Think about a weighted stability scale: on one aspect is model visibility; the opposite, lead technology. Your job as a content material marketer is to make use of gated and ungated content material to efficiently stability each objectives.
With gated content material, customers arrive at your web site and see a CTA or pop-up that provides them entry to content material in trade for his or her data. This might be their e-mail tackle in trade for a content material supply — and a method of producing leads for your corporation.
Ungated content material requires no trade of knowledge, and it has extra website positioning worth — supplying you with model visibility.
Right here, we’ll discover what gated content material is and dive into finest practices and examples.
Desk of Contents
What’s gated content material?
Gated content material is any kind of content material that viewers can solely entry after exchanging their data. Basically, the content material is hidden behind a kind. Corporations use gated content material to generate leads and finally, gross sales.
It is vital to notice that gated content material for inbound advertising is free and never hidden behind a paywall. Customers must submit their data — not their bank card quantity — to entry the content material.
Now, you could be questioning, “Why would I cover my content material from my viewers?”
Usually, the purpose of gated content material is to generate leads. Gated content material isn‘t used for model consciousness or visibility campaigns as a result of the character of hidden content material doesn’t enable for top site visitors.
Under, let’s talk about the professionals and cons of gated versus ungated content material.
Gated content material is normally protected by a paywall, which permits the writer to require customers to enroll or pay for entry.
Professionals and Cons of Gated Content material
Gated content material generates leads you may nurture into prospects, whereas ungated content material is supposed to extend site visitors and enhance viewers belief.
Each forms of content material are useful to your content material advertising technique, so long as you’re discovering the proper stability for your corporation objectives.
After studying this record, you could be questioning, “How do I do know if I ought to gate my content material?”
Effectively, all of it depends upon your priorities — model visibility or lead technology.
Moreover, think about the kind of content material. Longer-form content material like an e-book is well-suited to gated content material, whereas most shorter-form content material like weblog posts are higher off ungated.
When you‘ve determined to create gated content material, you’re most likely inquisitive about get began. Let’s evaluate some finest practices beneath.
Finest Practices for Gated Content material
Create content material for every stage within the purchaser’s journey.
Full a aggressive evaluation.
Present incentive.
Construct a robust touchdown web page.
Section your viewers.
Measure the analytics.
1. Create content material for every stage within the purchaser’s journey.
When a prospect goes via the customer‘s journey, they’ll undergo three levels: consciousness, consideration, and resolution.
This is a fast rundown of every stage:
Throughout every stage, your viewers wants content material that meets them the place they’re.
For example, guests within the consciousness stage are most likely taken with studying an e-book. Alternatively, a customer within the resolution stage would possibly favor a product demo or webinar.
That‘s why it’s vital to design content material affords for every stage of the customer’s journey. In case your gated content material aligns with their stage within the journey, your viewers is extra more likely to convert.
2. Full a aggressive evaluation.
When you‘ve brainstormed some content material concepts for every stage of the customer’s journey, it is time to conduct a aggressive evaluation.
In a aggressive evaluation, you will analysis the forms of content material your opponents supply. actions.
Take note of what content material is gated versus ungated — this provides you with an concept of what forms of content material are useful sufficient to put behind a gate.
3. Present incentive.
As an inbound marketer, you already know that offering worth is of the utmost significance.
Your content material supply should not be a fast weblog publish. As a substitute, your gated content material ought to present actionable, useful content material.
Simply as importantly, your gated content material ought to be related to your viewers.
When your content material supplies true worth, it offers your viewers an incentive to fill out that kind and offer you their contact data.
4. Construct a robust touchdown web page.
When a person clicks on a CTA for a content material supply, they’re normally led to a touchdown web page. So, probably the greatest practices for gated content material is to construct a robust touchdown web page (we’ve acquired 41 examples when you want some inspo).
For instance, HubSpot’s State of Advertising and marketing report touchdown web page accommodates a robust headline, compelling copy, and a sneak preview of among the key findings.
When you resolve to obtain, the shape is straightforward and quick.
Supply
The technical steps for gating your content material will fluctuate relying in your CMS. However likelihood is, your touchdown web page will embody a kind the place guests can enter their contact particulars in trade in your content material supply. It is vital that your kind is easy, simple to make use of, and user-friendly.
HubSpot affords a free on-line kind builder that lets you create and customise types with a drag-and-drop kind maker.
5. Section your viewers.
As soon as your viewers has downloaded your gated content material and also you obtain their e-mail tackle, it is time to phase your e-mail lists.
This can assist you develop focused and efficient e-mail advertising campaigns.
Moreover, segmenting your viewers means you may ship nurturing emails to maneuver these results in prospects.
6. Measure the analytics.
Whenever you’ve determined to gate a sure piece of content material, you may monitor conversions and measure your analytics.
As with all advertising technique, measuring your success is extraordinarily vital. This knowledge will assist you perceive your viewers higher and enhance your content material technique.
Now that you already know some finest practices for creating gated content material, let us take a look at forms of content material and examples of what this may appear like in motion.
Gated Content material Examples
There’s a number of methods you may construct gated content material touchdown pages — right here’s 5 of the commonest forms of content material that companies gate.
1. White Papers, Case Research, and Different Experiences
White papers, case research, and different stories are nice examples of gated content material as a result of they’ll present focused worth to your viewers.
A white paper is an authoritative, in-depth report on a particular matter; case research have a look at a particular use case; and different stories may not fall into both class however nonetheless use a text-heavy, longer-form format. (Suppose: HubSpot’s State of Advertising and marketing report.)
All three of those content material varieties can place your model as an trade skilled. And once you‘re a trusted skilled, folks wish to know what it’s important to say — which implies you’ll get extra downloads and conversions.
Often, affords are long-form content material which can be fascinating and useful to your viewers, like this one from IMO Well being about high-quality medical knowledge and analysis.
Professional tip: Give your viewers a style of the content material. The above instance features a few key learnings that show its worth and entice its viewers to fill out the shape.
StrataBeat’s 2025 B2B website positioning Efficiency Report is an efficient instance of a gated report. The touchdown web page clearly states what the product is, and the outline — “Unlock superior website positioning efficiency with insights from an evaluation of 300 B2B SaaS web sites” — emphasizes high-quality knowledge and even consists of the scale of the research.
There’s additionally a graphic of the report, which suggests a superbly designed, thoughtfully produced content material supply. The CTA, “Get the report and enhance your website positioning outcomes,” guarantees that offering your data shall be price your whereas, and you’ll see all six data fields it’s essential to fill out.
2. Ebooks
An e-book is one other in style kind of gated content material. In contrast to a white paper, an e-book is normally a shorter information on a particular matter.
Ebooks also can set up your model authority and construct belief together with your viewers. They’re normally used within the consciousness and consideration levels of the customer’s journey.
IMO Well being additionally has a number of gated ebooks that require your contact data earlier than you may hit that “obtain” button.
This one, entitled AI in healthcare: 6 options driving effectivity and innovation, features a few bullet factors of what you’ll study, guaranteeing that it finds the proper viewers.
Professional tip: Inform your readers how lengthy the e-book is in order that they know what they’re stepping into. IMO Well being, above, consists of the learn time slightly below the title.
3. Templates
One among my favourite types of gated content material is the template. Offering a template is a tactical, actionable piece of content material.
The perceived worth of a template is way larger than that of an e-book and a white paper, which implies your viewers is extra more likely to enter their contact data to obtain it.
Templates are an incredible gated content material supply for people within the consideration and resolution stage of the customer’s journey.
SlidesGo, which publishes free templates for PowerPoint and Google Slides, gates a lot of its premium content material:
Professional tip: You’ll be able to nonetheless preview the entire slides within the template, so customers know precisely what they’re getting once they hand over their e-mail tackle.
4. Webinars
With a webinar, you‘ll educate your viewers to study extra a couple of matter. You’ll develop belief, construct relationships, and, hopefully, encourage.
For prospects within the resolution stage of the customer’s journey, webinars make a superb gated content material supply.
Once more, webinars have a excessive perceived worth, which makes your viewers extra more likely to fill out that kind.
5. Quizzes
If you happen to’re an individual who wears make-up and also you’ve been on Instagram or TikTok previously couple years, you’ve most likely been focused by Il Makiage, a cosmetics firm with a very giant vary of basis shades.
After attractive you with before-and-after pics of fashions (whose good pores and skin by some means appears to be like much more good after Il Makiage basis), the make-up firm guarantees that its “PowerMatch algorithm” will discover a shade that completely matches your pores and skin tone—no in-store swatching required.
After you’ve devoted a number of minutes of your time — which is rather a lot in a world the place 30-second movies rule — Il Makiage asks in your contact data earlier than revealing your basis colour.
Professional tip: Placing the ask after the quiz implies that the person has already invested their time and is extra more likely to fork over their e-mail. (And I can inform you from private expertise that it’s actually laborious to stroll away from the promise of good pores and skin.)
Gated vs. Ungated Content material
With gated content material, it is vital to offer your viewers with fascinating and related affords. Finally, gated content material ought to be focused and assist you generate leads. Keep in mind that scale from the start: You’ll wish to discover a stability between model visibility and lead gen, so gate correctly — and together with your viewers’s wants in thoughts.
Editor’s word: This publish was initially printed in July 2017 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
