Everyone is online—your brother, your mom, your grandma, your grandma’s best friend. According to Statista, there were more than 4.2 billion internet users as of October 2018. That means that if you want your marketing efforts to reach your target audience, you without question need an online presence.

The problem is that with so much competition and content to look at, the prospect of standing out and being seen seems daunting. This information is probably not new. You likely already have a website, and if you don’t, you know you should.

The most complicated part is figuring out what type of content to share in order to see results. What content is going to draw in the exact audience you want? How can you keep their interest after the first post? How can you turn their website visits into traditional leads that are easy to close?

Know your audience (really know them).

The first must-do in generating solid content is knowing who you’re marketing to. We don’t just mean “I want to target men and women between the ages of 25 and 40.” We mean, what does your audience do on the weekends? What do they like? What do they hate? What makes them laugh? You can start by looking at the clients you already have. You should know a good bit about them, and you can use this information to your advantage to target more people just like them. If your content doesn’t appeal to this specific group, you’ll never be able to attract them, let alone turn them into leads.

Education and entertainment.

Most of the content marketing that proves successful has the perfect balance of entertainment value and educational purpose. You want your audience to view you as an expert on whatever it is you’re presenting to them. For example, if you’re a real estate agent looking to attract first-time home buyers, you want them to think of you as the number one resource for all of their questions—and as first-timers, they’ll have a lot. Sharing an e-book that outlines the home buying process from start to finish would be a great way to prove your value, and is guaranteed to make your audience bite.

Hold on to information.

No one should visit your website without providing you some valuable information in return. Providing your audience with e-books, blogs, and other resources is all well and good, but only if you know who’s looking. Having viewers enter their email address or additional contact information can ensure that their visit wasn’t in vain. You can hold onto this and use it to better attract them in the future. Add them to your marketing funnel based on the level of interest they showed in your content. If they clicked around but didn’t actually engage by downloading anything, this doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. And if they downloaded content or took the time to read through multiple pieces, they’re primed for the sale.

Easy and user-friendly.

Nothing is worse than clicking on a website for an answer to a question and leaving with more questions. If your mission is to obtain interested leads through your content, the content you produce needs to be relevant, easy to comprehend, and actionable. You don’t want to confuse your audience with a bunch of numbers and industry jargon that doesn’t matter to them. Instead, present your ideas as if your audience had little-to-no knowledge of the subject. It might seem patronizing, but you’re much more likely to generate leads from content that’s easily digestible than content that’s over their heads.