The goal of gating content is to gather information that determines the value of prospects and what should happen after we acquire information about them.

Many organizations haven’t investigated the best ways to maximize this stage of the lead generation process. 

If we accept that we are using content to speak to Buyer Personas (see part 1) on a Buyers Journey (see part 2), then it follows that we should focus on gathering information about those 2 things as we configure forms.  

The established premise is that gated forms with 4-6 fields get the highest response rates. After 6 fields, the percentage of completions drops significantly and gets progressively worse as we add more fields.

If we only have 6 fields, what should we ask them?  The most common fields on gated forms are:

If we assume that 3 fields must be allocated for First Name, Last Name and Email, that leaves us 3 fields.

For arguments sake, we’ll say the additional information we asked for is Title, Industry and Company Size.

Regardless of answers, Company Industry and Company Size doesn’t give us any true insight into where that individual is at on the Buyer’s journey.

I promote the idea that Gated Content should focus on gathering 3 pieces of information:

• Researcher information (what role do they play in the buying cycle / goal of research) 
• Stage of buyer’s journey (stage of research they’re at)
• Ideal Company Profile (company events that led to a budgeted project)

When I talk to Lead Generation professionals about this, the first question I get is:

‘What should I ask to gather that information?’

It’s a great question. The answer is remarkably simple:

‘Ask them exactly what you want to know.’

Example of Buyer Persona Question # 1:

• What’s the goal of your research?

Answer options:

• Personal research/education
• Our company could improve on the topic and I’m researching options
• My company has asked me to research the topic and report on options

Example of Buyer Persona Question # 2:

• Has your Company had ICP event?

Answer options:

• We have had ICP event
• We’re considering ICP event
• We’re not considering ICP event at this time

Example of Buyers Journey Question:

• What stage of research are you at?

Answer options:

• Understanding the challenges of…(Awareness stage)
• Determining the best options for improving…(Awareness/Consideration stage)
• Developing requirements based on…(Consideration stage)
• Have requirements and looking for solutions that meet those requirements…(Decision)

So the gated form would look like:

Answers to Buyer Persona and Buyers Journey questions provides valuable information about what to do with leads and offers insight on how we should grade and score prospects.

Depending on the level of sophistication of our Content Strategy and Lead Generation process, our approach to Gated Content Forms may need additional consideration; but asking better questions at the gated content stage helps us generate a Higher volume, of higher quality Marketing Qualified Leads.