Gated Content: What Realtors Need to Know (+Free Example)

Homebuyers and sellers are often inundated with information, gated content has emerged as a powerful tool for realtors to capture leads, nurture relationships, and ultimately close deals. By understanding the ins and outs of gated content, real estate professionals can effectively leverage this approach to their advantage.

In this article, we will explore deeper in gated content — what realtors need to know in order to harness its potential. From defining gated content to exploring its benefits and best practices, we will equip realtors with the knowledge and insights necessary to make informed decisions about utilizing this strategy into their marketing arsenal. 

What Is Gated Content?

According to The Scoop, 80% of B2B content marketing assets are gated. Gated content sometimes even surpasses mere landing pages, becoming an exceptional tool to gather valuable information in exchange for their name, email address, industry, title, interests for your leads list

To put it as briefly as possible – gated content (a.k.a. premium content) is any online content you decide to lock behind a lead capture form, and these should be strategically valuable resources to create a sense of exclusivity, enticing visitors to eagerly provide their information to immediate access. As you know, working as a Real Estate Agent, gathering personal information about the people who accessed this content can also help you design highly powerful marketing strategies for your business.

Why is gated content good?

When it comes to buying or selling a home, the stakes are high, and prospective homeowners seek guidance through extensive research. They turn to the vast realm of the Internet in search of articles and guides that reveal the perfect neighborhood, connect them with reliable real estate agents, furnish them with property pricing insights, and ultimately lead them to the ideal home.

As a savvy realtor, you have a golden opportunity to position yourself in front of these potential leads as they embark on their home buying or selling journey. By offering valuable content that addresses their queries and concerns, you can establish yourself as a trusted resource right from the start. This is where the concept of gated content comes into play, enabling you to collect vital details about these potential leads, empowering you to reach out to them with ease.

One remarkable advantage of gated content is its ability to elevate the perceived value and exclusivity of the information you provide. When visitors must exchange their personal information for access to your content, they expect nothing less than exceptional quality and invaluable insights. Realtors that meet these expectations, you not only gain their trust but also position yourself as an authoritative figure in the real estate domain. This trustworthiness enhances your reputation and paves the way for stronger client-agent relationships.

Promote gated content on landing pages

Moreover, the act of gathering personal information from individuals who access your gated content bestows upon you a wealth of knowledge. Armed with these details, you can tailor your future marketing efforts with precision, effectively targeting your audience based on their specific needs, preferences, and demographics. This strategic approach allows you to optimize your resources, enhance your marketing ROI, and create impactful campaigns that resonate deeply with potential clients.

Gated Content: What Real Estate Agents Need to Know? 

As mentioned earlier, gated content serves as a formidable weapon in your arsenal, empowering you to increase conversions and glean valuable insights about your potential customers. However, its potential goes beyond these benefits, extending to other vital purposes, such as:

Better Segmenting Your Leads with Gated Content

By leveraging the information collected through lead forms, gated content allows you to better segment your leads. 

—- This enables you to tailor your marketing efforts and communication to specific customer groups, ultimately boosting engagement and driving conversions.

Creating Exclusivity & Personalization with Gated Content

Offering gated content grants your visitors a sense of exclusivity and special treatment. 

—- By providing them with exclusive value, you establish yourself as a trusted authority and heighten their perception of your brand’s worth, even of your Real Estate Branding  in further. This fosters stronger connections and increases the likelihood of them becoming loyal customers.

Showing The Value of Your Work with Gated Content

Gated content presents an opportunity to showcase the true value of your work to potential customers. 

—- By offering high-quality resources, you demonstrate your expertise and prove that your offerings can genuinely address their needs and aspirations. This builds credibility, instills confidence, and sets you apart from the competition.

However, while it holds immense power, it should not be overused or become the sole focus of your strategy. A harmonious blend of gated and non-gated content is essential to prevent potential visitors from feeling alienated or overwhelmed.

Big Noted #1

— While gated content is a strategy for lead generation, ungated content is meant to improve SEO and increase brand awareness.

Does gated content help SEO? One consideration to bear in mind is that gated content does not directly contribute to improving your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. If you gate all your materials, search engines like Google may perceive your website as lacking fresh, accessible content. Consequently, it is advisable to use gated content judiciously, ensuring that it complements your overall content strategy without hindering your organic search rankings.

Big Noted #2

— Not all your visitors are keen on giving out their personal information.

Moreover, it is important to recognize that not all visitors may be inclined to provide their personal information. Respecting their privacy concerns and preferences is more important than anything else. 

By acknowledging these two crucial facts – the impact on SEO and the sensitivity of personal information – you can harness the potential of gated content wisely and effectively.

Remember, gated content is a potent tool, but its success lies in its strategic implementation and alignment with your broader marketing objectives. By taking eyes on it thoughtfully and considering the needs and expectations of your audience, you can unlock its true potential and drive substantial lead generation and business growth.

What is gated and ungated content?

When do realtors need to consider gated content?

• Prioritizing lead generation over brand awareness and organic traffic.
• Urgently fulfilling the lead requirements of your sales team.
• Implementing gated content as an integral component of your inbound marketing approach.
• Developing remarkably valuable, bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) content to cater to prospective clients with a heightened propensity to convert.
• Capitalizing on the benefits of lead nurturing for your product or service.
• Cultivating an atmosphere of exclusivity to engender a sense of heightened desirability.

Now, let’s assess some examples of gated content within the real estate industry to understand how companies effectively utilize forms to generate high-quality leads

What type of content should be gated?

To maximize the impact of gated content, real estate agents must carefully select the type of content they offer. There are lots of ways real estate businesses can use gated content to gather qualified leads into your marketing funnel. Consider the following options:

Ebooks

Such a great idea to be put in gated content is an ebook. Craft comprehensive ebooks that offer valuable insights into topics and of course, if you create a brief ebook and visitors fancy it they will be more prone to buy your product or service. 

For example: Buying/selling strategies, market trends, or real estate investment tips. 

Exclusive Guides

Create guides that cater to specific target audiences within the real estate market. 

For example, a guide on first-time home buying or relocation tips for families can capture the attention of potential clients looking for guidance in those areas.

Webinars and Workshops

Host informative webinars or workshops that cover relevant topics in the real estate industry. By requiring registration, agents can collect contact information and engage with attendees directly, nurturing them into potential clients.

Market Reports

Compile detailed market reports that offer data-driven insights into local real estate trends. These reports can be highly appealing to serious buyers, investors, and industry professionals, helping agents attract leads with specific interests

Infographics and checklists

Another good idea is using dynamic content (aka adaptive content). Infographics and checklists are known as shorter forms than others above but they can be equally effective. They both convey only crucial information in a concise manner which makes them extremely helpful and easy to digest for visitors. It can save time for your leads. Finally, your vital check box is “Think about your customer’s main problem and try to address it into your Infographics and checklists”

And if you are not sure what your infographic

or checklist should be all about

Some Ideas For Starting Your Gated Content

• Selling a home – How to stage a home for an open house, how to negotiate an offer, etc.
• Buying a home – Tips for relocating to a new city, neighborhood business, restaurant or recreational guides, neighborhood reports on schools, traffic, crime, etc.

• Owning a home – Tutorials, tips, and expert advice for home improvements, lawn care, home security, cleaning, etc.

This Hubspot flowchart offers more ideas on which type of content to gate.

How to create effective gated content 

Thorough Research

Conduct extensive research to ensure that your content is accurate, up-to-date, and addresses common pain points or questions within the real estate industry. Incorporate relevant statistics, case studies, and real-life examples to enhance the credibility of your content.

Clear and Concise Writing

Craft your content using clear and concise language. Avoid unnecessary jargon and complex terminology that might alienate or confuse your audience. Use a conversational tone to connect with readers and make the content more accessible.

READ MORE: Should you use gated content and how to make it Lead Generation in 2023?

Engaging Design

Invest in visually appealing design elements that align with your brand and captivate users. Professionally designed covers, eye-catching graphics, and easy-to-read layouts can significantly enhance the perceived value of your gated content.

Call-to-Action (CTA)

Strategically place CTAs throughout your gated content to encourage users to take the desired action. Whether it’s filling out a lead capture form, scheduling a consultation, or sharing the content on social media, a well-placed CTA can drive user engagement and increase conversions.

👉READ MORE: How to Create CTAs button that Sell 👈

CONCLUSION

Gated content helps in better segmenting leads, creating exclusivity and personalization, and showcasing the true value of a realtor’s work. However, it is important to strike a balance between gated and ungated content, ensuring that search engine optimization efforts are not hindered and respecting the privacy concerns of visitors who may be hesitant to share personal information.

Realtors now should use gated content thoughtfully and align it with your broader marketing objectives, realtors can unlock its true potential, drive substantial lead generation, fuel business growth and beyond.

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