To Gate or Not to Gate: How Valuable Is Your Video Content?

Video has become an incredibly effective form of content offers as of late. With video, you’re able to convey messages that might otherwise be difficult to get across through brochures or guides. Not to mention, videos are easy to digest and simply more visually appealing for visitors to your website. In fact, 59% of executives would rather watch video than read text. Simply put, video marketing is so hot right now. So what is a video worth to both you and your potential customers?

As a kid, you wouldn't go through all the trouble of making lemonade for your lemonade stand just to give it away for free, would you? The same holds true for valuable content like video. Gating video rewards you for that hard work by getting something valuable in return.

What is “gated” content?

First of all, we must define “gated” content. Any content that requires a form submission to view it is considered “gated.” These forms generally live on landing pages, which must be accessed before viewing a gated content offer. Gated content is important for lead generation. When visitors fill out a form in order to access any content, they are providing information that qualifies them as a lead. That information can be as simple as an email address or comprehensive enough to get a much clearer picture about the person interested in your content offering.

Should I gate my video?

Gating videos can be beneficial in several ways. Lead generation is perhaps the most significant result in gating. At the end of the day, you want to learn more about a visitor, what challenges they face, and what it is about your business they are interested in learning more about. When a video is enticing enough for a visitor to willingly give you their information, you have successfully moved them along in the lifecycle stage. On the contrary, if someone is not willing to give their information to watch the video, they're probably not that interested anyway.

Much like a velvet rope in front of the hottest new club in town, a gate in front of your video lets people know that there is premium content available in exchange for their information. There is a sense of quality about an offer that is behind a gate. When your audience knows you offer quality content, it solidifies your status as an industry thought leader.

The forms that are used to gather a visitor’s information live on landing pages. These pages possess SEO value for your website. Demos, webinars, or any long form videos that have a wealth of valuable information for a potential customer should be gated and have a form that coincides with the value of the offer.

There is one thing to remember if you decide to gate your video – the content better be worth it. The last thing you want to do is lose an interested lead because they felt as if they were misled by a video that was underwhelming or lacked any substance. The content of the video must reflect the information you’re trying to attain from the visitor.

Research shows that nearly 52% of marketing professionals consider video as the content with the best ROI. If video content is valuable, don’t just give it away for free. When the benefits of the video outweigh what you’re getting in return, it’s time to rethink your gating strategy.

What videos shouldn’t be gated?

This isn’t to say that ALL video should be gated. Quite the contrary. The value of your content should reflect your decision to gate. Videos that are overly promotional or short in length, should not be gated.

Is the video simply a 15 to 30-second commercial for a product? You’re probably better off making that content widely available. Those videos can have enormous impact as well, however. Use less substantial videos as a teaser or a way to get visitors to other areas and content offers on your website.

Ungated videos are perfect for sharing via email and social tools. The purpose of an ungated video is to spread the word, so social media and email are the ideal channels to share and distribute great video content. Studies prove videos' effectivness – including "video" in an email subject line increases open rates by 19%. Video is a powerful tool!

When deciding to use a video to attract customers, it’s important to know what the business is trying to accomplish with that video. An important factor to consider, as with so many other inbound decisions, is the buyer’s journey. Be sure that your video is directed towards visitors in the appropriate stage of the buyer’s journey. An in-depth demo of your product isn’t necessarily the ideal content offer for someone in the awareness stage. Getting the right content to the right people at the right time is what it's all about.

Ready to learn more about the impact that video marketing can have for your foodservice operation? Read the Guide to Using Video with Marketing Automation and see how you can generate, nurture, and qualify leads through video.