Content marketing is standard operating procedure for the business-to-business sector. According to a report published by the Content Marketing Institute, 90% of B2B marketers published content for prospects and customers in 2011. The same report also revealed 60% of respondents plan to boost content marketing budgets in 2012 – up from 51% last year.
There’s much debate among marketers as to whether you should require web visitors to register their email (or other contact info) to access content like white papers. The main advantage of an opt-in page is you can keep track of who’s accessing your marketing material. Web visitors may be interested in your product, but aren’t yet ready to buy. With his email address in your database, your prospect is kept in your marketing loop until he reaches the purchase point in the sales cycle.
The disadvantage of an opt-in page is fewer leads – people are increasingly protective about their email address. Even high quality prospects may decline your content offer if they have to give up contact information.
My own perception of the content marketing trend is for companies not to require registration. But it doesn’t have to be exclusively one way or the other. Try these techniques for your content initiatives…
1) Mix it up: Provide some white papers, case studies and other content without requiring registration. See what results you get
2) Offer a powerful incentive: For non-registration content, include incentive text and a hyperlink to your opt-in page at the end of the marketing document. Tell the reader she can access other valuable content by registering at your site – such as a more detailed report on the same topic. Marketing Sherpa publishes a lot of marketing industry reports for a fee, but often provides a free Executive Summary pdf of each topic – offering web visitors a small taste of the full meal deal.
3) Test Response. Try rotating your content from non-registered to registered. Do you get a higher response for some topics versus others? Do templates, demo software, or online tools get a better response than case studies or white papers? Monitoring the results over time can deliver valuable marketing intelligence on the type of content that appeals to prospects.
4) Include text that encourages readers to send your content to their colleagues. Again, include an incentive for new readers to visit your site and register.
5) Summarize your privacy policy. To ease prospects’ fears, place a brief description of your policy near your opt-in form. For example: “Privacy assured. We do not sell, rent or exchange your information with Third Parties.” Depending on your marketing goals, you may sweeten the policy with “We will not contact you by phone, unless you request a consultation.” Also, remind visitors they can unsubscribe anytime.
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