A content writer, Alina, is on a tight deadline to submit her blog on AI Mode. She needs to research the latest Google update to write a compelling copy. She finds a blog on your website, and it seems to have actionable insights. She clicks. Rather than the information about AI Mode, she comes across a form asking for her name, company name, professional email, contact number, etc.

She sighs, shakes her head, closes the tab, and keeps searching.

The story may feel familiar; we’ve all had such experiences. That is the heart of today’s content marketing dilemma. 

What should you do?
Should you gate or ungate your content?
Does ungating mean losing valuable leads?
NO.
Let’s unpack the long answer together.

What is Gated and Ungated Content?

Gated content is placed behind a form asking for personal details or making the customer log in before reading it—for example, whitepapers, webinars, ebooks, and more. In the exchange of your valuable content, you are asking the user for their contact information. 

On the contrary, ungated content is openly accessible. Anybody can read them, for example, blogs, videos, guidesand even downloadable PDFs.  

Professional digital marketing services gate high-value content for several reasons-

  • Grow email lists
  • Generate qualified leads
  • Nurture leads through sales funnels
  • Prove ROI to stakeholders

How is Filling Out the Form Connected to Generating Leads?

The login behind gating the content is that if someone wants it enough to fill out their personal details, they’re probably a good lead. Gated content is a strategy for inbound lead generation, and ungated content generates inbound demand.

But?

Do you know that ungated content lets buyers consume the full content, lets search engines index and rank it, attracting more visitors. 

Who Should Gate Their Content?

What is your marketing goal?

You need to be very clear with that.

If your primary marketing goal is lead generation, then you should consider gating your content. Gated content will help you collect direct dials and emails of your prospects. It is like a transaction- leads pay for their content information for valuable content. If you are a digital marketing firm, then your gating and ungating depend on the specific goal of the respective client. 

Who Should Keep It Ungated?

Building trust, brand awareness, and reaching a wider audience- if these are your marketing goals, then you must keep your content ungated. To achieve all these goals, you need to keep your views on topics open so that the readers can access them for free. When the prospect is on the awareness stage, you should usually keep it ungated. If they like your approach to a topic, then they might consider you a good source of information. If your content is generic, don’t gate it. 

What Types of Content Can Be Gated?

Specific scenarios and types of content are suitable for gating. Take a look below-

  • Segment Audience: Collecting intent data and segmenting audiences by their interests is a powerful technique, and the use of gated content.
  • Middle-of-Funnel Engagement: Gated content is a great way to connect with those who are in the middle of the funnel. You get to know who is interested in what you are offering. If the prospect is on the decision stage of the marketing funnel, then consider gating it.
  • Original Research: If the component of the content has been drawn with original research is more in demand. It is more likely to be successful.
  • Actionable and High-Value Content: Information that is capable of solving a problem, teaching a lesson, or passing on a skill can be gated. It includes highly valuable, useful, and actionable content that helps them along in their purchasing journey.
  • Educational Content: If the content is educational, and is able to add value and is worth sharing with peers, colleagues, then gating is beneficial.

6 Best Practices to Maximise Ungated Content

Practices to Maximise Ungated Content

Even leveraging the ungated content is possible. Follow the below-mentioned practices to drive the best results from the openly accessible content-

  • Use Smart CTAs: Write value-driven CTAs at the end of your content: Enjoyed this content on professional SEO services? Subscribe to our newsletter for more content every week. 
  • SEO Optimise the Ungated Assets: Use keyword research so that you get ungated content discoverable. For that, you can use headers and schema, create pillar pages, update regularly, and embed infographics, & videos.
  • Retarget Strategically: Provide your product demos, webinar invites, and deeper gated content. 
  • Use Progressive Profiling: Instead of a long form upfront content, try writing a small form or a customized email sequence.
  • Provide an Intuitive User Experience: Make the content easy to read, visually appealing, and structured with clear navigation to help users quickly find what they are looking for in the content.
  • Repurpose Content: Make sure that your blogs and other forms of content are repurposed into LinkedIn posts, podcasts, and videos, tailored for your audience’s preferred platforms.

How to Transition from Gated to Ungated Content?

Marketers can pivot from gated to ungated content-

  • Content Creation and Distribution: Prioritise creating more ungated content, and distribute on different channels, ensuring accessibility and visibility.
  • Shift in Strategy: Transitioning requires careful planning and a change in the content strategy, mindset, and metrics. Also, view marketing as a revenue-driving function and not only as a lead generation tool.
  • Metrics Adjustment: Gated to ungated requires some tough decisions of your operations. For example, now the success of a content piece must not depend on the number of leads. Instead, concentrate on metrics like revenue and pipeline growth. They must stay healthy without logging in and forms.

Finding a Balance: Gated vs Ungated Content

Most experts suggest finding the right balance between the two forms of content as per the brand’s requirements at the right time. Many big brands implement an 80% ungated and 20% gated split, leading to record-breaking revenue months. The key here is to decide according to your content strategy and end goals. You are free to update your strategy as per experimentation results and optimization. 

Test both approaches and then consider at what point users are arriving at the content. Test what works the best for you, or you can inform your marketing goals to your digital marketing firm, to achieve the desired results. 

The New Content Equation: HELP!

The modern content strategy is not about hoarding emails—it’s about helping. When you ungate content:

  • You signal generosity
  • You increase reach
  • You earn trust
  • And eventually, you earn leads

It’s not about removing all gates. It’s about opening the right doors at the right time.

Want to dive deeper into smarter content strategies?Download our free guide on How to Write Content that Converts? (No email required. Obviously)