Over the last couple of months, I participated with two pairs of prominent marketing professionals as they debated the question of whether or not to “gate” content behind registration forms.
In both cases, these marketing professionals promoted discussion and encouraged constructive dialogue. However, as is the case with many important topics, they could not resolve the issue they were debating because there is really not just one answer to the question – instead, many in the audience, like myself, took hybrid positions or concluded that “it depends”.
David Meerman Scott and Mike Volpe of HubSpot present opposing cases for free and gated content, respectively. David suggests up to 50 times more individuals will view content that isn’t gated, while Mike Volpe indicates he prefers quality leads to a high volume of viewers.
Mike Moran of Biznology and Ruth Stevens took similar positions to sponsor and organize discussion and grab attention. They educated their audience, sparked participation and admirably encouraged participants to test the concepts for themselves rather than taking anyone’s word on the matter.
I just read
@mikemoran, now I’ll have to check out@ruthpstevens. biznology.com/2012/05/let-yo…— David Chevalier (@davidchev) June 4, 2012
Gate the Debate?
As expected, much of the debates were posted on the Hubspot and Biznology blogs and none of the content was gated. That’s because debates and blogs, in general, are designed to command attention, provide helpful information and build trust.
These debates reveal that top marketing companies are using the debate format to get people to pay attention and participate. In my opinion, the marketers successfully gained the attention of their audience and created a productive, educational debate that positioned them as thought leaders.
How can small business owners create productive discussions and relevant debates? What content should you place behind a registration form and what should be completely free?
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About David Chevalier
David Chevalier is a founder of SalesBlend. He helps small businesses grow with creative marketing strategies and consistent execution. You can follow David on Twitter @davidchev or on Google+.