LinkedIn has acquired content sharing platform SlideShare to help users share more content socially.

On Thursday, LinkedIn took to its blog to announce the acquisition of SlideShare, a web content sharing tool. According to Deep Nishar, senior vice president of products and user experience at LinkedIn, and SlideShare have collaborated before to allow professionals using the social network to share content on the site. Now, greater integration will allow LinkedIn account holders to share presentations and other content they’ve produced.

While content marketing is often tied to SEO for businesses, LinkedIn has essentially made content marketing a professional networking tool as well. Users can share different items they’ve created that demonstrate their own expertise in a field.

For companies, however, the move brings a whole new element to both content marketing and social media marketing. Again, the SEO benefits are likely minimal. However, companies can share content, such as presentations or white papers, that they’ve created more seamlessly with the addition of SlideShare to LinkedIn. When prospects, potential employees or existing customers browse their LinkedIn pages, they’ll see new content shared on the site.

Nishar did not elaborate on a potential roll out for full SlideShare capability as part of Linkedin use. Currently, SlideShare users can access their accounts with any noticeable changes, and the extent to which the acquisition will change SlideShare is not known.

LinkedIn has upped its offerings in recent months to make its social media marketing capability more valuable for consumers and businesses using the platform. Brafton highlighted a new follow tool in February that will allow users to keep track of companies on LinkedIn.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.