It's one of the first things content creators want to know after they've finished their work. When addressing our target audience, how do we frame our remarks? Is it better to simply hand everything over without asking for anything in return, or should we at least collect some information from the reader?
What matters most is the content's intended function.
Gated Content:
It is claimed that as much as 80% of the materials used in B2B content marketing are gated. Marketers can generate leads with the help of gated content by giving prospects with useful material against their email address, name, title, and industry, as well as any other contact information. This category of content may take the form of a number of different content marketing assets, including ebooks, videos, product demos, white papers, case studies, etc.
Because they are such an effective method of lead creation, gates are a vital component of content marketing. On the other hand, putting up a paywall on your content isn't always the ideal plan to maximise the number of people who access your report or ebook, for instance. If you require potential customers to fill out a form before downloading your ebook, you may see a significant drop in downloads. This is because some internet users feel uncomfortable to provide their personal info against a freebie or an offer. If increasing exposure of your brand is your only objective, providing the content openly rather than behind a paywall is most certainly the more effective option.
Visitors get the access to the content of a website that is ungated even if they have not provided any information or filled out any forms. Infographics, blogs, case studies, as well as videos are common types of information that are not protected by a paywall. Because it eliminates hurdles to essential information, content that is accessible without a gate has the potential to increase prospects' level of trust in your company. However, despite the fact that unrestricted access to information can boost pageviews, it may be detrimental to your ability to generate leads if you do not make use of contact capture.
If you're a marketer, when should you employ gated versus ungated content?
Wondering what exactly do you want, Lead generation or brand awareness? When deciding whether or not to use a gated content, those are the sorts of questions that marketers should ask themselves. The ideal situation is one in which you are able to increase your content's views while simultaneously generating leads.
Using gates selectively throughout the marketing process is one approach. Below, you'll find the various forms of content that should be used in each of the three primary phases of the marketing funnel:
- The awareness stage:
- The consideration stage:
- The decision stage:
At this point, the potential customer is aware that they have an issue, but they still know very little about your company. Infographics, blogs, ebooks, podcasts, as well as white papers are all useful at this point in the process.
At this point, potential customers start to see your company as an innovator in its field and a possible answer to their problem. Webinars, downloadable programmes, and case studies all feature prominently here.
At this point in the buying process, the potential customer evaluates your brand to see if it can fulfil their requirements. Free consultations, product demonstrations, and trial periods are all potent offers to provide at this point in the sales process.
Most potential customers enter the sales pipeline at the awareness stage, where they have limited familiarity with your company and no trust in it. Customers that are in your marketing funnel that are more interested in your company will be more inclined to fill out a form in exchange for access to resources like ebooks and webinars.
Lead generation, or the process of gathering contact information for future sales prospects, is why websites employ gated content. However, it will be visible to a few people only as Google never index anything behind a paywall.
Benefits of Gated Content:
Lead magnets, such as gated material, are created as part of lead nurturing campaigns. Following best practises for gated content allows businesses to increase their lead generation and gain the following advantages:
- Generates Qualified Leads
- Campaigns designed to cultivate leads, such as those that communicate with prospective customers via email and provide useful resources for free.
- Tailor your social media advertising and promotion to your specific audience.
- Direct contact to provide evidence of high-touch interactions or address concerns.
- Helps in Market Segmentation:
- Job title
- Industry
- Number of employees
- Enhance Value Perception:
- Generate Inbound Links To Improve the SEO:
Website traffic may not always reflect a company's ideal customer profile. Therefore, they use up bandwidth for no good reason.
Companies can reduce the number of unqualified leads entering the sales funnel by suppressing high-value material. The reason for this is that only those with a true interest will willingly exchange their personal info to gain access to the gated content.
While not all qualifying leads will turn into customers, individuals that pass through a gate in order to view exclusive content clearly share an interest in the topic at hand. High-quality content does more than only bring in new customers; it also builds trust among peers in the same field.
Following are some suggestions for utilising the gathered customer data to generate leads:
Inbound marketing tactics like gated content are useful for more than just attracting new customers online. Additional information about customers can be gathered than their names and emails.
The following are examples of information that a firm might request:
Having this additional information helps businesses to better classify their customers and target specific demographics. So that they can improve their marketing campaigns' conversion rates, they should modify their messages accordingly. This value justifies the effort required to understand how to generate gated content by every marketer.
In addition to generating leads online, gated content helps businesses learn more about specific subsets of their audience by posing targeted questions to them.
Scarcity is a powerful motivator in marketing and sales, as well as exclusivity helps to achieve that. The goal of this strategy is to create a sense of urgency in potential buyers so that they feel they must move quickly or risk losing out on a great deal.
The impression made by gated material and that made by exclusive content is very similar. Visitors who are not willing to sign up with their email address will be denied access to password-protected areas of the site. Users' sub-conscious minds subconsciously assign higher value to the concealed information.
Visitors who have a favourable impression of a brand are more likely to purchase its products or recommend it to others. It's one of the many reasons why businesses need to master the art of making restricted content.
Industry-specific insights can be gained via gated information like case studies and whitepapers. These pieces of material are of such high quality that they are more likely to be cited as references on other websites. Because of this, they have a greater chance of receiving backlinks from other websites.
Having a larger number of backlinks, particularly from sites with a lot of authority, can boost a website's position in search results. That's because links, both internal and external, are a major factor in search engine rankings. Naturally, more organic leads as well as traffic will be acquired with higher rankings.
When to use Gated Content?
- In the buyer’s journey:
- To generate massive traffic:
By the time a customer reaches the final stage of the trip, their interest in the product or service has peaked. Obtaining their contact details at this stage allows the business to make further contact in an effort to either convince them to purchase or supply them with the information they need to do so.
Businesses can benefit from material that is attracting a lot of readers naturally. If there is actual interest in the content, an examination of online traffic metrics like average time spent as well as bounce rate would disclose it. If this is the case, then restricting access to this material in order to solicit email addresses from readers is a brilliant strategy.
Final Thoughts:
Gated content refers to content on a website or other platform that is only accessible to users who have taken some kind of action, such as filling out a form, subscribing to a mailing list, or paying a fee. This type of content is often used as a lead generation tool, where the goal is to capture contact information from potential customers in exchange for access to the content.
However, if gated content is used as part of a larger, well-rounded inbound marketing strategy, it can be an effective way to generate leads and convert them into customers. Also if you are looking for qualitative leads, it can be an effective way to filter out unqualified leads. As a conclusion, the decision whether to gate content or not should depend on the marketing goals and the stage of the funnel where you are targeting those leads, whether it is the top, middle or the bottom.
