If you’re like most people, you fall into the category of an active Facebook and Twitter user. As such, you might even rely on these social sites for marketing your business and brand, and you’re seeing a gradual decrease in leads and engagement.

Here’s why LinkedIn might be the next best thing for your marketing strategy. According to Neil Patel’s research, LinkedIn gets over 187 million unique visitors per month. Here’s how Neil suggests you grow your audience.

1. Focus on Groups– Now, this does not mean just join the gang of people and start sharing your web links and articles on LinkedIn. Public forums and meeting places are really not the place to talk about or pitch yourself. The idea is to build brand awareness, engagement, and share relevant industry news and events to form a commonthread. So instead, join conversations and respond to comments within active groups. By doing so your posts will garner attention, response, and hopefully, a little action.

2. Say Goodbye to Fairweather Friends- Having connections that don’t like, share, or comment on your activity can actually lower your visibility significantly on social networks, including LinkedIn. This means while Aunt Bessie might have good intentions connecting to your profile, she’s actually doing you a disservice if she isn’t active or interested in your professional life. In that case, Aunt Bessie is best left on Facebook, with her recipes and stuff. (Nothing personal.)

3. Big Fish- Small Pond- Because LinkedIn has much less activity, posts have roughly a 20% organic reach, versus the dwindling 2% on Facebook. This is great news! It means you can post to your heart’s content and actually have a real life audience. So post well. Post relevantly. And most importantly, become an expert in your field by making connections who will eventually rely on you for business services, professional advice, or  industry connections.

While LinkedIn might not have all that gossip, motivational photos and repetitive stories that Facebook users love to share, it does have the ability to put you in a larger spotlight. With a set goal of 300 billion users, LinkedIn has a greater ability to turn connections into conversions. Time well spent…