How do companies attract website visitors and convert them into leads? One tactic is creating and publishing high-quality and high-value content. Effective content marketing answers your audiences’ questions, provides solutions to their challenges, and positions you as an expert in your industry. But simply attracting visitors to your website isn’t enough. To generate viable leads, businesses need to know who is reading their content and how to connect with them outside a digital space. That’s where gated content comes into play.

What Is Gated Content?

Gated content refers to any online material that requires users to enter their contact information before accessing it. This can include webinars, eBooks, white papers, case studies or any other valuable resource. By putting up a virtual “gate” (typically a form or landing page), businesses can collect visitors’ information including their name, email address or phone number in exchange for access to the content.

Benefits of Gated Content

There are several reasons why gated content is a valuable addition to your marketing toolbox:

• Lead generation: Exchanging content for a person’s contact information can be an effective way of generating leads. This is especially true because users who are willing to provide their contact information are more likely to be genuinely interested in what you have to say and B2B marketers prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to leads.
• Data insights: By collecting users’ information, marketers can identify audience interests, demographics and behaviors. Armed with this data, they can create targeted and personalized marketing campaigns that resonate with various audiences.
• Content value perception: People tend to perceive restricted content as valuable and exclusive, creating a perception of higher value. This can help position a brand favorably and as an industry expert and thought leader.
• ROI measurement: Because gated content requires users to enter contact information, it becomes easier for marketers to measure the success of their content marketing efforts and determine the return on investment (ROI).

How to Use Gated Content Effectively

While gated content supports lead generation, ungated content serves the important purpose of improving SEO and brand awareness. When determining which content to lock behind a form, consider the following best practices:

• Choose the right content. Not all content is suitable for gating. Gated content should be in-depth and offer actionable insights to audiences. Webinars, white papers, eBooks, templates, research reports and guides are some examples of content that can be restricted effectively.
• Create compelling landing pages. A well-designed landing page is crucial for the success of gated content. A landing page should be visually appealing and clearly communicate the benefits of accessing the materials. Most importantly, it should have a straightforward and user-friendly form for visitors to enter their information.
• Balance gated and ungated content. While gated content can be an excellent lead-generation tool, not all content should be restricted. Mix gated and ungated content to ensure that audiences can access important information while still generating leads. A good rule of thumb is to gate only the most valuable materials. Attract and engage audiences with ungated content such as blog posts, videos and infographics.
• Promote it. Just like any other marketing content, gated content needs promotion to reach target audiences. Use various channels such as social media, email marketing and newsletters to promote gated content and drive traffic to landing pages. Typically, gated content is more effective later in the buyer journey when prospects are already somewhat familiar with your brand and its offerings.
• Nurture resulting leads. Once you have generated leads through gated content, don’t let them slip away. Nurture leads with targeted and personalized marketing campaigns. Use the information and data collected to segment leads and create customized content that addresses their pain points and interests and moves them through their buyer journey.

Lead-Gen Hero or Visitor Deterrent?

It’s estimated that 80 percent of B2B marketers use gated content. Meanwhile, some companies believe that providing free content is a better way of attracting prospects and converting them into customers. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to determine whether gated content was the reason a visitor clicked away from your website. Additionally, just because someone downloaded a template, it doesn’t mean they have a pressing need for your product or service. It’s always possible that visitors may provide fake contact information that leads nowhere.

Regardless of whether you gate your content or offer it freely, quality content is the key to demonstrating your company’s expertise and solutions. When you craft customer-centric, insightful, original content and distribute it across a variety of platforms, it will deliver value to both your organization and its audiences.