What is a Gated Webinar

What is a gated webinar

Gated webinars are webinars that can’t be accessed until participants submit some type of information. This information can range from emails, names, industry titles to simply a login and password for a specific user. Webinars can also be gated behind actions taken on social media, like follows and likes. Gated webinars are oftentimes employed by educational institutions, or used for lead generation.

Most webinar software allows organizers to gate the webinars through a form that is located on the landing page. Registrants can answer questions to sign up for the content. While gated webinars are generally seen as the industry standard, some webinars can be joined without any registration or login.

Benefits of gated webinars

Gated webinars have the following benefits:

Learn about prospects
Qualify leads
Streamline the sales process
Monetize webinars

Gated webinars are useful tools for learning about prospects and qualifying leads. People willing to give information about themselves in exchange for quality content have a high level of interest in the brand making the content.

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The information used to gate a webinar can teach companies about their prospective clients. The registrant’s company name and size, what industry they work in and their job title can tell webinar organizers how qualified prospects are. The registration form can include any information that can further qualify registrants, like what competing solutions they are currently using or how they learned about the webinar. Some webinar software even allows restricting registrations to professional emails.

Gated webinars help companies understand their audience better while streamlining the sales process. They are also a handy way to monetize webinars by setting up paywalls before prospects can access the content.

Alternatives to gated webinars

Adding a gate to a webinar increases the steps that have to be taken to access the content. This can lower an attendance rate. Gated webinars are not the ideal choice for strategies that want to optimize brand awareness.

Companies that are willing to give up registering people or getting registrants' information can use live streaming platforms like Youtube Live or Twitch. This is common for very large scale events and particularly in B2C industries.