LinkedIn has quietly unveiled an addition to its often-maligned news feed, and it could provide significant benefit to those looking to expand their reach and influence on the platform..
You'll notice on your LinkedIn news feed a new box that says "What People Are Talking About" along with some trending or breaking news stories (this has not been rolled out to all users yet, but it coming).
LinkedIn explains the new feature and how it works here - basically, the stories you see in your 'What people are talking about now' listing are the top professional news stories and conversations of the day, as curated by LinkedIn's news editors who are leveraging data, both on and off LinkedIn.
And while they're reinforcing their trends with off-platform data, it's really the on-platform conversations that are of most relevance in a LinkedIn marketing context - here's why.
How to Leverage this on LinkedIn to Generate Sales Leads
The exciting opportunity here for you and me is the ability to share our own unique perspective, insight and opinion on the news of the day using pre-determined hashtags that LinkedIn creates for each story.
So when you see a trending topic or breaking news story that falls into your area of expertise, you can immediately jump into the discussion by simply clicking on the story and then sharing your insights as a status update.
LinkedIn pre-populates your status update with the correct hashtag, and then adds your input to the other posts being created and shared around the topic.
It's an incredibly fast, easy and efficient way to inject your expertise and insight into a topic people are talking and reading about in the heat of the moment.
So, along with your immediate thoughts, you can include a link to a video, blog post or other resource you have handy that relates to the topic and adds to the discussion.
Using Context for 1-on-1 Personalized Marketing on LinkedIn
The new option is just one more golden opportunity for you to connect with your ideal customers and clients who are already hanging out on the world's largest social network for professionals.
As LinkedIn continues to curate the news feed with industry-relevant news, blogs, and resources, it's a tremendous opportunity to directly engage with your target audience and demonstrate what you bring to the table in terms of your value and service.
You can also do this by sharing your own content, such a articles and podcasts, and by focusing on your specific niche and offering something of value to the platform.
An Open Door to New Business
People want to do business with people they know, like, and trust.
Once you make a connection, the first thing your prospect will look at is your LinkedIn profile, so make sure it's written in a way to appeals to that same specific group of people interested in your products and services.
The key is finding authentic ways - like connecting over a trending topic - to make that contact. Through these 1-on-1, personalized connections you'll build relationships that lead to winning new business on the platform.