Track and Identify Viewers with Email Gates

Overview

This guide covers everything you need to know about email gates in Walnut — from capturing viewer details and customizing branding, to generating leads in HubSpot or Marketo. You’ll learn how to:

• Set up email gates at the demo, template, playlist, and deal room levels — including default settings and access controls.
• Customize email gates with avatars, branded colors, welcome messages, access rules, and compliance options (both at the demo level and across the company via Company Settings).
• Generate leads automatically in HubSpot or Marketo by connecting integrations and enabling lead/contact creation.
• Understand email gates vs. lead forms so you can choose the right tool for identifying and qualifying demo viewers.

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Quick Start Guide

Add an Email Gate to a Demo

By default, every demo has the Collect viewers email toggle set to ON. This requires viewers to provide their email address on the gated screen, and the step cannot be skipped.

To confirm or adjust this setting for an individual demo:

1. Click the Create & Share Demo button from a template or open the three-dot menu on a demo tile in the Walnut Library.
   
2. Go to the Access Control section in Demo Preferences.
3. Toggle Collect viewers email to your preferred setting.
   

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Add an Email Gate to all Demos from a Template

To require email collection across all demos created from a template:

1. Open Template Settings.
2. In the General section, toggle Require Email Collection setting to ON.
   • This setting enforces an email gate for all demos created from the template.
   • The email gate setting cannot be adjusted in the demo publishing process.

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Add an Email Gate to a Playlist

To enable email collection for a playlist:

1. From the Walnut Library, click Edit on the playlist you want to update.
2. Click the Settings icon in the upper‑right corner.
3. Toggle the Collect viewers email setting to ON.

🫧 Note: If an email gate is enabled for any demo within a playlist and a viewer enters their email address, that email will also be shared with the playlist — even if no email gate is set at the playlist level. Information from demo‑level gates automatically bubbles up to the playlist level.

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Add an Email Gate to a Deal Room

To enable email collection for a deal room:

1. From the Walnut Library, click Edit on the deal room you want to update.
2. Click the Settings icon in the upper‑right corner.
3. Toggle the Collect viewers email setting to ON.

🫧 Note: If an email gate is enabled for any demo within a deal room and a viewer enters their email address, that email will also be shared with the deal room — even if no email gate is set at the deal room level. Information from demo‑level gates automatically bubbles up to the deal room level.

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Email Gate Customization (Asset-Level)

Once an email gate is activated, you can customize it to reflect your brand and manage access to your asset. Asset‑level customization is available in the Access Control section of Demo Preferences, or through the Settings menu for Playlists and Deal Rooms.

Asset-Level Customization Options:

• Avatar: Display a custom avatar on the email gate.
• Branded Colors: Apply a color palette that matches your asset's style or your company’s brand.
• Welcome Message: Add a personalized welcome message for your viewers.
• Asset Access: Control who can view the asset by defining access (e.g., specific viewers, domains, or open access).

These settings can be applied at the asset level for individual customization, or at the company level in Company Settings to ensure consistency across all demos.

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Customizing Email Gates in Company Settings

You can manage how your email gates look and behave directly from Company Settings. This ensures consistent branding and compliance across all demos, playlists, and deal rooms. 

By setting these options at the company level, you ensure that all gated experiences share the same brand identity and compliance standards.

Company-Level Customization Options:

• Collect Viewers Email: Gate all assets so that you can track viewers and analyze their interactions.
• Non‑Work Domain Access: Allow or block personal email domains (e.g., @gmail, @yahoo, @outlook) from accessing demos.
• Show Avatar: Display the company avatar defined in your brand style settings.
• Show Colors: Apply your company’s branded color palette for a consistent look and feel.
• Welcome Message: Add a custom welcome message for viewers (up to 700 characters).
• Require Compliance: Require viewers to accept your company’s Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy before accessing demos.

• Ask Consent to Use Cookies: Prompt demo viewers to provide consent for cookie use to comply with regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).

• Cookie Consent Privacy URL: Provide the URL to your privacy or cookie consent policy.

• Demo Access: Define who can access your company’s demos (e.g., open access, specific viewers, or restricted by domain).

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Generate Leads from Demo Email Gates (HubSpot & Marketo)

If either the HubSpot or Marketo Integration is enabled, you can identify viewers and automatically create new leads within HubSpot or Marketo with the email gate.

1. Connect your CRM integration:
   • Go to Integrations in Walnut.
   • Enable either the HubSpot or Marketo integration.
2. Activate contact/lead generation in the Configure section of either the HubSpot or Marketo integration:
   • HubSpot: Toggle the Generate Contacts Directly from Demos setting ON.
     
   • Marketo: Toggle the Generate Leads Directly from Demos setting ON.
     
3. In the Access Control section of Demo Preferences, ensure that the Collect viewers email setting is toggled to ON.
4. Leads flow automatically to your CRM:
   • HubSpot: Each captured email creates a new contact in your HubSpot database.
   • Marketo: Each captured email generates a new prospect in your Marketo instance.

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Email Gates vs. Lead Forms 

Want to know exactly who’s watching your demos? Both lead forms and email gates can do the job. Use this guide to pick the best tool for your strategy.

	Email Gates	Lead Forms
In-Demo Placement	Fixed — only at the start of a demo	Flexible — start, end, a specific screen (non-guided), or a guide step (guided)
Placement Scope (All Asset Types)	Demo, Playlist, & Deal Room level	Demo-level only Not supported at Playlist or Deal Room level
Viewer Can Skip (If Configured)	❌ No — viewers must enter their email to continue.	✅ Yes — forms can be configured with a “Skip” option, allowing viewers to proceed without submitting details.
Information Collected	Email only	Customizable — add fields beyond email (information from additional fields sent to form provider only)
Branding & Customization	Additional settings for avatar, branded colors, welcome message, and compliance settings (terms, privacy, and cookie consent)	Form design primarily handled through provider
Access Control	Control demo access using viewer emails or domains	❌ Not supported
Smart Personalization	❌ Not supported	✅ Supported

FAQs

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What Happens If a Viewer Opens a Demo, Playlist, or Deal Room but Doesn’t Enter Their Email?

If a viewer opens a demo, playlist, or deal room but does not submit their email address, they are considered a "bounced" viewer. Bounced viewers are:

• Shown as "Anonymous" viewers in Walnut Insights

• Excluded from CRM lead generation (HubSpot & Marketo)
• Excluded from integration syncing

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Pro Tip 👑

To reduce bounce rates, customize your email gate with a friendly welcome message, branded visuals, and clear value to encourage viewers to continue.

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Can I See Metrics for Bounced Viewers?

• Yes. While you won’t capture their identity, bounced viewers still appear in Walnut Insights as "Anonymous" engagement data.

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Can I Use Both a Lead Form and an Email Gate at the Same Time?

• No. Only one can be active at a time. If a lead form is enabled, it takes priority and will completely replace the email gate — even if the Collect viewers email toggle is turned on.

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How Can I Reduce Bounce Rates and Capture More Leads If I Don't Use an Email Gate?

• In addition to customizing your email gate, consider using lead forms placed strategically within a demo (e.g., at the end, after a number of guide steps, after a set number of clicks, etc.). Lead forms allow you to collect viewer details later in the flow, which can reduce bounced viewers compared to gating the demo upfront.

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