{"id":1787,"date":"2022-05-15T06:30:25","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T10:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thatwhitepaperguy.com\/?p=1787"},"modified":"2022-05-16T22:25:52","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T02:25:52","slug":"gating-there-is-a-third-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thatwhitepaperguy.com\/gating-there-is-a-third-option\/","title":{"rendered":"Gating: There is a third option"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most\u00a0discussions about whether or not to gate content are all or nothing.<\/h2>\n

But did you know there’s a third option?<\/h3>\n

You can think of this as a “middle way” or a hybrid. <\/strong><\/p>\n

And it works very well for many companies, including my own.<\/p>\n

In an earlier post of this series, I discussed the best practices for gated vs. ungated content<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bottom line: If you want to\u00a0generate leads, use a gate.\u00a0If you just want to get noticed, take down the\u00a0gate.<\/p>\n

But sometimes it isn’t quite\u00a0that simple. Sometimes we want to do a little\u00a0of both.<\/p>\n

If so, you may want to consider the middle way: Give away your\u00a0basic content, but ask readers to register for more detailed or premium content.<\/p>\n

Give away your basic content with no\u00a0gate<\/h3>\n

\"open<\/p>\n

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This includes your blogs, infographics, or listicles (“5 Ways to Save on Mobility”).<\/p>\n

Never gate case studies<\/strong>. These are powerful word-of-mouth references that you want to spread as far and wide as possible.<\/p>\n

As these ungated items spread across the web, you can\u00a0work to get comments and mentions on social media to\u00a0build buzz about your company.<\/p>\n

The more work you put in on that side the more downloads, likes, retweets, and shares you will see.<\/p>\n

But much of this will happen beyond your viewpoint. You won’t get\u00a0much\u00a0information on where your content goes, or\u00a0who has shared it.<\/p>\n

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Gate your premium content<\/h3>\n

\"closed<\/p>\n

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When you invest heavily in a piece of content, think twice before you give it away.<\/p>\n

After all, don’t you have to justify part of your marketing budget by generating leads to pass to Sales?<\/p>\n

For example,\u00a0don’t ungate an ambitious white paper that explains\u00a0a confusing new\u00a0trend in your\u00a0industry.<\/p>\n

Don’t ungate the results of your\u00a0annual survey that will have everyone talking for weeks.<\/p>\n

Don’t ungate\u00a0an online assessment that reports how a visitor’s\u00a0company compares with its peers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To build even more value, perhaps bundle that with a free consultation to discuss\u00a0where firms can improve their operations.<\/p>\n

For top-quality content, set up a gate. You will get fewer downloads, but you’ll have contact info to act on for every person who accesses it.<\/p>\n

A middle way: Lead prospects from ungated to gated<\/h3>\n

\"partly<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can\u00a0use a series\u00a0of content pieces to coax your prospects to a deeper level of engagement.<\/p>\n

At the end of a\u00a0less ambitious piece, insert\u00a0an offer for\u00a0a more ambitious piece and give your readers an easy gate to step through.<\/p>\n

There’s an even more subtle way to do this: Show visitors the start of a longer piece like a white paper, perhaps the executive summary and contents pages.<\/p>\n

You can reveal that much right on the web in HTML, no download required.<\/p>\n

At the end of that much, insert your gate. Anyone who starts reading and wants to find out more will register at that point.<\/p>\n

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And a prospect like that is golden: They’re already engaged with your content so odds are they’ll carry on reading.<\/p>\n

Don’t ask for the moon… just a prospect’s\u00a0name, work e-mail, company name, and perhaps zipcode.<\/p>\n

Never\u00a0ask for their mailing address, unless you plan\u00a0to mail them something.<\/p>\n

This hybrid approach works for me<\/h3>\n

My business runs on a much smaller scale than those of my clients, but it’s still a\u00a0B2B service.<\/p>\n

And this middle way has worked very well for me.<\/p>\n

I have more than 150 articles on every aspect of white papers on this\u00a0site (www.thatwhitepaperguy.com<\/a>) all available free to visitors with no registration.<\/p>\n

Visitors can also find two sample chapters plus links to half a dozen bonus articles related to my definitive book, White Papers For Dummies<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"cover<\/a><\/p>\n

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More ambitious content, such as my\u00a015-page “ice cream” report on picking the perfect flavor for your next white paper<\/a>\u00a0stayed for years behind a registration form.<\/p>\n

After a few years, I moved it out from behind the gate so anyone can access it.<\/p>\n

I wanted the idea of the three flavors to spread. The last time I checked, this piece had been downloaded close to 10,000 times.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’m now\u00a0working on a set of checklists I believe will be\u00a0valuable enough to gate.<\/p>\n

And my monthly newsletter requires registration so I know where to send it.<\/p>\n

This site’s\u00a0registration\u00a0form is simple, just four simple questions: first name, last name, e-mail, and the person’s role in their organization.<\/p>\n

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\"Google<\/h3>\n

All this content makes Google smile\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Due to all the useful and findable content here, www.thatwhitepaperguy.com is listed on the first page of Google\u00a0search results for my\u00a0chosen keywords.<\/p>\n

This listing brings in\u00a0leads for more projects than I can handle.<\/p>\n

Plus, asking those simple questions before I hand over my gated content has generated\u00a0a mailing\u00a0list of thousands of names, segmented into two basic groups:<\/p>\n