WHAT IS GATED CONTENT AND HOW TO USE IT EFFECTIVELY

According to The Scoop, “80% of B2B content marketing assets are gated.” Gating refers to moments in a content experience where registration is required for access. These gated assets are essentially digital material that requires users to provide information. Industry reports and product demos are a few examples of these. However, all this gated content creates a rift between marketers who prefer leads vs. reads.

At one point, gates were a reliable way to gain access to qualified leads. However, the ‘gates = self-qualified leads’ equation soon stopped working as well. Audiences got smarter, which means they use false information like noname@nomail.no.uk or avoid content altogether when encountering a gate.

Therefore, placing a hard gate at the front of your content won’t immediately guarantee qualified leads. Similarly, un-gating content does not immediately guarantee high readership. Currently, 9 in 10 B2B companies in the US use digital content marketing, which means there’s a lot of content out there fighting for attention. As a result, gated content examples have to be on a case-by-case basis.

When asking yourself “To gate or not to gate?“ there are a few strategies to consider that might work for your content and audience.

Gating by content value

It makes sense that unique thought leadership and research are more highly sought after. We’re more likely to trade our details for something which we are sure we won’t be able to find elsewhere, and which will help us solve a particular problem. That's why it's crucial to provide unique, valuable content for our website visitors if we're going to gate it.

The Scoop reports that “infographics and case studies are less likely to be gated, but over 90% of B2B marketers find them useful to increase brand awareness and demonstrate results among existing leads.”

That means gating is less likely to be successful in content that is considered to be “lower value” because it lacks original research, is published frequently, and is easiest way to create content. This encompasses content like blogs, case studies, and infographics.

Exclusive content or premium content needs to have high perceived value.
Gating is more successful in high value, high quality content, which is rarer and harder to put together, like reports white papers, ebooks, and webinars. Ultimately, if your content includes data or information which is original and sought-after, people are going to be happy to trade their details for access. 

Gating by content performance

Gating and ungated content can be a useful iterative element of a content strategy. If a piece of content is underperforming, un-gating can lead to higher traffic. That means that gating a piece of content is by no means an irreversible decision. Impact suggests looking at the metrics and weighing up the options:

As a piece of advice, Impact suggests, “Where your landing page conversion rates are less than 3%, try un-gating them to see if the increase in traffic you experience outweighs the number of leads you were gating.”

Chris Barr, VP of Marketing for Taradel, suggests a similar approach of reviewing performance and adjusting accordingly:  “If gated content is performing well, never un-gate it. This is especially true for content that is research-based or has a high value associated with it. If gated content has high visit-to-lead rates, it’s working.” Conversely, if gated content is functioning as a bottleneck or detraction to users, then it’s probably best to reduce the number of form fields or un-gate the content completely.

Gating by buyer journey

It’s also essential to think about gating in terms of where your reader is in their buying journey. This is the best way to maximize opportunities for success and minimize the chances of bounce rate.

As we mentioned earlier, gating content is typically less successful at the awareness stage. This is due to the reader being unfamiliar with your brand and the value your content offers. As you prove your worth and relevance to them, they might be more inclined to offer something in return.

Regardless, you should ensure your content offering reflects the stage of a given visitor. Someone at the awareness stage is likely to go through a gate in a report with statistics they are interested in. Whereas, someone at the decision stage is more likely to come across a gate in a case study and provide their details for a different reason. It's about optimizing your marketing funnel for different stages. Matching the right content with the right audience at the right time is key to ensuring a gate’s success. 

Once you’ve decided whether you’re going to gate your content, you have two more options to decide on: soft gating vs. hard gating. 

Hard gating means that a reader cannot access the content without filling in any details, soft gating on the other hand still offers the form but allows the reader to still engage with the content. In short, hard gating makes the gate compulsory, soft gating is optional for the reader. If you’re looking to maximise reads but still gain some leads, soft gating may look ideal.

At Turtl, we experiment a lot with hard and soft gating with gated content forms in our digital documents, referred to as Turtl Docs. When we promote content with third parties, we’ve seen more conversions from soft gating. Using cognitive psychology, we can tell this is likely because offering something for free to the reader that they get genuine value from makes them more inclined to reciprocate by sharing their details later on.

The best way for you to decide between soft and hard gating is to run a few tests with your audience and see how they respond. However, generally speaking, there are three key advantages to soft gating:

• Better quality leads: If a reader has the option to remain anonymous but is happy with you collecting email addresses anyways, they’re clearly much more interested in the subject matter than someone forced into it.
• Lower bounce rates: Many people will outright refuse to engage with you when you hard gate something, which is why soft gating encourages people to stick around and check things out.
• More engagement: A soft gate allows even the most risk-averse readers to take the time and engage with your content, increasing your chances of persuading them to take action further down the line.

After you’ve decided whether you’re going to gate or not and whether to use a soft or hard gate, you finally need to decide where you’re going to place it. Ultimately, this will require you to consider your audience’s emotions and buyer journey.

1. Place a gate right at the beginning. The most traditional way to create gated content. This means that readers can’t access the content until they’ve handed over their contact details. This tactic works for well-established companies that have a strong reputation for producing original research. Most of their readers are confident the content will be worth the data exchange. Otherwise, a hard upfront gate is asking a lot of readers.
2. Place a gate deeper within the document. This effectively makes it hidden content until they choose to provide their information.It could be after the introduction or much later. The idea is to show enough value for free so that you reduce the uncertainty over what the reader will receive in exchange for their contact information. You could include social proof on the page with the gate to encourage sign-up.
3. Develop really detailed gated content landing pages. If you give away enough information right away, a hard gate to seem like less of a risk for a user to continue deeper into your document. However, be careful you don’t give everything away in the free sections, or they’ll feel resentful about signing up when they realize all the value proposition was pre-gate.

Don’t have a gated content strategy? We can help.

Developing a solid content gating strategy is key to getting the most out of your content. Whether you’re focused on capturing leads, boosting engagement, or raising brand awareness, a smart approach to gating can make a big difference. At Turtl, we offer the tools you need to tailor your gating strategy to fit your goals.

Gated vs. ungated: finding the right balance

Deciding whether to gate or ungate your content isn’t always straightforward. Here’s how to think about it:

• Gated content: High-value pieces like detailed research reports, in-depth white papers, and on demand webinars are great candidates for gating. By gating this kind of content, you can capture valuable leads – people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. Turtl is a dynamic lead generation tool that lets you choose between soft and hard gates, depending on how much you want to push for lead generation.
• Ungated content: Content that’s more focused on building brand visibility or expanding your reach, such as blog posts, infographics, or case studies, might work better ungated. Providing free templates or free trials can also be great for awareness. Removing barriers encourages more readers to engage with and share your content, improving your visibility in search engines and driving organic traffic. Over time, this can help grow your audience, which might eventually convert into leads when they encounter your gated content later on.

How Turtl can help you optimize your gating strategy

Turtl offers a range of features that make it easy to experiment with different gating strategies and find the right balance for your business. Here’s what you can do with our platform:

• Flexible gating options: With Turtl, you have the flexibility to choose between soft gating, where users are encouraged (but not forced) to provide their details, hard gating, which requires them to fill out a form before accessing your content, or no gating at all. This targeting marketing approach allows you to tailor your approach based on who in your target audience you're after and where they are in their buyer journey.
• Data-driven insights: Our analytics tools give you a clear picture of how your content is performing. You can track important metrics like traffic, conversion rates, and engagement levels to see which gating strategies are working best. This data helps you fine-tune your approach, so your gated content campaign and strategy is always in line with your goals.
• Real-time optimization: The ability to quickly test and adjust your gating strategies based on performance data is crucial. With Turtl, you can make informed decisions about when, how, and who to gate, optimizing your strategy with valuable insights and leading to cost savings from focused content. 

Gates aren’t the only way to generate leads – but they can form part of a larger B2B content marketing strategy.

There is no easy answer for whether or not your business should gate its content, as well as how or when the gate should appear. However, now that it is clear why content creators might gate a report or thought leadership piece, it is easier to make the right decision. Ultimately a deep understanding of your audience through analytics will help inform the decision on whether or not to gate your content. Some content management systems offer built-in tools to help with this.

If what you really want is leads, then gating might not be the answer. Pop-ups, back cover forms, a download link, contact buttons – all of these can also help you diversify and increase your lead capture opportunities.

Using Turtl, we’ve created a guide on exploring modern tactics for demand generation. Take a look and find the right marketing strategy for your business goals ⤵