LinkedIn just unveiled an amazing new feature that opens up a world of opportunity for savvy users.

LinkedIn has quietly unveiled a massive upgrade to its often-maligned newsfeed, and it’s likely going to be a game-changer for the platform.

Here’s the scoop: You’ll notice on your LinkedIn newsfeed a new box that says “What People Are Talking About” along with some trending or breaking news stories.

LinkedIn explains the new feature and how it works here.

Here’s what LinkedIn says about the new feature:

The stories you see in your feed under the label What people are talking about now, are the top professional news and conversations of the day. These stories are surfaced to help you stay informed about topics that colleagues, partners, peers, and other members may be talking about today. These topics are selected and curated by our news editors, leveraging data on and off LinkedIn.

It is very similar to Facebook’s popular newsfeed and trending hashtags, and is also similar to how stories trend on Twitter and other social networks.

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

This new feature 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 newsfeed 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, by focusing on your specific niche and offering something of value to the platform. It’s the price you must pay in order to “buy” a prospect’s time, attention and interest online.

Authentic engagement “client-facing” profile = 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 will build the relationships that lead to winning new business on the platform.

Read More: How to Leverage LinkedIn for Your Business