Strategic Content Management for Gated Videos: Strategies To Unlock the Potential of Success (+Platforms)

If you've ever attended a webinar or taken an online class for free, you might've noticed that it was required to input your email address and name (and possibly other information) prior to accessing the course.

Video-based content that is housed behind lead capture forms are referred to as gated content for video -- and they're effective at helping companies find new customers.

In this document, we explore:

•         What is gated video content?    
•         The benefits of gated video content
•         Different types of content for gated videos
•         Gated video content strategy      
•             SEO is the process of promoting restricted video content
•         The best practices for videos that are gated
•         Gated video platforms      
•             Selecting the best secure media platform
•         Evaluation of the performance of your video gate strategy
•         Change the way you do business with gated video content
•         FAQ

What is gated video content?

Gated content consists of content that is free to the public and are able to view after submitting their contact information like their name and email address via the lead capture form. Based on the type of the content as well as the product(s) the business provides that lead capture form will ask more than just name and email address. It may also ask for the name of the person's employer, organization size, and industry.

When people submit their personal information to you and provide their contact information, you gain access to user-specific data and can personalize your interactions with the people who submit their information. If you can make your customers think that your messages are specific to them, they'll be more inclined to open your emails and interact with your company.

Benefits of gated video content

Gating video content is one of the best strategies an organization can implement to expand its client base. There are a few reasons to do this:

Lead generation

Gated video content, on the other hand, is hidden behind an application. Most people don't like having an inbox full of emails, so if anyone gives you their email address to get access to your content is a sign of their interest in the brand. They are likely to appreciate your marketing efforts than visitors who merely stumbled onto your website.

Audience segmentation and content personalization

The ability to tag your videos lets you segment your audience and create marketing materials with these segments in mind. With your lead capture form it is possible to collect details such as names, email addresses and demographic information, along with their position company size and industry, which gives you insight into the interests of your customers and habits.

This information can be used to create buyer personas for the various subsets of clients. This gets rid of the uncertainty; you'll be able to identify the exact demographics you're targeting that makes it easier to create information that is tailored to their needs that solve their problems and helps them live their lives more easily.

More value perceived

Website visitors often place more value on gated video content due to the fact that they're providing their details to gain access to the content.

A desire to satisfy one's desire to know more, getting exclusive content, and other special perks you offer your subscribers via email, restricted content is an excellent way to boost the image of your company. When executed well it will help you gain more high-quality leads, increase trust among your customers and make you appear as a professional within your field.

There's a caveat, though. If people are giving you their email address and information, they're expecting high-quality quality content back. So if your gated video contents aren't filled with relevant facts, you're at risk of alienating the people who watch it and damaging the reputation of your business.

Data collection and analytics

Gated video content provides an organized method of collecting information about the behavior of viewers. The metrics like engagement duration, click-through rates and completion rate will help you determine the kinds of videos that are popular with your target audience. With this data you will be able to optimize your marketing and content to yield better results.

Better ROI on content

Gated videos can help you gain a greater return on investment (ROI) in the production of content and marketing. Since the videos are hidden behind a form, you have a straightforward way to measure how impactful they are in terms of the amount of leads they bring in as well as how they progress through the sales funnel.

Types of Gated Videos Content

Gated video content comes in many formats. A few of these formats comprise:

Webinars

With webinars, you can present other experts in your field, show participants how to reach their objectives in real time and interact with the audience, promote your products, and get high-quality leads. These events often have limited spaces available, which can create a sense that of FOMO (fear of not being able to attend) that drives participants to sign up.

As an example, Hotjar is hosting a live online event in which experts in web strategy will teach participants how to build a highly-converting website with Hotjar and HubSpot.

The landing page Hotjar explained the importance of the subject and what people will learn from the webinar if they attend it. They also included an lead capture form that users can fill in some details about themselves in exchange for an Zoom link invite delivered straight into their email.

Online courses

To get the most out of online courses, choose a subject or skill that's related to your industry and aligns with your broader marketing strategy and make a set of in-depth videos on the subject. Not only can this attract prospective customers, but it can help people familiar with your brand further down the funnel of sales.

As an example, Semrush, the SEO firm, collaborates with experts from the industry to develop classes that are based around marketing, such as this one from Brian Dean.

The landing page provides the target audience for the course, what students will discover, as well as the outline. It ends with a form to be filled out by interested participants in order to access the free course.

Exclusive interviews

Just like webinars, exclusive interviews provide engaging conversations with experts from the industry and thought-leaders, as well as important stakeholders. These conversations not only help you build your brand credibility, they also improve brand visibility by attracting the audience of the expert(s) that you're conducting interviews with.

If you're looking to develop thought leadership content for your company, doing exclusive interviews is an excellent method to follow as you'll be able to gain personal experiences of analogies, instances that cannot be located anywhere else. Additionally, you'll be able to increase the engagement of your audience by asking the interviewees to address the viewers' most urgent questions. It encourages viewers to sign up, watch the video and fill their questions.

A tip for you: Certain firms like Omniscient Digital interview subject matter experts and then upload the audio version on their podcast as well as the video interview on the YouTube channel as well as their website. This can be a good method to reuse your interview.

Product demos

Product demos (or demonstrations) demonstrate how a particular product or service operates by highlighting its strengths, functionality, and the advantages that users can enjoy when they purchase the product/service. The main objective of product demos is to convince prospects who are unsure that your product can address their needs and solve the problems they face better than rivals'.

The ability to share your demos with customers will allow you to collect leads from people in the lower reaches of the funnel who are actively interested in the product. Like, Demio, a company which offers webinar software to marketing professionals, offers interested customers the option of booking the opportunity for a demo of their product.

Through limiting its demo, Demio only gets high-quality leads that are willing to sit on a 1-on-1 meeting with a Demio specialist.

Case studies and success story

Though most firms offer their case studies for free available, making a few of them can be an effective way to gather leads who are interested in certain applications.

The reasoning behind this is that cases studies can be a very persuasive type of content because they provide real-world examples of how your products/services have benefited existing/past customers. They answer the question that each potential customer must answer prior to making a purchase: "Will this product deliver on its promise?"

Case studies that you can share with your customers help you filter out your leads, especially in the case of a product or service that targets a specific kind of audience.

Content strategy for gated videos

If you're planning to block your videos Here are some actions to take to ensure that you get the most out the use of this tactic to market:

Define your goals

Before recording any videos or planning an event, establish your objectives. According to original CoSchedule research, companies that establish goals have a 376% higher chance to be successful.

As you define your goals make sure you are specific. For example, if you're planning to organize webcasts, your aim may be to have 100 people to attend. For instance, if you're creating an online class, your goal might be to get 1,000 people to take it in the span of six months. Being specific with your goals will help you determine what goals you're trying to accomplish when it comes to advertising your videos that are gated.

Identify your target audience

GA provides demographic details on your target audience, such as their age, gender, hobbies and even their place of residence. The tool also displays the web pages people visit the most on your site -- which can be beneficial in helping brainstorm topics for your video. If you're active on social media platforms, you could also check out the analytics of your social media for more information.

The analysis of your competitors' customers is a great method to determine the types of people you should focus on, their demographics as well as their purchasing habits. So, you are able to make content that is tailored to their requirements and addresses the problems they face better than competition.

Choose the best video topics and types of content

Based on your audience research, brainstorm content ideas which align with your objectives and resonate with your target people.

Examine the statistics of every promotion channel that you employ, such as search or social media as well as email, to see the topics that your customers interact with the most. If you have sales and customer service teams solicit their opinion regarding the challenges that your current as well as potential customers try to solve with your product.

For example, if your service is a web creator, you could make a mini-course teaching people without any programming experience how to utilize your drag-and-drop site editor for creating a fully functioning web page. Or if you learn that your prospects and customers frequently inquire from customer service on about how they can integrate their existing tech stack with your product, you could host a webcast to teach the people how.

After choosing topic ideas Choose the content format that best communicate your message. This includes webinars, online courses, tutorials, interviews, and behind-the-scenes (BTS) footage.

Create compelling content

After you've chosen what topic(s) and content format(s) you'll use then you can begin to develop valuable material. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Utilize a top-quality camera capture your video. The camera doesn't have to cost a lot, but it should be. If you're not able to purchase a professional camera, an iPhone and a tripod and great lighting will do.
• Offer value to viewers. In the first couple of minutes of your video content will decide whether the viewers be interested to watch until the very close of the video. Use stories, analogies or even shocking information to reel people in at the beginning. Then, provide more impact throughout your video(s) by including expert insight, research that is original as well as proprietary information, or even a demonstration of your process, if applicable.
• Engage professional editors, animators, and designers, if possible. They'll be knowledgeable and have access to high-quality editing and design software and will produce a well-put-together video that viewers will enjoy.
• Incorporate interactive elements in your videos. If you're developing your online courses, using quizzes questions, tasks, and polls are excellent ways for your audience engaged during the learning process. If the course is a webinar the Q&A sessions allow you to engage with attendees and provide value to them with real-time interaction.

Make a special landing page

The most successful landing pages include three aspects convincing copywriting, engaging design, and a strong CTA (CTA). One excellent example of this is the CXL's landing page Brand Marketing mini-degree.

While the black-white-red hue immediately makes an impression, but the most striking thing is the hero section outlines everything that you'll gain from the minidegree. It also explains to you who'll be teaching the class and how they're qualified for the job.

The next page will outline advantages of signing up to CXL and is followed by a form that lets users view the plans' pricing as well as request a trial. The landing page ends with an extensive FAQ section, which answers most frequently asked questions prospective customers may have.

Similar to CXL's landing pages, yours should contain a contact form (or CTA) that users have to act upon prior to accessing your video.

Promote your video content that is gated

After your landing page has been put up and your video is secured, it's the time to promote your video. There are a variety of marketing channels that you could use, including:

• Search: While Google's algorithms cannot crawl content with gated access, they can search the content on your landing page specifically designed for you and determine its ranking with the appropriate keywords, which will improve the visibility of your site and bring more traffic to the page.
• Social media platforms: You can increase the momentum of your video's gatekeeper before you create it. Take your audience on the creation process and explain the value they'll receive from the final product. So, once your landing page is online, people will be eager to sign-up.
• Pay-per-click: Creating momentum through organic SEO and social media can take time. If you'd like to see faster results, and you have the budget, consider running pay-per click (PPC) advertisements for your site's page for search engines and social media.

Iterate and analyze HTML0

If you are beginning to receive emails from your gated video content Monitor your results by using tools for analytics. Monitor the most important indicator of performance (KPIs) like viewer retention, conversion rates as well as lead quality.

Utilize the information you collect to refine your strategy, whether that's improving your video creation techniques or adjusting the content type and distribution channels or revising your targeting.

SEO is a way to optimize restricted video content

Google's algorithm doesn't crawl or search for content hidden in a form. This means that when you lock your video, it won't rank on the search engine results pages (SERPs). You can, however, employ SEO to boost the visibility of your gated videos by

• Optimizing your specific website for SEO
• embedding the lead capture form in unaltered, SEO-optimized material like blog posts
• Enhancing the video itself

For the best visibility, you'll need to use the three types of SEO: on-page SEO, off-page SEO and technical SEO.

Search Engine Optimization on-page

It is important to conduct keyword research to identify appropriate, high-volume keywords with low competition which your intended public is likely to be using in their search for information related to the video you are making.

to optimize your blog, landing pages, posts, and videos, use these keywords in the title tags. Also, include (sub)headings and page copy. Meta (and video) descriptions and URLs, when appropriate.

As Google's algorithms crawl your site, these terms provide them with context so they can determine if your site's content is relevant to the appropriate search phrase/query.

Off-page SEO

The most important part of off-page SEO since Google sees them as a core ranking factor. A solid backlink profile meets requirements for the "T" in E-E-A.T. (trustworthiness) that is the framework Google uses to assess the content quality that is on websites.

Building backlinks involves getting reputable websites to hyperlink to your landing page or blog post that allows people to sign up for your gated video content. When this happens the algorithms of Google interpret this to indicate that your offer is relevant as well as valuable and meets the search criteria.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO involves improving the technical parts of your website in order to boost your rank on SERPs. This means making your site mobile-friendly, increasing your page load speed, adding website/video schema markups, and submitting your sitemap for video or website to Google, creating an SEO-friendly web structure and fixing content that is duplicate.

These techniques are not only some of these techniques (like increasing site speed and creating responsive websites on all devices) ranking aspects, they also help Google to crawl and rank your site.

Pro Tip: Make your videos accessible to humans and search engines alike by providing accurate transcriptions and closed captions.

Best practices for videos that are gated

As you create gated videos, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

Keep videos at an optimal length

There is no way to manage all these factors, but there are some that you can optimize, including your sales funnel as well as the content format you use.

As an example, those who are at the stage of awareness in your funnel may just hear about your business for the first time, so they're likely not ready to sit through a long video. The people in this stage typically benefit more from ungated media, including blogs and video clips on social media.

However, prospects who are considering your product or trying to weigh your products' worth against those of the competition will be open to attending your expert-led webinars, buying online courses, watching success stories, and scheduling product demonstrations.

The lengths of the various video content formats differ, also. The videos in the online courses can range from three to 20 minutes in length while the course itself lasting a couple of hours. Interviews, webinars, and special events typically last 1-2 hours, and case study videos are usually 5-10 minutes long.

Pro tip: Create multiple edits. After your first recording you'll have an abundance of footage. It's necessary to edit it multiple times to eliminate any the fluff, off-the-tangent comments or filler phrases, for example. You'll also be able to make animations and add other interactive, engaging aspects to the video.

Design compelling thumbnails as well as titles

Your thumbnail and title are the first things visitors see on your landing page, or blogs in which you embed your gated video. They must grab the attention of your viewers and entice them to sign up to gain access to the video.

You can create your own thumbnail if you are a skilled graphic designer. If not, you'll need to find a graphic artist or marketer with design skills to help you.

Pro tip: Don't use clickbait titles. The title you choose to use should be true to the content in the video. If not, it'll create an unpleasant user experience damaging your brand's credibility and image.

Streamline your lead capture form

A lot of companies ask users to fill in their name and email address in order to gain access to restricted content however, some require additional information, including job title, organization size, and the industry. Many companies even require their users to fill out a brief survey to gain access.

The approach of using email addresses and names does a great job since it allows you to deliver personal (by name) emails to your subscriber's inbox. If you're attempting to separate your subscribers' email based on their industry and occupation, then you must inquire about that information too. This will help you develop content that is tailored specifically for each group, which will increase the chances of people engaging with your brand, and ultimately purchasing the product.

Tips: An overly long application form is often rejected. If it's not needed, take the name-and-email address approach.

Clear calls-to-action

On your landing page Use persuasive and clear words to stimulate action. e.g. "Access professional insights right immediately" or "Download the course now". Then, in your video, you might encourage people to visit your site/social media pages or sign up on your channel depending on the goal you're aiming to accomplish.

Whatever you decide to call your CTA is, ensure that it's clear, actionable and easy to find. Set them up in the most strategic locations on your landing page as well as in video content, especially if these materials are lengthy.

Pro advice: Consider offering incentives such as discounts, downloadable resources, or access to an exclusive community, to increase the value and encourage people to opt-in.

Run A/B tests

When you are evaluating your performance, run A/B tests on different elements of your gated content strategy, including the title, thumbnails, message formats and CTAs. This can provide you with insight into what variations work most well with your target audience. It will also assist you in optimizing the rate of conversion over time.

Video platforms with gated access

If you're wondering which software you could use to make gated video, here's a breakdown of four of the best gates for video, along with the features they offer and their prices.

Choosing the right security-enabled video platform

If you feel stuck on which gated video platform you should use, here are some guidelines to help you choose the best one for your needs and goals:

Determine your requirements

When you are choosing a platform for video take a moment to think about what you want the platform to help you accomplish. These answers can help you choose an appropriate tool for your requirements.

If, for instance, you are looking to create leads Vimeo is a great option because it comes with lead generation tools and can integrate easily with email marketing tools. However, if you're looking to generate organic traffic through SEO, Brightcove and Sproutvideo could be better options.

Consider your budget

The pricing levels offered by the platform are a great starting point to figure out the price you're able to pay, but you should also consider any additional costs such as bandwidth charges or transaction charges, as these could impact the price of the service.

Look into customization options

The platform for video you select should give you control over the design and function of the player. So look out features that let you to customize the branding, player design, and interactive elements like CTA buttons.

Consider integration capabilities

If you're planning to execute an approach to gated content there's a good chance you've got many other tools within your technology stack. In order to streamline your workflow, you'll need select a platform that integrates seamlessly with your existing tools and platforms.

It includes your site's content management systems (CMS) and Customer relation management (CRM) software, email marketing services, marketing automation software, payment gateways, and the other essential software for the success of your business.

Review security and privacy functions

If you're handling confidential or sensitive information, ensure that the platform for video you choose has robust security measures. SproutVideo is one of them. It is a great tool to accomplish this because it offers features such as security for passwords, geo-restriction protection, IP address limitation, and encryption protocols to protect your information.

Assess analytics and reporting

Complete reports and analytics are essential for monitoring the success of your gated content as well as understanding how your customers interact in your business.

Check out platforms that give you detailed insight, like time-to-view, click-through rate (CTR), the conversion rate, demographics of your audience and many other important KPIs. The insights you gain from these will allow you to develop your strategy for content and improve engagement.

Check for the possibility of scaling

If you run or work for a growing company, the video platform you pick should be able to handle increased video uploads and higher numbers of users without jeopardizing the performance. In other words it should be able to scale according to your requirements.

So, take into consideration factors like the available storage space, bandwidth options, and support for high-definition (HD) video, to ensure that the platform is scalable and is relevant in the future in the future as your company expands.

Demos and trial durations

Many video platforms offer product demos and/or trial periods, which you can avail to gain firsthand experience of the application. In addition, you'll be able to assess whether it meets your requirements, but you'll also learn how to use the platform should you choose to go ahead with it.

Measuring the success of your video content gated strategy

In order to measure the effectiveness of your content-gated strategy, here are three essential things to accomplish: monitor the key performances indicators (KPIs) Utilize analytics tools and then constantly re-evaluate your strategies.

Monitor key performance indicators

The most typical KPIs to keep track of include:

• Conversion rates: These measure the proportion of viewers who provided their personal information in order to access the gated content.
• Click-through rates (CTR) for CTAs: This shows how frequently people click on CTAs on your landing pages or in your videos. This determines the efficiency of your CTAs to drive desired actions.
• Engagement metrics: Monitor measures like the average length of time a viewer watches and video completion rates and video interactions (likes comments, likes, or shares). This indicates how well your video content is engaging people who are watching.
• Lead generation: This measures the number of new leads that are generated by the restricted content. It shows how convincing and persuasive your content.
• Lead quality is a measure of how likely your new leads are to convert into paying customers. You can assess this KPI through lead scoring or qualifying criteria.

Make use of analytics tools

Analytics tools retrieve and organize data from different sources to give you a better insight into your operations overall. Some common analytics tools to use are:

• Google Analytics (GA): The platform analyzes the behavior of users on your site, records the performance of landing pages and tracks traffic sources, among many other features. Through GA you are able to define goals and create events to specifically measure user interactions that are related to your gated content.
• Platforms for hosting videos: These platforms such as Vimeo, Wistia, or YouTube give detailed insight into video performance. When integrated to lead-capturing forms these platforms can track metrics like play rate, engagement, and the conversion rate.
• Marketing automation platforms: Tools like HubSpot, Marketo, or Pardot provide analytics tools which allow you to monitor how leads behave after engaging through your content that is gated.
• CRM software: CRM tools such as Pipedrive and Salesforce can help you track leads generated from gated video content and monitor their progression throughout the funnel of sales.

Continuous optimization and iteration

Set up regular reporting intervals to track the effectiveness of your content that is gated using a strategy. Then, compare information over period of time (including data generated from A/B testing) to determine trends and patterns.

Make use of the data you collect through your analysis to inform the changes you need to make to your approach, whether that be optimizing the lead capture form or using different video content formats or changing distribution channels.

Change the way you do business by using gated video content

Embracing gated video content is a fantastic method to boost your marketing strategy. By offering valuable material in exchange for users' data, you're not just collecting leads, but you're also creating a an immediate line of communication with an engaged audience. It allows you to send targeted messages to buyers throughout their buying journey.

Your gated video content also lets you show off your expertise and establish your brand as a trusted source, and establish a sense of exclusivity and value for your audience -and ultimately, this drives the brand's popularity and increases conversions.

Plus also allows users to create and manage exclusive communities to help build more intimate relationships with your prospects, upsell your product, increase conversion and increase revenue for your business.

FAQ

    What is gated video content? Why is it so important?

Gated video content refers to videos that are accessible only after the viewer has provided personal information, such as their email address or specific demographic information. This marketing tactic allows businesses to capture and nurture quality leads via specific emails as well as specific marketing campaigns.

    What are the advantages from using videos with gated access to promote your business?

Utilizing gated video for marketing enables businesses to capture leads, gather vital customer information and then deliver content that is personalised that builds trust with their audience and increases conversions.

    How do I design an effective gated strategy for video?

This is a step-bystep outline of how to create a winning gated video content strategy:

• Define your goals
• Identify your target audience
• Pick the right content video and types (e.g. webinars, video courses, product demos, etc. )
• Create compelling videos
• Create a dedicated landing page
• Promote your gated video content
• Iterate and analyze based on insights collected

    What are some best practices for creating interesting gated video content?    

When you are creating gated videos, here are some best ways to think about:

• Keep videos at an optimal length
• Make appealing thumbnails and titles
• Streamline your lead capture form
• Clear calls to action
• Run A/B tests to enhance your strategies

    Which gated video platforms will work most suitable for my company?    

A few popular platforms that you can use to create video content that is gated and resonates with your viewers are:

• Vimeo known for its extensive customization options and high-quality video playback.
• Wistia: Provides custom video players, emails capture forms, as well as extensive analysis.
• Brightcove: The most comprehensive platform, with many features for large enterprises as well as media firms.
• SproutVideo: Platform for video hosting with a strong emphasis on security, with features like domain restrictions as well as password protection.

    How do I measure the efficacy of my content-gated strategy?    

The two methods to analyze and track the results of your gated videos:

• Monitoring important performance indicators (KPIs) that include the conversion rate, click-through rates (CTR), and engagement measures (likes shares, likes comments)
• Analytics tools like Google Analytics  or video hosting tools, CRM tools, and tools for marketing automation
• Check KPIs against industry averages for more context on your performance