How do you use Gated Content wisely

Gated content is a popular marketing tool for lead generation, especially in the B2B sector. But deciding whether to use it or not is still a dilemma. There is often confusion about which content should be gated.

Here let’s see the pros and cons of gated content that will help you decide if it should be a part of your marketing strategy.

How Does Gated Content Work?

Gated content in any media means a user must provide personal information in order to access the content – like, name, email address, phone number, or answer to a low friction question. This information can then be used for lead generation, lead nurturing, and other marketing initiatives.

It can also mean a paywall so that people who want to view your content or particular pieces of your content, might have to pay for accessing it.

Hence, gating content means you hide some of your most informative and valuable content from search bots whose main purpose is to find the answers to users’ questions.

Advantages of Gated Content

Feeling hesitant about producing gated content? Here I’m reviewing a few of the benefits after which you’ll be a bit more excited about the idea.

1.? Increases Traffic to your Website

If you’re gating content, it means you’re offering something valuable like market research, in-depth tips, or case studies. People recognize quality, so if you promote an ebook on a topic people want to learn about, you’re guaranteed site visitors.

2.? Increases Qualified Leads

Gated content lets you capture more email addresses, increasing your number of leads. By offering high-quality, exclusive content only accessible to those who provide their information, companies can attract and engage with those that care enough to provide contact info – meaning they are more likely to be qualified leads who will convert.

3.? Increases the Opportunity of Sending Strategic Content

Capturing readers’ email addresses gives you more opportunities to give them what they want. You can send them strategic pieces of content based on the content they’ve searched on your site.

4.? Predict the Number of Leads

You can better forecast the number of leads you’ll get per month. By requiring users to provide information in exchange for access to content, companies can ensure that only those who are truly interested in their products or services will receive marketing communications. This can lead to more relevant and effective marketing initiatives and increased ROI.

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Disadvantages of Gated Content

Like almost all other things, gated content also comes with its own set of disadvantages.

1.? High Bounce Rate on your Site

Requiring users to provide information in exchange for access to content can be seen as intrusive, potentially leading to decreased engagement with the content. A certain percentage of people will simply leave your site when they see the email form pop up.

2.? Little to no SEO Value

Gated content isn’t accessible to search engine bots. That means that the bots aren’t reading it, and therefore they aren’t indexing it in Google, so your content has decreased visibility.

3.? Reduce the Number of Social Sharing

It can limit the ability of users to share the content with others, potentially leading to decreased social sharing.

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When should you Gate your Content?

To determine this, you need to look at the following:

1.? Your business’s goals

2.? Your goals for each piece of content

Gating can work to attract more, higher-quality leads for one sort of content, while it can drive away leads when it’s used on another.

In general, things like blog posts, infographics, and slide shares are best left ungated – these are things you create to get more engagement, improve your SEO, and increase your brand awareness.

Reports, white papers, webinars, and other things that require lots of time and effort to create often do well when they’re gated. Very few people are going to sit through an entire webinar purely on a whim, so if they’ve found it, they’re likely willing to offer up their email address for access.

One great way to use your gated and ungated content to complement each other is to offer pieces of ungated content that lead readers to gated content.

Companies should continuously evaluate and adapt their use of gated content as the market and customer preferences evolve.

If you need any help regarding your gated content strategy, reach out.?