Gated content is still a vital part of your marketing strategy. But the rules have changed. Here’s what you need to know.
For years, gating content in B2B marketing was a simple equation: put the good stuff behind a form and watch the leads roll in. Never give something away for free that you could use as a lead magnet.
As buyer behavior shifted, though, marketers flipped that idea on its head. Why would you lock potential buyers out of your most useful, most persuasive content? Why not get rid of gates altogether?
Now, most marketers find themselves somewhere between the two poles. It’s not a question of whether or not to gate at all; it’s a question of what, when, why, and how to do it. Think of a gate less as a barrier and more as a strategic tool you can use to bring people closer to a purchase decision.
In other words, there’s no simple response to “should we gate this content?” The answer will vary based on your audience, the content, and your goals.
Here’s how to consider the variables and find the solution that works best for your content.
Why Ungated Content Is Powerful
It may seem like ungated content benefits your audience more than your marketing team. In fact, it’s good for both:
Reduces Friction
In an era of instant gratification, every additional click or form field increases the risk of losing a prospect. If someone is casually exploring a problem, they’re far more likely to read and share an article they don’t have to “earn” with personal data.
Builds credibility and trust
If you’re a B2B marketer, you know the 95/5 rule: Only 5% of your potential buyers are actively in-market at any time. For everyone else, your marketing content is all about banking goodwill and creating name recognition. When you give away genuinely useful insights, it showcases your brand expertise. More than that, it shows your company is genuinely invested in people’s success. That brand equity can be worth more than dozens of form fills.
Increases visibility
Your SEO-optimized, in-depth guide can’t earn search equity if it’s behind a gate. Every ungated piece of content is a permanent asset working to attract and warm future buyers. If your goal is to establish category authority, an open door beats a locked gate almost every time.
Why Gated Content Still Matters
The benefits of ungated content are clear, but that doesn’t mean you’ve built your last landing page. Gated content can do a few important things that ungated can’t:
Generate leads
Let’s start with the most obvious point: You can’t capture leads without a lead-capturing form. And at some point, you need to know who’s engaging with your brand. Gating lower-funnel assets like ROI calculators and original research helps you identify prospects ready for deeper conversations.
Create an expectation of value
When you put something behind a gate, you’re signaling that it’s not just another blog post. It’s a resource worth trading contact information for. If you’ve built trust through ungated content, that expectation can work in your favor. Provided, of course, that the content is worth the ask.
Better understand your audience
Forms can give you context beyond people’s email addresses. You can use the information to discover additional demographics like job titles, company size, or industry focus. It’s also easier to see if the right audience is engaging with the content. If your Executive Guide only saw downloads from middle managers, that’s invaluable data for your next campaign.
How Gating Best Practices Are Evolving
The old model for gating content was rigid and straightforward. The modern approach is more nuanced, audience-first, and channel-aware.
Funnel stage focus
Old school: Gate the “serious” stuff at the bottom of the funnel, keep everything else open.
New school: Gate based on audience and expectation, not just funnel stage. A fun, interactive top-of-funnel asset might be worth gating, while a big research paper might perform better ungated. Test often and let the data be your guide.
Value hierarchy
Old school: Gate your highest-value content to protect it.
New school: Keep your most valuable thought leadership ungated to establish authority and reach the widest audience. Gate supplementary resources, tools, or interactive experiences that support action-taking.
Distribution channels
Old school: Gated PDFs hosted on your website.
New school: Deliver gated content where your audience already spends time. Use LinkedIn Document Ads for static assets, for ease of delivery and a ton of valuable data. Think about tools like Zoom and Teams for webinars. Don’t be afraid to gate multimedia content like podcasts, calculators, workbooks, and templates, too.
Content format assumptions
Old school: Long-form reports and eBooks get gated; shorter, lighter pieces remain open.
New school: Format isn’t the deciding factor—relevance and perceived value are. A short but highly practical checklist might be gated, while a 50-page trend report could be open to maximize exposure.
One-size-fits-all gating
Old school: Every visitor sees the same landing page, regardless of their relationship with the brand.
New school: Use progressive profiling and smart forms so known leads encounter fewer gates—or none at all—while new visitors see tailored, minimal friction requests.
7 Rules for a Modern Gating Strategy
- Match to audience: Consider industry norms and buyer preferences. Some sectors expect gated research; others will bounce at the first form.
- Match to buyer journey: Don’t ask for a phone number from someone who’s never heard of you. Earn the right to request more data over time.
- Test gated vs. ungated: Run controlled experiments. You might find that ungating a high-value piece increases total leads when paired with strong retargeting.
- Limit form fields: The shorter the form, the higher the completion rate. Ask for what you truly need now, not what would be “nice to have.”
- Give value before the ask: Offer a robust preview or executive summary to build confidence that filling out the form is worth it.
- Be transparent: Tell them exactly how you’ll use their data and honor that promise.
- Add value with every interaction: Every follow-up should make them glad they opted in.
Beyond Gating: The Next Generation of Lead Capture
activePDF™ to do just that. An activePDF™ can contain multiple CTAs that lead to different destinations, such as lower-funnel content, a chatbot, or even a live conversation with your sales team.
Each of these CTAs carries metadata about the surrounding material. For example, instead of seeing that “Bob.johnson@corpnet.com downloaded your eBook,” you can see, “Bob Johnson is requesting a demo based on the write-up on page 6 of the eBook.” Your sales team can then start the conversation knowing exactly what Mr. Johnson’s interested in.
Gate, but Gate Wisely
Gating is a precision tool, not a blunt instrument. Align your gating strategy with your audience expectations, channel strategy, and business goals, and you can arrive at the right mix of gated and ungated content.
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