Internet Marketing Digital_marketing_for_dummies | Page 62

which in turn helps build trust and moves the prospect closer to becoming a customer.
Delivering a specific discount
Price discounts can be a great way to spur sales, and many companies offer coupons that
slash prices in the hope of creating a buying frenzy. But instead of handing out discounts,
consider asking a prospect to opt in to receive the discount. For instance, your gated offer
might say, “Join our Discount Club and receive 10% off any order.” This wording is
effective because it specifically tells the prospect how much she’ll save.
Generating leads with educational content
In this section, we discuss five forms that your gated offer can take. These gated offers
offer value by educating the lead on a particular topic related to your brand while also
highlighting features of a solution, product, or service you provide.
Your gated offer does not have to be the length of a Tolstoy novel. Besides being
ultraspecific, gated offers should be easy to consume — they should not be a 14-day
course or a 300-page book. Rapid consumption of the gated offer is important
because you want to provide value to your lead as quickly as possible. The faster your
gated offer provides value, the quicker a lead can become a paying customer. Because
most gated offers can be sent digitally, they can be delivered instantly, which allows
the lead to receive the value of the gated offer quickly. Ideally, prospects receive value
from your gated offer within minutes of giving you their contact information.
Speedily delivering value helps to build a positive relationship with leads, as well as
to quickly move them through the customer journey. (Turn to Chapter 1 for more
information on the customer journey.)
Free reports
Reports (also called guides) are among the most common types of gated offers and are
usually mostly text and images. Reports usually offer facts, news, and best practices that
are relevant to your industry and your target market. If you use a report as your gated
offer, however, be careful. Reports can be lengthy and complex, thus they often take more
time to be consumed, which means that the report will take longer to deliver on its value.
Therefore, whenever possible, keep your reports as succinct and specific as possible so
that they can quickly deliver their value and help to establish or reinforce a positive
relationship with your lead or customer.
White papers
As is true of a report, a white paper is an authoritative guide that concisely informs readers
about a complex issue and aims to help leads understand an issue, solve a problem, or
make a decision. Although the white paper helps to educate your prospects, it also helps to
promote your business’s products or services. White papers can often be very effective at