Without any doubt, content is the basis of the digital marketing strategy and nearly every business requires great content. The content on your website not only advertises your products or services but also creates a distinct brand voice and gets your audience in the funnel. 

The primary goal of the most content and digital marketers is to generate leads. But most marketers forget how difficult it is to generate leads with content. This is the reason why most marketers wonder- How to generate leads with content? 

As far as generating leads, there are plenty of ways to generate leads with content but gated content is the best way to do so. Gated content refers to ebooks, webinars, worksheets, videos, and so on. 

Let us understand in depth about gated content and how to generate leads with gated content in the post mentioned below. 

Gated Content 

Gated content refers to the form of content that people get in exchange for contact information. The people share their names and contact information. 

Instead of pitching your offer immediately, you are offering something of value to your target audience. Unlike other content, gated content comes in multiple forms. Some popular kinds of gated content include checklists, guides, ebooks, worksheets, videos, and case studies. 

The type of gated content format to choose depends on your industry and your target audience. The content can be easily accessible via your website but it will not be accessible to the website visitors until they fill out the form. 

You can have the form live on both the landing page and the blog page. Where to live the form depends on the software you are using and the features it contains. 

Perks Of Gated Content

Generates leads

The foremost benefit of gated content is that it helps businesses to generate leads. By getting your customer’s contact information, you can follow up with them and pitch your offers to them. 

Economical 

Like other content, creating gated content is not expensive and is quite cost-effective. It means that businesses can easily afford it and get a handsome return on investment. 

Builds credibility

Another major benefit of gated content is that it helps you to build credibility among your customers. 

Steps To Create Gated Content

Creating gated content is not as difficult as it seems. You only need to bear a few things in mind and you’ll be all set to generate leads and create gated content like a pro. Here are the steps outlined below to help you create gated content.

Choose the right content

The primary thing to bear in mind is to choose the right content. The main purpose of the gated content is to get your customer’s contact information. But for this, you need to inform your customers what you are offering. 

Look at your blog traffic, customer and audience behavior, and competitor resources to find out what your ideal customers are looking for. 

Figure out the funnel stage 

The second step is determining the funnel stage you are targeting with your gated content. A case study is categorized as in the middle of the content marketing funnel as someone downloading a case study will serve your purpose. 

Consequently, knowing the phase you are targeting with your gated content is a must as this provides you clarity. 

Strong landing page 

Your landing page is the most important part of the entire process and needs to be a strong one. The landing pages contain all the crucial information your potential customers need. It is the landing page that decides if they want to go ahead with your brand or not. 

Fortunately, you can create a strong landing page for yourself by creating a strong hook, and compelling copy as this enables the visitor to fill out the form. If your landing page gets indexed, then make sure to do its on-page SEO for getting the desired results. 

Deliver what you promised

Saying one thing and delivering something else to your customers makes you lose your brand value. Consequently, it’s better to deliver what you promised as this will impress your customers and enhance your brand awareness. 

For instance, if a customer is reaching out to get an ultimate guide on something, then make sure to provide them with the same. 

Thank you page 

Creating a thank you page for your users also goes a long way in generating leads. It is also the most important step of the lead generation process. When creating a thank you page, make sure to have a button to download the PDF or to inform the users to know the next action. 

If you want, then you can put a secondary lower funnel offer to further quality for getting a lead from your potential customers. Have a look at the pageviews of the thank you page to see how many times your content was downloaded. 

Following up

Merely getting the leads does not get the work done. Post getting the lead, you also need to follow up with and nurture your leads. Create a nurture flow to not only deliver value but to educate the prospects on what you offer and for how much time. 

For instance, calls are important for sales professionals so your goal should be to get the most calls. Consequently, make your emails such that your potential customers end up taking action. 

Wrapping Up

Going through the above-mentioned post, you must have come to know that gated content is an effective lead-generation tool and can work wonders for your business. Make sure to follow all the steps mentioned above to create the gated content.