What’s The Difference Between Gated Content and Ungated Content?

Gated content consists of online materials such as white papers, articles, and videos that require a form to be filled out before they can be accessed. You acquire user information for potential leads or prospects by giving your customer what they are already looking for and getting what you need at the same time.It’s estimated that as much as 80% of B2B content marketing assets are gated. Gates are a content marketing staple because they are a powerful tool for lead generation. However, if increasing brand awareness is your end goal, ungated content would be the better strategy.

How to decide if you should gate your content:

Here are some questions to ask yourself when making the decision to gate your content or not.

  • Do you want to build brand awareness or generate leads? For brand awareness, ungated content is best because you are simply establishing a rapport with prospects. For lead generation, gated content will work best because your users must complete a form with their contact information before receiving your content, giving you the lead. It’s a win/win!
  • Are your competitors offering the same content, ungated? Know your competitors. If your competitors are already offering the same content without a gate, then you will be at a disadvantage if you gate similar content.
  • Does your content have enough value/interest to be gated? What is your customer’s advantage in obtaining it? Understanding the value of your content will help you make the decision as to whether your prospect will give up their information to access your information.
  • What information do you need to create a quality lead? It’s important to keep your forms short and sweet. Forms that are too long create less of a chance to acquire the lead. No one wants to give up too much of their personal information or take too much of their time to fill out a form.
  • How will your business use gated content? You will need to determine how your business finds the right balance between gated and ungated content. Gating your content gives you the opportunity to generate qualified leads that your business needs to achieve its goals and continue to grow. On the other hand, ungated content increases visibility and trust in your brand. You also never want to gate your content too early in the stages of development. Gated content can discourage your prospect from exploring further if they do not know enough about your brand.

If you do decide to use gated content, follow these seven steps and see results!

  • Choose the right content: Look at your blog traffic, customer and audience behavior, and competitive resources to determine what people really want and will give up their information to receive.
  • Determine the funnel stage: Information should be content provided towards the evaluation/intent phase.
  • Create a strong landing page: Your landing page needs to give users the confidence to give up their personal information.
  • Include a thank you page: This is the most important part of the lead generation process; a redirected page after form completion. Redirecting your prospect to a thank you page not only shows gratitude to them, but it also provides them with details of what can be done next.
  • Deliver on your promise: Make sure your content provides exactly what they’ve asked for so that you keep their trust and earn their business.
  • Follow-up: Once the form is filled out, get your offer in front of them in a timely manner while your brand is still fresh in their mind!
  • Measure success: Use data from Google Analytics, your CRM, and other marketing tools to understand your campaign’s success.