As tech marketers, we're constantly on the hunt for the latest and greatest growth strategies. And for years, gated content has been one in that playbook. Who doesn't want more leads to feed into their funnel?! Gated content doesn't work as well as we think it does, and it's time to start exploring other options.
In B2B tech demand generation, the main focus is on creating interest for your product or service. Gated content can most definitely be a lead generation tool, but it's not the most effective way to drive demand.
The internet is filled with ebooks, checklists, and what not, hidden behind a form fill. B2B tech buyers are tired of giving out their private information only to be bombarded with sales calls and spammy email pitches. Or worse, to discover that the content they requested doesn't really do... well, anything.
Discovering that your "leads" often hide behind email addresses such as 123@123.com and generic job titles like "business owner" is a sign your gated content doesn't provide much value. Not to mention, it undermines the credibility of your marketing team. It's hard to justify the effectiveness of a campaign when a significant number of the leads it generates turn out to be fake.
The leads generated through gated content often fail to convert into paying customers, too. Or if they do, the sales cycle is typically much longer than expected. The reason for this is: these leads are often not yet ready to make a purchase when they download a piece of gated content.
So if gated content isn't the answer, what is? Creating content that's valuable enough to promote without a gate! One that provides tangible value to your target audience and encourages them to take the next step in their buying journey when they feel ready to do so (without exchanging their personal info for it!).
In this blog post, we'll discuss why it’s time to move away from the old lead generation playbook that relies on gated content. Instead, tech brands should focus on a demand generation approach that emphasizes ungating content to better reach and engage with potential customers.
Gated content tends to turn off potential buyers. Let's say you're searching for an answer to a specific question and come across an article that promises to provide the solution. You click on it, only to be presented with a form requiring you to hand over your contact information before you can read it.
Chances are, unless this article is something unique and irreplaceable, you'll move on to another site. Why should you give up your personal information for content that's likely available elsewhere?
When buyers are presented with a gate, they're being pushed into something. Especially when it's their first time discovering your company and they don't yet have an idea of what you offer or how it helps them. With so many companies creating content (many of them doing it without much attention to quality), buyers approach conversion forms with quite some skepticism.
Gated content also limits the reach of your marketing efforts. Sure, you can generate a few leads, but think about all the people who see your article and decide not to fill out the form. These buyers would've been a great audience to target with additional content, but now they're lost.
And there's the issue of fake leads, of course. As mentioned earlier, gated content can often fill your tech sales funnel with leads looking for freebies that are not ready to buy or have no intention of becoming a customer. These “leads” take away from your conversion rates and waste time and resources that could've been put to better use.
They can create a false sense of success as you end up measuring vanity metrics: visitors, leads, MQLs, conversion rates. But these metrics do not necessarily translate to revenue generated by your marketing efforts. In other words, gated content may give the appearance of progress, but it can weaken your ability to drive growth.
Does that mean gated content has no place in B2B tech demand generation? Not necessarily. There are situations in which gated content may be the best solution. Let's dive in!
If your content offers something truly unique and valuable, a highly detailed case study, exclusive data you can't get elsewhere, original research with insights highly beneficial to your target audience, gating it may not be a bad option.
This is especially true if you plan on providing additional content: more in-depth studies or follow-up case studies, that can only be accessed by people who have already filled out the form.
What if you already have pieces of gated content that perform well? Let your conversion rates be your guide. If they are high and you feel like you're getting quality leads, keep gating the content. Same for the opposite, if your landing page conversions are low and your gated content turns into a bottleneck, your best bet is to move away from the gates and look for alternative options.
Gated content should be excluded from your demand generation strategy because it prioritizes short-term data collection over the long-term trust and brand authority required to turn a tech audience into loyal customers.
In 2026, demand generation is about maximizing the consumption of your expertise, which is fundamentally at odds with the restrictive nature of a lead gate:
Gated content disrupts the buyer’s journey by creating high-friction barriers at the exact moments when prospects need information most, effectively stalling their self-education and pushing them toward competitors who offer ungated transparency. In 2026, the B2B tech buyer expects a seamless, "on-demand" experience across all three stages of the funnel:
Marketers continue to rely on gated content mainly because it provides a familiar, low-effort way to capture contact data for attribution and meet short-term MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) targets. While the buyer landscape in 2026 has shifted toward privacy and self-education, several legacy factors keep the "gate" alive:
Gated content may help capture leads, but it won't do much to generate demand. Which is why it shouldn't be a part of your tech demand generation strategy.
So focus on creating actionable content and make it available to everyone - without asking them to submit their personal information first. This will help you reach more people and give them the information they need to make an informed decision.
If you're looking to generate more demand for your tech product, focus on creating content that provides real value and is easy to access. Invest in educational content that will be accessible to everyone throughout the buyer's journey. That way, you'll be able to generate more demand and build relationships!
Gated content is material that is only accessible to users who provide some form of information (such as an email address) or who have an existing membership. Ungated content is freely available without any barriers.