{"id":14778,"date":"2017-12-01T15:11:55","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T20:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/?p=14778"},"modified":"2017-12-01T15:11:55","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T20:11:55","slug":"b2b-myth-week-gated-content-will-bring-loads-leads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/b2b-myth-week-gated-content-will-bring-loads-leads\/","title":{"rendered":"B2B Myth of the Week: Gated Content Will Bring In Loads of Leads"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pexels-photo-602160\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

Myth:\u00a0Gated Content Will Bring In Loads of Leads
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Truth: Without a Strategy, Gated Content Can Kill Relationships
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Gated content falls smack dab in the center of\u00a0the B2B marketing wheelhouse. You can showcase your products and services. You can position yourself as a thought-leader in your industry.\u00a0You can capture loads of sales leads in the process. And you can do it all on the cheap. Sounds like a win, right? \u00a0So why not just jump in and dangle some\u00a0gated content to your audience in exchange for their contact information?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why: according to a study done by Forester<\/a>, 68% percent of buyers prefer to research information on their own. More significantly, 81% of Gen X-ers and Millennials opt out of downloading content simply because they don\u2019t want to fill out a form. (If you think these groups aren\u2019t making buying decisions, think again<\/a>). This doesn\u2019t mean employing gated content is pointless \u2013 there\u2019s still tremendous value to be gained. It does mean, however, that you need to have a set strategy before you begin.<\/p>\n

4 Tips for Gating Content<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Keep Your\u00a0First Pieces Open.\u00a0<\/strong>Too many forms at the start of a sales journey will do more harm than good. Establish trust, authority, and goodwill with quality content your audience can access immediately. This confirms that your brand offers information of value, and will be worth submitting contact\u00a0info for down the road.<\/li>\n
  2. Gate the Right Stuff.<\/strong> Resist the urge to gate every piece of content your marketing team produces. Lower value pieces (think tips, guidelines, and infographics) may not have a serious payoff and can leave your audience feeling misled. Whitepapers and case studies, however,\u00a0can offer in-depth insight, and be worth exchanging an email for.<\/li>\n
  3. Know Your Audience and Where They Are In The Sales Process.<\/strong> Are they seriously evaluating your product? Or are they still in education mode? Understanding your customers\u2019 motivators<\/a> will ensure the content you serve is relevant, and help you determine what to gate and what to offer instant access to.<\/li>\n
  4. Don\u2019t Ask For Everything.<\/strong> The more info you ask for, the higher the drop-off rate. Begin\u00a0by asking for an email address, then nurture your customer further into your sales funnel by delivering relevant content from there.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For B2B brands (particularly those with lean marketing and sales departments), it\u2019s tempting to gate everything you have. Granting free access and gating strategically, however,\u00a0delivers leads that are far more qualified \u2013 saving time and money in the long run. And that\u2019s where the value of gated content lies for you.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Myth:\u00a0Gated Content Will Bring In Loads of Leads Truth: Without a Strategy, Gated Content Can Kill Relationships Gated content falls smack dab in the center of\u00a0the B2B marketing wheelhouse. You can showcase your products and services. You can position yourself as a thought-leader in your industry.\u00a0You can capture loads of sales leads in the process. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[507,101,273,169],"tags":[244,264,381,190,232,138],"class_list":["post-14778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b2b-monday-myth","category-consider-this","category-content","category-social-media-2","tag-b2b-content","tag-b2b-digital-marketing","tag-b2b-lead-generation","tag-b2b-marketing","tag-b2b-marketing-strategy","tag-content-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14778"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14802,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14778\/revisions\/14802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}