Gating Content vs Non-Gated Content: Why a Smaller Email List Wins

Small email lists get a bad rap.

We are constantly told that bigger is always better. But I’ll let you in on a secret: my list is tiny. I have plenty of lead magnets to attract people, but my growth is slow.

Why? Because I actually let people choose.

Just because someone wants your freebie, it doesn’t mean they want a lifetime of emails from you. It is much better to have a small list of people who actually want to be there than a massive list of people who can’t remember why they signed up in the first place.

Is the PDF lead magnet dead?

You might have heard experts say the PDF is dead. They’ll tell you that mini-courses, videos, or quizzes are the only way to go.

But PDFs still have their place. My Google Analytics 4 Phrasebook is still my most popular lead magnet. Around 60% of the people who download it also choose to join my list. More importantly, it converts those people into customers better than any other offer I have.

However, there is a strong argument for not gating your PDFs at all.

Gating content vs non-gated content: Which is better?

If a piece of content is close to the bottom of your sales funnel, gating it can be a mistake.

If someone wants your buyer’s guide or price list, asking for an email address (or a phone number) might stop them in their tracks. They worry they will instantly get a hard sell or a series of never-ending sales calls.

But what about the “top of funnel” content? These are the hand-raisers that tell you a person has the problem you solve.

The fear with non-gated content is that you lose the lead. If you don’t ask for an email, how do you know if your content is actually working?

How to track the success of non-gated content

If you decide that non-gated content is right for your strategy, you can still measure its effectiveness. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is quite clever. It can automatically track file downloads triggered by a click on your webpage.

You just need to make sure Enhanced measurement is switched on.

Step 1: Enable GA4 File Download Tracking

1. Go to the Admin section in GA4.

2. Click Data Streams.

3. Choose your website data stream.

4. Ensure the toggle for Enhanced measurement is switched on.

5. Click the cog icon to ensure ‘File downloads’ is specifically ticked.

Once this is active, you can create a report to see exactly which filenames people are downloading.

Tracking engagement inside the PDF

If someone downloads your PDF but doesn’t join your list, are they lost forever? Not necessarily.

If you include a Call to Action (CTA) link inside your PDF, you can track how many people are clicking from that document back to your website. You do this using UTM tracking links.

I add a snippet like this to the end of my links:

/?utm_medium=pdf&utm_source=lead+magnet&utm_campaign=ga4_phrasebook

This allows me to see in my reports if people are actually consuming the content and taking the next step, even if I never saw their email address.

This is what it will look like in a custom report.

What do your download stats tell you?

Looking at your data helps you decide your gating content strategy. If you are getting lots of downloads but zero clicks back to your site, you can start to fix the problem:

• Re-evaluate the offer: Do you need a different lead magnet that attracts the right people?
• The gating flip: If a non-gated PDF is performing incredibly well, you might then decide to gate it to warm up those leads via email.
• Fix the CTA: Is the link inside the PDF clear enough?

Quality over quantity

Gating content isn’t wrong, but it isn’t the only way to grow.

By letting people choose when to join your list, you are building trust before you even send that first welcome email. You get a cleaner list, and they get value without the “Big Brother” vibes.

It might mean your list grows a bit slower, but the people who are there actually want to hear what you have to say. My small list still converts better than anything else.

Want to learn more about how analytics can help you make better marketing decisions? Get instant access to my webinar below.