For B2B companies, lead generation can be a constant struggle. If you’re struggling with converting website visitors into leads, made sure you’re using gated content.
What’s gated content? Gated content is online materials, such as white papers, articles, and videos, that require that users fill out a form before they can access them.
Visitors get a valuable resource, and you get their contact information to add to your newsletter list, or send follow up information. It’s a win-win! It helps capture website visitors so you can stay in touch, move them further down the sales funnel to become potential new clients.
If you’re using content marketing, but not providing any gated resources, you might be missing out on valuable leads! Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3 times as many leads. (Source: DemandMetric)
Adding a gated component helps separate typical visitors from those that are actually interested in working with your business. It shows off the benefits of your business and builds relationships through providing value. Plus, it provides more SEO opportunities, when you create a strong landing page and direct traffic to it.
Automated page gating also works around the clock so you don’t have to. People could request access to a video at all hours, get an auto-response that gives them access to the video, then you can choose to follow up during business hours.
If you haven’t adopted gated content for your site, here’s where to start:
1. Create the content
You need to create content that will actually entice people to give you their contact information. Make sure it’s something they can’t find for free on another website and provides enough value to your prospects.
Gated content can be videos, ebooks, whitepapers, webinars, and other premium content. You wouldn’t want to gate content that would attract new visitors further up the funnel, like blogs, simpler videos, and other items that lure visitors in.
Some experts say written content is the best type to gate. 58% of marketers said, “original written content” is the most important type of content, outdoing visuals and videos. (Source: Social Media Examiner).
When you’re creating a new piece of gated content, ask yourself, “Will this solve or speak to pain points of a potential new client?”
2. Use Landing Page Best Practices
Once you’ve created the content, you need to get it on your site. But the experience a visitor has on the landing page is actually more important than the actual content. Because even if its an amazing whitepaper, if the page doesn’t convince them to download it, you’ll never engage that lead.
Make sure you keep form fills to a minimum and only ask for the information you absolutely need. Name and email should be sufficient unless you absolutely need to add a phone number as well.
Create a strong CTA, and add a visual element. If it’s an ebook or whitepaper, create a mockup that helps the asset look like a real book. This will help encourage downloads and give the perception that it’s something of value.
You also need to write an SEO-friendly piece of copy that explains the benefits of the content and convinces visitors to download. This content is your one chance to get this page found by search engines, so make sure you put some time into it.