LinkedIn is growing each and every day, offering new and better opportunities for professionals who want to grow in their respective careers and businesses. With the company’s recent announcement about opening its publishing platform to all of its members, it’s clear that a massive opportunity lies for professionals who are able to create value-oriented content.

The Influencer program by LinkedIn, which started in 2012, can prove to be a game changer for many due to its mass appeal and following. Now that anybody can publish content, becoming an influential thought leader may only be a few articles away. Since your content won’t be restricted to your own network, it will not be hard to develop a following among the wider LinkedIn community — given that you publish good content.

In order to become a successful thought leader in the eyes of other LinkedIn members, it’s important that you publish content that makes you stand out from the crowd. After all, you don’t want your useful article to get lost in the midst of other content pieces.

These following three tips can help you add more value to the content you’re publishing on LinkedIn and ensure it gets read and spread:

Share Content That Adds Professional Value

According to LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, the company’s mission statement is to “to connect the world’s professionals to make them more successful and productive.” It’s no surprise that the social network wants you to share content that reflects their mission — content that offers real value in terms of specialized knowledge/expertise.

Creating valuable content for LinkedIn is not just about expressing your random thoughts. It’s about going beyond and sharing your expertise in the most vivid manner. It’s about backing up your claims with real-world business advice that is hard to find elsewhere. Individuals who earn an online business degree can build on their real-life experience and write content that is both useful and interesting.

The more authentic and fresh your approach is, the easier it will be for you to attract attention from other members and generate engagement. Remember, rehashed content won’t take you far. Unless your posts add real value, they won’t create a buzz.

Here are three simple tips to help you add professional value to your content:

Create industry-specific content. According to LinkedIn, six out of every 10 LinkedIn users are interested in industry insights. So creating industry specific content has its own perks. Regardless of what industry you are in, with a bit of effort, you can find new ways to make content that’s appealing.

Think your industry is too dry and boring? Think again. LinkedIn is a huge network and you will find people from your industry who are highly passionate. Your target market doesn’t think your industry is boring, and that’s all that matters.

Teach readers how to use LinkedIn better. Getting your content shared across LinkedIn becomes easy when you show others how they can get the most out of the social network. Creating content that teaches businesses in your industry to tap into the real power of LinkedIn is an underutilized way to grow your influence. This not only makes your different from the rest but also gets your readers to take action.

As an example, Cerasis, a freight and logistics software company, was able to generate over hundred shares on LinkedIn for its detailed blog post. They paired their knowledge about using LinkedIn with their industry expertise.

Make LinkedIn part of your bigger strategy. LinkedIn can prove to be a powerful marketing tool if you make it an important part of your overall strategy. Your business, like any other, has an aim. Whether it’s getting more traffic, leads or sales, there is always an agenda. When you add LinkedIn to the “bigger picture,” you automatically produce content that is high quality and adds professional value.

Contribute Content That Resonates

Writing content is one thing, but writing content that resonates with other members on LinkedIn is something else entirely. It’s how you get your content seen by the right people and shared across the network. It’s how you increase your influence. If you can have your niche expertise shine through your posts, there is nothing like it.

If you blog, you should already know the value of writing articles that help you connect to your target audience. But when you post content on LinkedIn, you have a higher chance of getting it seen by people who are specifically looking for business knowledge. By gaining new readers for your content on the social network, you also boost your chances of striking new business partnerships.

In order to create content that clearly resonates with other members, make sure you:

Develop content personas. Content publishing on LinkedIn is no different than outside the platform. The same rules apply. So developing content personas should be the first step you take before writing any content. When you know who you’re writing for, you write better.

Support with proof. LinkedIn members love business wisdom, but before you go ahead and share it, it might be a good idea to back it with some real-world proof. It makes your content more credible and can lead to more shares.

Engaging with other like-minded people on LinkedIn through your content is not a one-time thing. You will have to consistently do it to see great long-term results. As long as you’re writing and publishing great content without losing focus, the LinkedIn community will reward you in the form of better engagement and targeted exposure.

Be Prepared to Go Beyond LinkedIn

Already have content published on your blog? As long as it’s written by you, you should have no problem re-publishing it on LinkedIn. There are no hard and fast rules on the social network when it comes to publishing your own content. It doesn’t have to be exclusive. But on the other hand, creating content exclusively for LinkedIn obviously has its own benefits. It gives other members something new, fresh and interesting to read. It helps you position yourself better as a thought leader who delivers real value.

One of the advantages of publishing exclusive content on LinkedIn is the kind of exposure it can receive when it gets curated and distributed all over the world. This can get you more targeted readers who respect what you’re writing. However, spreading your content beyond LinkedIn has its own share of risks. What you post shouldn’t be offensive or harsh in any way. You never know who might be reading it. Be prepared to take responsibility for what you publish. Don’t be hasty in your approach. Take your time and publish only content that you truly believe is right.

By now you should have realized that LinkedIn is not just a social network. It’s also an efficient content sharing platform that can give you the kind of leverage you’re looking for. Make sure you don’t limit yourself. Take advantage of your influence on the network, and invite your readers to explore your world outside of LinkedIn.

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Have a clear call to action that leads your readers to your blog or website. By writing and publishing quality content you’re already giving them a reason to trust you — so why not go a step ahead and promote yourself? In the end, you’re doing everything you can to grow your business. There is no better way to do it then using your influence to draw your target audience towards outside platforms.