We marketers seem to like rules. (And when none exist, we’ll settle for guidelines.) Those of us who write about the marketing space appear to recognize this tendency, which is why you’ll find so many benchmarking reports, how-to articles, and definitive lists for marketers.
Some challenges, however, are too nuanced for a binary best practice.
Take the “Should I gate my content?” question, for example. Bloggers have looked at the topic through various lenses — from SEO to lead generation to channel-specific implications — yet nobody appears to have written a simple “gate this, don’t gate that” prescription.
This is likely because the decision always comes down to a single question — Is the viewer’s identity a fair price to pay for this content? — and that’s difficult to answer universally. Yet considering elements like content quality, objectivity, utility, and format can help marketers make a more informed decision and avoid awkward choices like asking someone to fill out a form to see their own name on a list (true story!).
I suppose this is a long way of saying that we’re here to help. HubSpot created a flowchart to help guide marketers’ gating decisions. While it might not be a hard rule — there are plenty of content types, objectives, and considerations that the chart doesn’t take into account — it’s hopefully a useful guideline. And at the very least, the next time your boss asks why you didn’t gate that blog post, you can blame your decision on us.
