9 Tips for Using LinkedIn to Build Partnerships [INFOGRAPHIC]
With more than 750 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is the most ubiquitous business to business social channel available. As new students roll into the GSBLSU banking program, they may not realize the power of LinkedIn and how it can be a key component for ongoing relationship development. That is due in part of some myths of LinkedIn. They include:
- It’s only for bankers seeking new jobs and for recruiters trying to pry them away from their current position.
- It’s only for big banks located in large municipalities. Small businesses in small towns don’t use it.
- It may get hacked and I don’t want my personal information available on the web.
- I don’t have time to use LinkedIn with the many other responsibilities I have.
Jack Hubbard, our newest professor at the Graduate School of Banking at LSU, dispelled these fables as he provided some practical ways to use LinkedIn as part of his freshman course “Building Lifetime Bank to Business Partnerships.” Hubbard explained that LinkedIn has certainly not replaced other aspects of the sales process, he did opine on the importance of integrating this tool to engage with the marketplace, build value for your personal brand and provide a solid level of financial education (not product push) through a Thought Leadership approach.
To help make LinkedIn a seamless part of a banker’s day, Hubbard suggested a 3X5X15 approach. That means doing three things on LinkedIn that matter, five days a week that take 15 minutes to complete. That might include making three connections with prospects, clients, or referral sources. It may include sharing content in the banker’s feed or sending it in a private message to a key buyer. It could involve wishing someone a happy birthday or congratulating them on a promotion or an award won.
“LinkedIn is here to stay,” Hubbard suggested. “You can choose not to participate or to become active. If you are on but not engaged, it’s worse for your bank than not being on at all.”
