Welcome to GatedContent.com!
GatedContent.com is a cloud platform for managing web conversion forms and content gating. The objective of the service provided by the platform is to make it possible to configure and deploy a content gate or web form in a few minutes without the need to employ web developers or marketing automation developers.
Your instance of GatedContent.com has been configured for your company as part of the deployment process. It has been integrated into various parts of your marketing technology stack in order to maximize the amount of information captured and the consistency of measurement whilst delivering a great user experience for the end-user.
This Knowledge Base will show you the basics of the platform as well as more advanced features.
What is a Gate?
When using GatedContent.com it is important to understand what a gate is. A gate is an imaginary device that a user must pass through in order to access further information from your company. The gate utilizes a web form as the means to restrict access. A user must provide information in that form to “open” the gate and proceed to the restricted information. Information is most commonly high value content but could equally be a sign-up to an online or offline events, or could be the means to request contact with a sales person.
Closed Gates
Gates are considered “closed” when a form is displayed and must be completed to access content.
Open Gates
Gates are considered “open” when a user does not have to complete a form to access content.
This might be for various reasons including:
• The user already filled out the form previously
• The user completed a similar form previously
• The user is already known to a sufficient level in the marketing tech stack
• The content is deemed as lower value and we don’t wish to deploy a full gate, but still wish to capture a form submission in the background (also known as a “blind submit”)
A Gate is not JUST a Form
In GatedContent.com terminology, a gate is NOT equal to a web form. A web form on its own does not perform the function of optimally converting a user to known within a marketing tech stack. A form is only the point of data entry. A gate on the other hand also includes;
- The messaging and interactive elements to promote the content
- The delivery of that content
- the measurement of the interaction
- Other online behaviors that streamline the user experience and collection of data
A gate is considered a combination of the following information:
1. The content item e.g. document, video, webinar, contact request etc.
2. The messaging e.g. content promotion message, thank you message etc.
3. The form being used e.g. a high gate with a lot of fields or a low with less
4. The behavior of the gate e.g. should the gate stay open when a user comes back a week later?
5. The language of the gate i.e. what language should the form display in?
6. The measurement required i.e. what information should the gate send to the tech stack for optimal reporting
7. Other meta data i.e. what other parameters should be sent with the form to assist reporting or other automated features within the marketing tech stack
Take the Tour
When logging in to GatedContent.com, the first screen you will encounter is the Dashboard. This screen shows an overview of gate activity over a period of time. To alter the period of time shown there is a date range selector to the top right. Standard charts in the dashboard show total figures for gate activity, most active gates and other global analytics.
When looking at gate activity, the following terms are useful to understand:
• Gate Load: An event recorded when a gate is viewable in a web page. When a gate is embedded inline in a page, occurs when the page is loaded. When a gate is displayed in a modal (or overlay panel), the gate load occurs when the modal is displayed.
• Gate Start: An event recorded when a user actually starts the process of completing the form i.e. starts typing or selecting fields.
• Gate Submission: An event recorded when a user completes and hits the submission button to send the form.
• Abandonment Rate: The ratio of form starts to submissions. Gives an indication of the proportion of people that fail to complete a form after starting it. Can help with optimizing conversion rates.
There is plenty of guidance and information in this knowledge base that that will show you how to use the basis and more advanced features of GatedContent.com. We would recommend starting with installing the GatedContent script. If you have any questions or suggestions please click "New support ticket" above and one of out team will get in contact with you.