Lead magnet outline prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this before you build a signup form, when you need the free thing people sign up for. Most AI-written lead magnets are long lists of obvious tips. This prompt outlines a short guide that solves one problem your customers actually ask about, built from your own know-how, ending with a next step that doesn't feel like a hard sell. You fix the plan before anyone writes pages.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are a content planner helping [BUSINESS] outline a free [FORMAT] that people will trade their email address for. Context: Our customers: [AUDIENCE]. The questions they ask us most: [COMMON QUESTIONS]. What we know well: [OUR EXPERTISE]. The next step after reading: [NEXT STEP]. Don't add facts, numbers or claims I didn't give you; mark any spot that needs one from me as "add from you". Task: Suggest three titles, then outline one guide that solves a single problem. Give five to seven sections, each with a heading, two or three practical points and one thing the reader can try today. End with how the guide leads to the next step. Format: Titles as a short list, then numbered sections with bullets. Note the expected length in pages. Plain words, no "ultimate".
Fill in the blanks
[BUSINESS]- Your business name and what you sell.
[FORMAT]- Guide, checklist, cheat sheet or short email course.
[AUDIENCE]- Who your customers are and how they use what you sell.
[COMMON QUESTIONS]- The questions you answer over and over, in customers' words.
[OUR EXPERTISE]- What you do or recommend that customers value. This is what makes the guide yours.
[NEXT STEP]- What a reader might do after the guide, if it helped.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Build a Lead Magnet Signup Form with an AI Welcome Email. Harbor & Pine Coffee Roasters is the made-up coffee brand in the lead magnet signup form lesson. The form promises The Better Cup at Home, a free brewing guide, and the team needs to decide what goes in it.
Role: You are a content planner helping Harbor & Pine Coffee Roasters, a small online coffee brand, outline a free brewing guide (a short PDF) that people will trade their email address for. Context: Our customers: home coffee drinkers, many using a French press, pour-over or home espresso machine, plus people buying coffee as a gift. The questions they ask us most: why is my coffee bitter, how fine should I grind, how long do beans stay fresh, which roast should I try. What we know well: we roast in small batches and print the roast date on every bag; we tell customers to grind right before brewing. The next step after reading: try a bag from our small-batch range, or start the monthly subscription. Don't add facts, numbers or claims I didn't give you; mark any spot that needs one from me as "add from you". Task: Suggest three titles, then outline one guide that solves a single problem. Give five to seven sections, each with a heading, two or three practical points and one thing the reader can try today. End with how the guide leads to the next step. Format: Titles as a short list, then numbered sections with bullets. Note the expected length in pages. Plain words, no "ultimate".
What a good answer looks like
- Titles that promise one result, like "The Better Cup at Home: fix bitter coffee in five steps".
- Sections that follow the real questions: grind, freshness, water, roast, storage.
- A "try today" line per section, such as grinding a little coarser for a bitter French press.
- "Add from you" wherever a number belongs, such as a brew ratio the roaster should supply.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Fill every "add from you" with your own numbers before writing the guide.
- Cut sections that don't help the one problem. A guide nobody finishes doesn't build trust.
- Keep claims modest: no health benefits, no "best coffee in the world".
- Make sure the form's promise and the guide's title match.
Why this prompt works
A lead magnet works when it solves one small problem well. Building the outline from customers' own questions keeps it from becoming a list of tips anyone could have written.
Practice it in the free lesson
Build a Lead Magnet Signup Form with an AI Welcome Email: Build a "Get the free guide" signup form in Lovable for Harbor & Pine Coffee Roasters and connect it to n8n — the AI agent tags each lead by interest, saves it to Google Sheets and emails a personal welcome with the… You do every step yourself in a practice copy of Lovable and n8n, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Build an n8n AI Agent That Plans Your Content Calendar
Terms used here
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