Mortgage Marketing in 2017, tips to be the best and beat the rest.

In Mortgage Marketing, it’s the same thing year after year. By the time you figure out what your doing the trend has already changed. This means professionals like yourself have to find the best way to attract and capture the attention of people you can help. We believe that the methods of marketing never actually changes. Only the medium is in constant flux as technology and fads come and go. It’s impossible to stay on top of ALL the best practices and how all the marketing greats are raking in the leads. In an effort give you more time, here are our best tips for Mortgage Marketing in 2017.

“A MAN WHO STOPS ADVERTISING TO SAVE MONEY IS LIKE A MAN WHO STOPS A CLOCK TO SAVE TIME.”

-Henry Ford

Online and Print Marketing

Henry Ford made a clear point when he said that saving money on marketing is a fool’s errand. This holds true today more so than when he said it.

Today, like before, it is hard to grow your loan business without the proper marketing. In 2017, it’s a must to use a two-prong approach. Since we all live in the physical 4D world, you have to promote here. At the same time, you need to scream at the top of your lungs on the internet to get heard even a little.

Traditional Marketing for Mortgages

The last few years have shown that only two forms of traditional marketing have a notable effect: flyers and sign riders. Looking at the data, it surprises me that this is still the case. For some reason, even in today’s digital age when a buyer could leave with a cell phone photo or link, people always like to go with paper in their hand.

I guess it will be a few more years of people “driving around town” in hopes to look at houses for sale. Although people know that pretty much every bit of information is online, they still like to see it and discover it in the concrete world.

Flyers

Good old-fashioned flyers still are a cost-effective way to generate leads. Whether you do them at local events, in the mail or at the local realtor office. Flyers are a great way to showcase what you can offer in a short time. Since everyone still does this, you have to put some work into standing out without looking like spam. Please use the templates in our resource packages to get you started. These are time-tested advertisements.

You can add as much information as you want into a flyer. To make sure that the message is clear and compelling, you should insert necessary information only. The less the write-up, the more people will read the content. If your writing style is more creative and catchy, the chances are that people will pay attention to what they are learning and call you up.

Sign Riders

There is a reason you still see Sign Riders outside every property for sale. Because they work! Today they are a little different than the 90’s as they usually include a big QR code and a custom URL for a website showcasing the property. Potential home buyers will be coming at you from every digital angle to ask for help or information. The digital angle makes it easy for you to add them right in your Sales Funnel.

Digital 101

Collecting Digital leads and traffic from the digital world is imperative today. If you are not spending a big chunk of your budget, you’re leaving money on the table. You may not be comfortable with the change or complexity. However, the second prong of advertisement is just as important as the first today.

This is mainly because of the ease of access and the quick interaction between companies and its future and past customers. Normally you are forced to wait for calls. With social media, especially Facebook or Twitter, people find it easier to open the dialog. Without effort, the customer can send a query via a private message or comment. You are expected to reply, and help them out as expediently as possible. Yes, we know that this can be a 24-hour job. This process creates trust and a level of engagement that eventually leads to the public becoming sales and clients. If no answer is given, the potential customer will ask someone else who will answer the question quickly.

Luckily it’s easy to hire help. Even entry-level employees can do things like adding HD photos and generating fluid presentations. This creates a smooth flow of traffic that you can develop into even more clientele opportunities.

Pro tip. Don’t use content that is not yours.

Social Media Ad’s

One of the most important digital media that you should invest in is Facebook ads. You already know most everyone spends free time on Facebook. It is one of the best places for you to find your target audience.

Setting up ads on Facebook or Twitter is not so hard. The most critical part of a promotion on Facebook is when you will be asked to set your demographic. Please choose things such as age and location to make sure your target market sees the ads. Once you have done this, only the target audience will be able to look at those ads. Over time you can refine this so that the leads will be from serious buyers only. If this seems like too much, you can hire any number of people to go ahead and manage it for you. I have found educated people on both Upwork and Fiverr with mixed success.

Make sure you have a trustworthy brand website.

You need to have a website used exclusively for your company. Today people research a company before they get involved with it. If customers are unable to find a website and facebook page, they automatically assume it to be fake or untrustworthy. Even if your website does not have much information, it should be accurate, original, and updated at least yearly. It exists so that people have no doubts the business is in operation and looking for more customers.

SMS, the digital Flyer

Sending out SMS can also be very useful as many people will pay more attention to their phone than any other forms of advertising. Marketers that have the most success keep the message precise and short. They add the sender’s name so that they know who it’s coming from, which builds trust and gives the customer a clear action.

What’s the best choice?

All of them. Millions of people a day click ads while scrolling social media. Intelligent advertising that pops up for your potential clients may bring in hundreds of more clicks to your website per week. Once you support it with webinars, materials, SMS Text flyers, QR Codes, and 1-800 call capture, you can effectively bring in new business every week. MoreLoans4U offers tools to help simplify all of this if it feels overwhelming starting from scratch.

Image from Dummies.com

What is a Mortgage Loan Lead Funnel

Dayna from Dummies.com says a funnel is a tool for defining who your best leads are and where they are in the lead generation process. I think this is a poetic way of putting it. The process is a lot bumpier than that; however, the message is clear. If you have not done so already, you need to develop your lead funnel. Funnels are often part of the traditional sales process. As illustrated in the image below, it is the entire journey of your customer from Marketing to Sales.

Why you need one

Everyone in sales needs one for the same three reasons: Save Time, Make Money, Never misplace a lead.

Save Time

We don’t have to remind you that your time is your most valuable asset. Knowing who your best chances are and where each person is in the sales process allows you to spend your time better. Meaning, less time spent for more money.

Never misplace a lead.

Nothing is worse than spending time and advertising dollars, only to lose a lead due to lack of organization. Not that you had better leads. Just that you were not able to pay close enough attention to your leads with your current structure. With a proper CRM and sales funnel you will know who needs contacting when they want to talk to you.

How to make a Lead Funnel

There are tons of tutorials online for this, so we will cover it in short by saying you need to get organized and methodical with sales. Put the sales steps in a row and create an action plan for each. However, we live in the days of cloud computing and tracking software that makes it easier. Don’t spend your time keeping people in their proper place in your mind…use a modern CRM. There are many good options, but ours is specifically tailored to you and your client’s needs.

Mortgage Marketing to Realtors and FSBO’s

Options for lead generation are overwhelming. Using Single Property Sites makes it very easy to target two key groups. Namely Realtors and FSBOs, the whales of mortgage marketing leads. As you engage and help more Realtors, their friends will start asking to be a lead generator for you, so they don’t miss out. It is the same way you generate a crowd on the street or at a tradeshow, Free Stuff. Offer realtors and FSBO’s a service that helps save them time and make them money. You will get the same in return.

Realtors

Anyone that has done mortgages for very long has worked with their fair share of Realtors. The process has always been the same. Reach out to a bunch of local people. See who can benefit from your services. Target them and do what you can to stay in their mind till they send you some business.

Why this doesn’t work so well anymore

As you have noticed, we are in the digital age. People are using automated processes that respond immediately. Think about who you’re trying to market to? Realtors now are getting their business from the internet.

It’s 2017, and you have to be different. Lots of realtors are getting leads online today. One of our favorite services to offer is helping them to create a site and make sure they see why working with you will save them time and make you both money. With our tools, this is a simple process and you can go start to finish with little time or previous skill. This allows you to collect leads automatically, freeing up your time to do the part that you’re best at, closing the sale.

FSBO’s (For Sale By Owner)

A lot of mortgage marketers miss out on this vast opportunity. Even though realtors don’t love them, it is one of the best ways you can get leads in 2017. Provide a free service. I know it’s crazy but by far the most underused method by Mortgage Marketers today.

For sale by owner is a stressful process. When it comes down to it, these people would love the help of someone who knows what they are doing. They just don’t want to pay for it. By helping an FSBO with marketing their home, you are transforming their listing into your own exclusive source for leads for both loans and your real estate partners too!

With Moreloans4u’s white-label service you can do this with little time or cost to you. You’re on the side of real estate sales that sellers have not thought much about. Even better, the price does not come from their pockets.

Every FSBO needs the same things.

• Marketing Materials for their house.
• Sorting the Qualified Buyers from the rest.
• Someone to advise and answer fundamental questions.
• Links to lists of steps such as “contract”, “sewer inspection”, “register with the county”
• Finding a good real estate agent to step in when their property does not sell.

Yes, they can find lots of these free online. But if you’re able to offer all this in one spot, it will not only save them time and money but also gain them peace of mind. And in return, the FSBO will provide you with a steady stream of interested buyers who are looking to purchase a home.

Must do’s of 2017 vs. the last five years

Even though much has changed over the years, most are not a requirement in 2017. But this year we have seen Google specifically say that two things are critical and will directly affect how many people see you and how you look.

Mobile first is a must.

We are not the first to say that the vast majority of views on the internet are coming from mobile devices nowadays. Real Estate listings and loans are no different. The internet average of 40/60 (40 percent desktop vs. 60 mobile devices including tablets) holds accurate. So even though we know you love your beautiful graphics, it matters little if no one sees them. All your websites today must have the mobile user browsing on 3g in mind first, as this will probably be the majority of who visits you.

SSL is now a requirement.

Secure Sockets Layer, more commonly known as SSL is no longer a thing only some people do. In a recent statement, Google has said that they warn against the use of any site with a text box that does not have SSL. We understand you may not have a login form on your website or other things that have traditionally needed to be secured. But Google has made it so that even a search box will trigger this warning if you do not have SSL. So if you have a contact form (you really should, if you don’t), then you have to have SSL by 2018 (just two months away).

Digital media is the way to go.

As you now know, digital media has become the prize way of advertising your product. Previously, internet penetration wasn’t as high as it is today. The increase in smartphones has been phenomenal as the cost of getting a smartphone and internet has decreased by a considerable amount. We know that when a market makes it comfortable, people are more likely to participate. Even people in rural areas and third-world countries have adopted the habit of using computers in their everyday life.

Videos are paying off.

The most prominent search engine after Google is now YouTube (also owned by Google). People prefer watching videos than reading long articles online. Plus, you now have almost every type of video available. Some say that it’s even less time-consuming. If you plan on a marketing budget, you should be uploading and promoting your videos on YouTube.

Final Words

We didn’t even have time to cover all kinds of things here! Like what is the best use of mortgage marketing budget in 2017 when focusing only on millennials. Since 42% of all house purchases are done by millennials now, it’s obvious this has made a significant shift the last couple years. More to come!