose a variation, preview and refine, and then review and schedule now or later. Scheduled posts can be staggered across several accounts, which is the subject of staggering posts across accounts.

In the lead magnet step you answer one question, whether you have a lead magnet for the post. If you do, you attach a PDF or give a URL, and you write the delivery condition in plain language, for example "like and comment on this post, and send me a connection request". The wizard optimises the post to promote that resource.

What it does not do, and what we do not claim:

• It does not import the people who comment or react as leads, so we make no claim for that.
• It does not deliver the file to commenters for you.
• It does not promise reach, comments or leads.

So the wizard saves you the writing and the scheduling. The delivery and the follow up are yours.

How do you handle the people who respond?

This is where lead magnet posts are won. A commenter is a warm contact, and warm contacts cool in a day.

1. Reply to the comment in public with a short thank you. It adds a signal under the post.
2. Send the resource by message within hours, to connected people. Name the comment: "Thanks for the comment on the checklist post. Here it is."
3. Ask one question after it, about the problem the resource covers. "Which of the steps is the hardest in your setup?"
4. Do not send a sequence. One message with the resource and one question. If they answer, you are in a real conversation, and the conversation rules apply.
5. Track the names in a sheet or a CRM, with the post and date. Over time you will see which resources attract buyers and which attract peers.

People who engage with a topic are worth following up. In our own LinkedIn outbound, prospects who came from an intent signal, people who had engaged with a post on our topic, replied at 54.6% against 37.2% for untagged lists in the October 2025 cohort (case study). That is outbound to people who engaged with other people's posts, not a result for lead magnets, but it explains why the names are worth keeping.

How do you measure your own results?

We publish no lead magnet result. To get yours, count five things per post:

Keep the table per post for ten posts before you judge the format. One post is noise.

A checklist

• [ ] The resource solves one narrow problem and takes ten minutes to use.
• [ ] The post gives away one real tip in full.
• [ ] The condition is one clear sentence.
• [ ] I know who will deliver the resource, and when.
• [ ] The follow up is one message and one question.
• [ ] I track names, posts and outcomes for ten posts before judging.
• [ ] I do not claim a result I have not measured.