Should I Gate This Content? [QUIZ]

Over half of B2B marketers have successfully used content marketing to generate leads in the past year.

How do companies attract visitors and turn them into leads? One effective strategy is using high-quality content. Publishing engaging, valuable content that helps your audience answer their questions, grow in their skill set, or strengthen their companies attracts them to your website. But just bringing these people to your site isn’t enough. To actually generate leads who you can follow up with and nurture, you have to capture their contact information. And that’s where effective gated content comes into play.

We define gated content as “high-quality owned content, housed behind a form, that website visitors can only access by submitting contact information and that fuels a company’s lead generation.”

For example, over the course of eight months, our former client Star Compliance generated 353 form submissions, 57 new leads, and six new customers from its gated e-book.

Keep in mind that if you’re going to ask readers to exchange their valuable information for your content, it has to be high-quality and worth that trade. So how can you decide which content you should put behind a gate? Take our quiz below!

Should I Gate This Content Quiz. Does the content speak to a wider audience beyond your existing customer base? Yes, move to next question. No, don't gate. Is the content relevant to target audience members who are at the top or middle of the funnel? Yes, move to next question. No, don't gate. Does the content dive below the surface into deeper insights? Yes, move to next question. No, don't gate. Would you be willing to exchange your own contact information to gain access to this content? Yes, gate. No, don't gate. Notes: Gated content should be valuable to people whose contact information you don't already have, which means it might be helpful for your existing customers, but they're not your target audience. Gated content should target a niche audience of people who. might eventually work their way into your sales funnel and someday become customers. Gating content that targets the bottom of the funnel can capture the information of those who are primed for a sale but haven't made their way to filling out a contact form. But in general, most of your gated content will be for the middle- and top-of-funnel folks who are educating themselves but might not be ready for a sales call yet.

To Gate or Not to Gate?

Here are some examples of content that could be gated and content that should not be placed behind a gate:

Content that could be gated:

  • Courses
  • Checklists (unless the checklist outlines how to use your product or how your process works)
  • In-depth topical guides or whitepapers
  • Research reports

Content that shouldn’t be gated:

  • Blog posts
  • Basic videos
  • Basic information about your product or service
  • Content that’s meant to raise awareness
  • Case studies
  • FAQs

Gated content is an effective way to generate leads for your business. You just have to make sure that content is worth the download. Use this quiz as a gut check when deciding which content to gate, and download your free gated content checklist below to create that high-quality content your audience is looking for!

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