Most marketers hate gated content. However, these same people will use it to help bring in leads.
There’s no other lead generation strategy that is more effective than gated content. Hiding templates, white papers, or eBooks behind a wall is now an accepted solution for converting visitors into true, qualified leads. However, with people who are more concerned about privacy than ever before, you may wonder if offering some type of amazing content is enough to get email addresses and build your business and brand.
Keep reading to learn more about gated content and how you can use it to benefit your brand and audience.
Gated Content Defined
Gated content is the term used for marketing assets that are not freely or publicly available. Put simply, it’s locked content. Your visitors will only be able to see it once they have given information – usually, this is their email address. The goal is to offer valuable content to encourage visitors to act.
On the other hand, non-gated means content can be accessed by anyone visiting your site. It doesn’t require any special privileges or permissions.
Tips to Use Gated Content for Lead Generation
If you want to use gated content as part of your brand’s lead generation strategy, there’s a right and a wrong ways to do it. Some things to keep in mind include:
Quality First
While this may seem obvious, you need to ensure your gated content is high quality and that it is worth the cost of someone’s email address. Make sure your visitors feel like they are downloading something that is an original, premium, and that it isn’t available anywhere else. If you provide low-quality content, then your audience will likely be disappointed. This can have a huge impact on how they perceive your brand and product.
Try Out Different Formats
Usually, gated content comes in PDFs or eBooks. These are hard-to-consume files, and they aren’t always mobile device friendly. Because of this, you may want to create an email course. This is much easier to personalize, and it will be easy to update in the future. You don’t have to sell anything but can just focus on audience education. It will encourage your visitors and prospects to dive deeper into your funnel.
When to Use Gated Content
If you need leads, then using gated content can be effective. Some situations when gated content is recommended include:
- High-touch sales
- To capture lower intent visitors
- You have high-value content to share
Creating a Smart Gated Content Strategy
While having gated content can be beneficial, you also need non-gated content for your visitors to read and consume. This will give them a primer on what to expect with the gated options. Also, if you don’t offer visitors anything for free, they may not stick around to see what you have gated. This will eliminate the entire point of your site and lead generation efforts. Being informed is the best way to ensure you take the right steps when using gated content.