One of the major benefits of utilizing LinkedIn, beyond its marketing capabilities, job prospects, and networking opportunities, is that it allows businesses and individuals to share long-form posts across their network and connections. Prior to the publisher program being released, updates were the only way to notify your network about achievements, news, and discussions and these updates would typically only reach your first line of connections.

Now, through long-form posts, businesses have a much more extensive reach as every published piece of content is matched up with users who share an interest in your niche. And that, in turn, leads to better lead generation, higher exposure rates, and an organic expansion of your brand. In order to take advantage of this though, you have to know how to create a perfect piece of content. Here are several things you should consider in your efforts toward generating content to be shared via LinkedIn.

Always Create a Focused and Engaging Headline: You must have a headline that will catch the attention of potential readers. Unlike clickbait, this means that you have to provide them something of value. Otherwise, your post will get lost in the never-ending refresh cycle of their LinkedIn notifications. Keep in mind, however, people today are bombarded with thousands of different pieces and types of media every single day, so your content has to either provide a specific benefit or spike their curiosity levels. When posting, make sure that your post has trending, or at least relevant information, and is up to date. Don’t use more than 50 characters in the headline and ask a pertinent question.

Make Your Message’s Content Count: If the body of your post is too convoluted or is difficult to understand, you aren’t going to draw in many readers, causing your bounce rate to be off the charts. Some of the most popular posts today are popular simply because they are easy to read, concise, to the point, and hold people’s attention.

 Add a Call to Action: One way of showcasing what your post is trying to achieve is by asking your readers to do something to help you reach your objective. An example of how to accomplish this is by adding a link to help direct people to your article with the direction to “Click here to learn more about…”

Know Your Target Audience: The idea here is to tailor your posts toward an audience who wants to read them. In order to figure out who your audience is, you have to analyze how your previous posts have performed and re-generate those successes. LinkedIn’s Insights tool, allows you to measure the number and types of engagement that your past posts have received through shares, clicks, likes, and comments.

Always Take the Time to Interact: If you choose to not interact with others in the comments section, you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to expand your brand. When you engage and build genuine relationships with your audience, you foster a positive relationship, which in turn, helps you grow your brand through organic engagement. Always answer those leaving feedback in your comments section and ask questions to promote discussion.

In addition to the measures above, make a conscious effort to include videos and images so that your audience does not get overwhelmed by massive amounts of written information. In today’s day and age, audiences tend to prefer short-form posts that deliver the most value in the least amount of time due to the vast amount of information available.

Ultimately, you’ll want to provide your audience with thought-provoking and genuine content that is easy to consume, engage with, and enjoy. When you create high-quality content, you can capture the time and attention of your audience, and when your content demonstrates that you are an expert in the field, your brand will only stand to benefit.