Gated content - hot or not?

Being an online entrepreneur is not a piece of cake these days and it does require heaps of creativity and ability to adapt to constant changes. Since nowadays there is an overabundance of choices available on the digital market and the competition is getting fiercer, you truly need to find effective methods that will make your business stand out.

One of the most prominent marketing tools to be used to whet customers’ appetite and get their interest and engagement rapidly is gated content. Its power is still underestimated despite the fact that it can really turn out to be your secret weapon that will put you ahead of your competitors and will contribute to your online business bonanza. 

What is gated content?

To put is simply, gated content is any content on your business website you lock behind a form. Unlike other blog posts and articles you create and publish on daily basis, gated content is not available for everyone. Everyone can see it exists but in order to get access to it an additional action is required. Usually visitors need to fill out a form with their personal data and in exchange they are permitted to get into.

The concept of gated content itself seems to be very straightforward but it does create a sense of exclusivity and mystery what arouses the interest and appetite of new potential leads. We all love to feel special and exclusive so getting hold of something not available for everyone sounds pretty appealing right away.

Gated content examples

Gating content is a highly flexible idea and you are able to lock behind a form anything you want. It can be a part of your e-book or a lengthy article, a worksheet, a short video, a case study or a planner. There are endless possibilities and the best thing to do is to choose a one that will be most compatible with your business and most useful for your targeted audience.

Also, you need to bear in mind that your gated content should present the quality of your work. If you craft it properly it can be a teaser and encourage your visitors to purchase from you. One of the most effective way to generate leads for digital businesses is to put a demo version of your product or service as gated content. This way new potential customers are able to truly experience the value and functionalities of your efforts.

Gated content benefits

As mentioned above, gated content is a great method to generate leads for your business. Using it enables you to easily increase conversions and collect useful data about your potential customers. These two features make it highly prominent and efficient tool which can also assist you in:

• increasing sales of your products or services,
• improving your marketing campaigns using the data collected in forms,
• improving your relationship with customers making them feel special and exclusive,
• presenting the quality and functionalities of your work,
• improving marketing segmentation using the data provided in the forms.

The points above is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gated content advantages. However, in order to make a use of the concept you absolutely cannot overplay with it in order not to end up with the opposite effect on your business performance. You should try to strike the healthy balance between gated and non-gated content as making everything gated will rather arouse suspicion around your business than entice visitors to subscribe.

Gated content drawbacks

As any other concept (and things in life generally) the gated content concept is not deprived of disadvantages. The most crucial one is the fact that it does not improve your SEO. Therefore, regardless of the highest quality of your gated content and best SEO techniques implemented, it makes no difference for Google. The search engine simply does not see it and does not drive traffic to your business website basing on the keywords or phrases used.

Another drawback when it comes to the gated content idea is the impossibility of sharing. These days a lot of things is advertised virally, sometimes even without intention of it, as people simply share something on their social media channels and all at once it becomes popular. Since gated content cannot be shared it may be passed over by a lot of people that could be interested.

Nevertheless, the disadvantages mentioned do not enforce complete backout form the concept. They only emphasize that you should not go over the edge with gated content and you need to use it wisely. The tool can truly turn out to be a highly powerful weapon that makes your visitors more prone to purchase from you and enable you to improve your marketing strategy.

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