Episode 74 Leverage Influencer Content to Start Conversations

Intro

I've had the privilege of being in and around banking for more than 50 years. Lots of changes during that time. We've gone from ledgers to laptops, typewriters to technology. One thing, however, remains the same banking. So people business and I'll be talking with those people that make banking grade here and Jack Rants with Modern Bankers.

Jack Hubbard: Hey, it's Thursday.

Brynne Tillman: Hey, Jack. You know, we're going to talk about a really interesting subject today, leveraging influence or content to start conversations. But like I always do want to talk to you about a few programs that are coming up. We've got a great April Andrew at Grant's with Modern Bankers. I start next week excuse me, with Tom and Sarah.

Tom is the president of a bank. You all should know it's an integral bank. It's a $50 million startup bank. But they're so unique. Then it follows the next week with Ben Udall, who's going to speak out at the Financial Brand Forum. The best marketing forum on Earth. And Ben's with Lakeridge Bank up in Wisconsin. We're going to talk about AI.

Then, of course, my third week in April is one of the things we're going to talk about today. Chris Nichols, who's an amazing influencer in banking. And then the last one is a bestselling author, Cory Pearlman, who wrote a book on LinkedIn. That's April. But today is a big day, Brynne. It is opening day. And I'm wearing my hat and my sweatshirt for the world-champion Chicago Cubs back in 2016.

Seems like yesterday it all started. I know you're a Phillies fan and what a great day. Whatever opening day is so amazing. And go check out my post this morning that I wrote Jack GPT wrote the Post all 100%. And it's an inspiration to me every every opening day. It's so much fun. Great to see you.

Brynne Tillman:  I love it. Great to see you, too. I got to share my first baseball memory, which was really fun. Yeah.

Jack Hubbard: Yeah, it's great. So let's talk about influencer content. You know, you're an influencer. First of all, you have almost 70,000 followers. You write amazing content. People like Chris Nichols in banking, as I mentioned. A great, great influencer. There are so many influencers. So let's start with an overview. What's an influencer? What does that mean? 

Brynne Tillman: So, you know, an influencer in my mind is someone that gets people to think differently about a topic. Well, you've influenced them in the way that they're looking at things or thinking of things. Now in the the YouTube Instagram influencer, or there are people that are reviewing Amazon products and influencing you to buy, right?

But in the B2B world, it's really about showing up as a subject matter expert and a thought leader, essentially leading people to think differently. So in my mind, an influencer is someone who can have an impact with content. 

Jack Hubbard: So there are people like Guy Kawasaki, for example. I got a chance to interview them for his great new book, “Think Remarkable”. He's got 3 million followers on LinkedIn. He's an influencer. I want to get down to the very local level because I know you want to talk about some folks who are more national influencers, and that's important. But let's get down to the local level. I'm at a community bank. I'm in Saint Charles. To me, what I could think about is Jesus, I should be Brynne Tillman as an influencer. Indeed, But who could be an influencer on a local level? 

Brynne Tillman: Yeah, I love that. And we call the micro-influencers, right? And it could be, you know, the Chamber of Commerce director. It could be the mayor, right? It could be someone who runs the local library that shares content. It could be, you know, just if you have events.

So my daughter lives in this little town of Verona. That's one square mile. But it is. It is like no joke, like old fashion Americana, right? Like, every house has an American flag and they have like, the Santa Claus comes around in the fire truck on every single street, you know, And and they have all these events that there's this, like, town square where they have incredible events all the time.

Who's advertising those events? Who is responsible for getting that content at a scale They're influencers. Right. So take a look at your community and the folks that are sharing in content, that are attracting people that you want to have conversations with. 

Jack Hubbard: Yeah, and you've got some great stories about people that may have been influencers for you and now you might be influencers for them and for you. Brynne this happens all the time. 

Brynne Tillman: Well, it's a lot of fun, but let's talk about like, what do we do with this, right? So we've got this influencer content. How do we use this to start conversations? So let's just stick with the micro-level influencer for a moment. So let's say you have, you know, someone on the town council that's sharing events just when the meetings are when and it's public, right?

So now you have, first of all, you want to reshare that, right? So that you're helping to promote it, but you also want to look at who's engaging with them. And then we want to take that event and send it to the inbox, whether it's email LinkedIn, Facebook, or wherever you're hanging out. And ask your prospects and your clients, are you attending?

Because I am and I'd love to see you. Right. So we can use these events, these conversations, whatever this is on a micro level to start conversations on a macro level, right? Globally, in social media, you want to look at a few things, but ideally what influencers are attracting the people that you want to have conversations with? So if you want to have conversations with incredible bankers, you're following Chris Nichols.

If you want to have conversations with small business owners, you know you'll find who's talking about small business. I follow a small business lady, Melinda Emerson, right? So, she's a small business lady, so she attracts tons of small business owners. So you find who is your micro-influencer or macro. That's the key is who's attracting the people you want to have conversations with.

Because I'll tell you one last thing I know. I get so excited about this concept. Now we have to go back to my micro for a moment. We have these events. We have all these people that are engaging. We start conversations with them. We're now connecting with them in a way that is not salesy. It's a networking mentality and a community connection mentality.

And this is why I started. So to bankers a lot about going back to having open houses with coffee and donuts in your branches. Invite people in for networking opportunities, small businesses after hours, breakfast, whatever it is, and bring people back into the branches because these are events that give you an opportunity. Invite people to and you can start to build relationships again, and then you become the micro influencer.

Jack Hubbard: Yeah, that's that's such a great point. I think too often what happens, is we get tied up in our underwear around this square here that we're talking to, and I think we forget that there's a great blend of opportunity here to go out into the real world and shake some hands and then come back and be able to use who I've met, I mean, use in a bad way, but use who I've met to help me have conversation, more conversations with them, and then help me influence others potentially.

How? Okay. So we talked about networking and micro as, as one way I, I want to, I want to, I want to get involved with influencers. How can I find them? I mean, I guess first is, you know, who is an influencer in our industry And we talked about Chris Nichols and the small thing, the small business thing, if. But how do I find them? If I say, okay, here's my niche, how do I go about finding these influencers? 

Brynne Tillman: So there are a few things. Number one, start talking to your clients and say, Who do you follow? What podcasts do you listen to? Like, the best thing to do is ask, right? And so if you have some clients that are listening to one podcast that may be of interest to others, you can ask them, Leader, what do you, what magazines do you subscribe to?

What newspapers? What topics are of interest to you? So that to me is the best, right? And, you know, when I start conversations with people on LinkedIn and it's around, let's say that they engage in Jack Hubbard content, so I'm going to start a conversation with them. Go see, we're both big fans of Jack Hubbard. Did you hear him on this podcast?

Happy to send you a link. So now we're talking about the influencer first, then I'll see them. Is there anyone else that you follow so I can start to learn more? I can look at their LinkedIn profile and see what they're engaging on. I can also use hashtags to find content. It's good. It's not great. Hashtags to find content are things like if you wanted banking to be what you're looking for.

The banking industry has an enormous amount of hashtags. The banking industry has an enormous amount of following and content. But if you're looking for the local stuff, you really have to ask like what's going on locally and what's happening? I would actually leverage and you may not think I'm crazy to even go here, but I would leverage other platforms to find content.

So locally, Instagram is probably bigger than LinkedIn doesn't mean you shouldn't be on LinkedIn. You need to, but that's where you can bring it into LinkedIn, right? So you can find content in other places and get on every local newsletter. You're a chamber of commerce. Even if you're well, you should be a member of your local chamber of commerce.

So it's kind of a no-brainer for a couple hundred dollars a year. But, you know, get on the board of the chamber and start sharing the content of other people on the board. The other thing is to start ringing the bell of all of your customers and your clients, right? Because they may be micro-influencers in your community. So make sure that you're engaging with their content.

And when you ring the bell and they share content, they're going to come into your notifications when they share content, and that becomes content that you can engage on and then engage with the commenters. So it really comes down to this just kind of look at each of these hubs of content, like a networking opportunity. 

Jack Hubbard: Well,  that's a great catch. I also think I was in Kentucky yesterday doing a program and one of the things we talked about, it was a sales program, but one of the things we talked about was connections and why first-degree connections are so important. This is another reason because one of the things you want to do at a micro level is I'm not just going to keep commenting on your post if you're local to me, I want to have a conversation with you.

So one way I can do that is if I engage in your post, I can do that if I'm a second-degree connection to you. But if I want to start a conversation with you and if I want to continue to amplify something, things that Geez, Brenna, I see you do a lot of things around LinkedIn. I found this interesting podcast, but I can't send you a message unless I'm a first-degree connection.

So it really does go back to Brynne. Don't ignore connecting with people in your community. It's not about how many you have. It's about the right people you have because they can end up being influencers and then you can have a conversation with them if you're connected. 

Brynne Tillman: Absolutely. And you know, there is this fine balance between volume and quality, like quality and quantity, right?

And I agree that it isn't always the number, but I do believe and I actually was just talking to a banker the other day who is a purist. So he only wants to connect with people that he's met in person. And I said, you know, it's very similar to like if Jack and I went to a networking event and we went into a corner and talked the whole time and didn't meet anyone new, why don't you go to the networking event?

We could have just gone to a cup skate, right? But you know, at the end of this, there has to be a networking mentality. We don't want to be a LinkedIn open networker or a Lyon where we're connecting with everyone. But we also don't want to be a purist where we're only connecting with people we know. So take a look at the people that you're engaging with and say, Look, if they were in a networking room, is this someone I'd want to know?

And if the answer is yes, connect and then get to know them, it's okay, right? Like it's okay to do it. It's just walking up to them in the room and saying, “Hi, I'm Rick Tillman. Nice to meet you. Looks like we're both fans of Jack Hubbard”. I have other content that he's done. Are you interested? Who else are you like?

It's this conversation. It's a normal conversation. One of the things, Jack, that we say all the time treat the person on the other side of the message the same way you would if they were on the other side of the table.

Jack Hubbard: Yeah, and I think that's true. If you think about the networking situation, I'm always offended when I hear somebody say, Well, I'm going to the networking event to work the room.

Sounds like the people that you're going to meet are your victims. But if you go with them with I'm it's it's better to be interested than interesting mindset then what you can do is more people will come to you. And so in that conversation, you're just going to have a conversation and you might say at some point, Jeez, thank you for your card.

Do you mind if I give you a call? Which leads me to my question. It's it's it's easier, I think, when you do that face-to-face because you can kind of gauge how is the conversation going. Are they ready for me to ask? LinkedIn is a lot different and I want to know what the trigger is in your in your business.

I mean, you've done this on LinkedIn for a while. What's that trigger? I've sent some material. I have said, Hey, here's a couple of podcasts. What's the trigger for you that says, It's time for me to ask for a conversation? 

Brynne Tillman: That's a great question, and I'm not sure you're going to love the full answer. But the first thing is there's a gut just like like there are times when I know I just feel like it's okay.

However, if we had to put like a formula around it or something like that, it would be three back-and-forths, right? So. So it could be and not that you said three and now it's time. It's like you've had a conversation. But here's the thing. When you ask for the conversation offline or online, if it's Zoom, but you know, and out of LinkedIn in person, we need to make sure that the conversation is aligned with the conversation we've had.

We can't bait and switch it. We can't. Right. So maybe it's the first conversation. See, we both love Jack's stuff. So would you like the podcast? Yes. Please send that link. Awesome. Hey, we just put out a poll. I love your one-click vote and they vote. That's number two. Number three. Hey, I'd love to share some insights on what we found from this poll and where you benchmark to your peers are you open to a call?

Okay, great. Fabulous. So that would be one path. Another path would be Centrelink jack stuff. Who else do you follow? I also follow Chris Nicholls. Chris, he's. He's amazing. I learned a lot from a podcast I listen to. I'm happy to send that to you and I'd love to share some of the insights they gleaned from that podcast.

So that so so it's hard. I mean, can you put a campaign in place? Absolutely. You can say, all right, this is the structure, but you know, every whisper this is going to kind of create it's like the if-then statements, right? Like if they do this, then we're going to do that. If they do this, then we might go here.

So it's hard to just say generally when. But I think as I'm speaking this, I think when they've responded and you have additional insights you can share on that response that might be the trigger. I think I got there. 

Jack Hubbard: I think you did. And so we've been talking a lot about outbound. So and I want to talk about Mark Hunter and Meredith lead columns because we both love them and we follow them and they're significant influencers, but there's also an opportunity when there's an inbound situation.

So I'll give you a story. So I said this because when I interviewed Chris and we talked about it, he basically said, Here's how we ended up doing business. I reached out to him and said, Look, you've got we connected. And I said, Look, you've got amazing content. What you write for banking is is really good.

And now that was it. I wasn't saying, Hey, by the way, if you'd like to have a conversation. So the next day he reaches back out to me and says, Hey, I got your message. You know, we're thinking about some sales training. Is that something that you might be interested in talking about? So bottom line is, after he looked at 20 different companies, we ended up earning the business and work with with the bank.

So there are opportunities for that inbound and you need to be ready for that. And here's one thing that really concerns me. So in so I'm a customer and I'm an influencer to the bank, if I reach out to the bank's website and I say, I'm kind of interested in your in your situation, I could influence some additional business for you.

What irks me is that that lead just stays there and it dies. And it's the same thing with LinkedIn. You know, you know this better than I, I believe, but 25% of people are on LinkedIn every day, and that number is fewer for bankers. If if you work hard to do all the things we've been talking about and then you're not on the platform, you're never going to see if there's an inbound opportunity and maybe you get on two days later and then it's too late.

So I don't know if you want to comment on inbound influencers or influencing, but I think that's certainly an option.

Brynne Tillman: Yeah, and inbound I love that inbound is not just in your inbox, it's a comment on your content in that. Right. So inbound is something that we have attracted to us. And so I think most people will respond to the message maybe but LinkedIn will send you an email.

In most cases, when you have a message, you'll get it to your email. But the inbound and that I think is the biggest miss is when people are commenting either on your comments or on your content. And maybe you go back and like it, but you don't do anything with it. So and even more missed are people that react to your post.

That's an inbound, right? They're reacting to your post, but they didn't comment. So you think, okay, well, they reacted. I can't like they're like, so what do I do? Well, a lot of times we'll go through that and not all of them. But if maybe there are 14 reactions and three people in there are people I want to start a conversation with.

Thank you so much for engaging on this post. I have additional content on the same topic. If you're open, let's connect and I'm happy to send that over. So those are there are so many other opportune indies in inbound that get missed beyond the inbox. So that's kind of my thought. 

Jack Hubbard: That is brilliant. And it reminds me that LinkedIn is a horizontal platform, not a vertical one. And what I mean by that is we do connections and then we do posts and then we do comments. Silos are all interwoven into your desire to have a conversation. Yeah. So we shouldn't silo that break the silos down. Absolutely. Well, I wanted to end this program by talking about some friends of ours that know I met Meredith Elliott Powell back in the early 1990s when she was a phenomenal banker and met Mark Hunter when he was on a program of mine.

He's written a couple of great books and you know, them really well too. This is a great example of these are both influencers of ours. We see their podcast every Saturday that you can talk about, but it's also led you down a path of other influencers and other conversations that you've started. Yeah, I have built fantastic relationships with people in the comments.

So at 8 a.m. on every Saturday that I'm able to make it, I am on that that they're live. You can go right to Meredith's LinkedIn profile at 8 a.m. Eastern on Saturdays and it runs. And that's what I do. You know, it's interesting. I go there, I don't wait to find the event. I just know every Saturday morning, you know, I just click on.

So I engage, I comment and I comment for lots of reasons. I love to engage, but I also am looking to network with other people. So, I'm liking other people's comments. And from that I can't tell you how many opportunities and relationships have opened from that. But there's a woman named Natalie Benhamou who runs her suite.

We've become friends, We've been on each other's podcast. We've done like and it all came out of engaging on their podcast engagement. So, you know, don't minimize this is, I think what kind of spurred that the topic today of leveraging influencer content to start conversations. Mark and Meredith attract the same people we're looking to attract in a lot of different ways.

And so starting those conversations, whether they become referral partners or people that can amplify our voice and we can amplify theirs, the influencers that are attracting the same people we want to talk with, it's just an online networking event there, the keynote and all of these commenters are the audience. So you would be networking and having conversations and so it's just find your people, find your influencers, and when you're consistently showing up, you're going to consistently have conversations.

Jack Hubbard: Yes. And let's be very clear, when Brant and I comment on what Meredith and Mark talking about, it's related to the subject. I've seen a lot of people on other live shows that would create a link and say, If you're interested in my coaching business, that's just smarmy. That's just absolutely fabulous. Yeah, it's said.

Well, it's opening day. It's a great opportunity for you to start over and think about this whole idea around influencers. And one thing that I that you brought up and I love make up words, so I do I call them fit fluency. There are millions of influencers out there, but there are some who influence in not such a positive way. You need to make sure you find that the influencers that you have and want to engage with and go on to a conversation are a fit for your organization.

Because once you start down this conversation path and you start to find and maybe they become a client and they come into the branch and they turn the branch upside down and inside out, they're not going to change the way they are. You have to understand that. Is this a fit for me going in and how much do I want to pursue this? So you've got to be real careful about that.

Brynne Tillman: I love that. I think that's a brilliant way to end this. Absolutely. 

Jack Hubbard: Absolutely. I think this is always a fun week, a fun day to be able to do this. It's a special day because it's opening day. And I think this conversation was really important. This is yet another way for you to connect with people out in your community.

I especially love the macro discussion around your community. So the micro discussion around your community is great stuff. Brynne, great to see you. 

Brynne Tillman: Great to see you. Have a great baseball opening day game. Go World Series again. See you next week. 

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Outro

Thanks for joining us for Jack Rants with Brynne, brought to you by our good friends at Vertical IQ and Real Pro. We're live on LinkedIn every Thursday at noon Eastern time, helping bankers turn connections into conversations. Don't miss an episode. Visit the modern Bankrate.com slash team be podcast. Leave us a review, if you would. You can also listen to this program and the new Jack Rabbits with modern bankers on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and iHeartRadio. We're on YouTube as well. Subscribe at YouTube.com slash at the Modern Banker. Finally, don't forget to make today and every day a great client day.