To Gate or Not to Gate Your Content

The content marketing question most marketers struggle with. Do you gate, or not gate your content? There seems to be two opinions on that matter. Mike Volp and David Meerman Scott have sound advice for us marketers in the HR space, but better yet, see what HR professionals think about those forms we sometimes require them to fill in to access our content.

HR professionals spend billions of dollars each year on products and services for their organizations. Have you ever wondered how they make their buying decisions, and if they fill in those gated forms that your content is hiding behind?

To find out, the HR Marketing Institute (HRMI), in partnership with HRmarketer, conducted a survey of HR professionals and here is what we found.

One common marketing strategy among vendors is providing HR professionals with access to a piece of content in exchange for contact information such as name, email address, and name of company. This is sometimes known as “gated content.”

Although gating can be an effective strategy for gathering leads, some marketers worry that it can also reduce access to and use of important information. But does gating actually discourage HR professionals from downloading certain content? Our research shows the answer is YES!!

Nearly three-fifths of HR professionals (58%) are less likely to access content such as white papers if they are required to fill out a form. In contrast, just 25% don’t care one way or the other, while 17% are actually more likely to access material if it was gated (probably because the content is viewed as more valuable).

What does this mean for the HR solution provider and promoting your content?