Gated content vs ungated content

Gated content vs ungated content

Content gating sounds great in theory. Whether it's a gated video or white paper. For all situations, the "buyer" is not going to enter his e-mail address again if he knew that the content is nothing more than a 4-page brochure.

Unfortunately, this is often the reality. Many companies create wonderful white papers, but don't share enough content.

And the cynical thing is that your excellent branding can actually backfire. The next "Google search" in which your content is displayed as a result will create recognition - but not positive engagement.

Three tips for better results:

1 - offer the white paper 'ungated' as well

A practical strategy is to offer the white paper both gated and ungated. You can do this as follows for maximum results:

• Display the white paper on the resource page and choose a no-index to avoid duplicate content
• Put the white paper on your blog page and use a pop-up with the option to still download the white paper

This has the great advantage of giving your reader a choice. This is sympathetic and increases the favor factor.

2 - create a short 30-60 second video

Include a video message of up to 1 minute explaining what the reader can expect. This ensures that you manage expectations in advance and avoid disappointment.

In addition, in terms of branding, you achieve much more because you can find out, for example, whether this video strategy works.

3 - exchange unique value

However you look at it, if someone is willing to share their unique company email, that's a subtle way to say thank you.

The same feeling the person entering their email address wants to have when downloading or seeing content - by sharing content that is unique.

Choose gated content only if you are convinced it offers value to the consumer. And not just because the email address is valuable for a nurturing campaign. The value of this feigned MQL is zero to the sales organization and will only lead to frustration.

What is the purpose of gated content?

It is not necessarily about lead generation, as this is one-sided.

Keep in mind that the goal of content gaps should be to exchange value.

Go for gated content if trust has already been built or if your content is one of a kind.

Because ... what good is a lead if there is no trust in the quality of your content?