Standing out as a mortgage lender can be difficult. Most lenders look the same to prospective borrowers. To complicate matters, many homebuyers don’t understand exactly what to look for in a lender. They lack knowledge on the lending process. They’re not sure which features and products will benefit their individual situations.
So, what should you do to get their attention and drive them through your sales funnel?
In modern times, digital marketing and technology are vital to targeting new prospects, as well as staying in front of existing customers to drive repeat and referral business. Let’s talk about the best methods you can use to win market share and achieve long-term success.
Leveraging industry relationships is a game-changing way to drive mortgage leads. Learn how in our free ebook “Winning Agent Business.”
Building a mortgage lead funnel
Best Lead Management Software there are many routes you can take to generate leads for your mortgage company. A popular method is to buy lead lists. This is where you purchase a long list of names and phone numbers from a lead generation company and make your rounds cold calling.
Sales Leads Management Software buying leads has drawbacks. For one, you don’t have a pre-established relationship with these prospects. They have no idea who you are and have no reason to trust you. At best, you’ll need to hound leads at high frequency to gain traction. At worst, you risk getting hit with a spam report, potentially resulting in costly penalties. On top of all that, many CRM platforms, whether mortgage or otherwise, don’t allow or strongly disincentivize the upload of purchased lead lists.
Lead Management Systems if you want to effectively reach today’s home buyers, you need to create an online presence through smart digtal marketing methods. Today, millennials and Gen Zs make up a third of home buyers. According to Maxwell’s Millennial and Gen Z Borrower Sentiment Report, more than a quarter feel that they have “very little” or “no” knowledge about the mortgage process, and a third find the process to be confusing. An overwhelming amount of these buyers said they search online for information to guide them through home buying.
That leaves a huge opportunity for you to provide education, form trust, and become this huge home-buying cohort’s lender of choice.
when done right:
- Incorporates search engine optimization (SEO)
- Answers the specific questions your audience has
- Is engaging and actionable
- Lays out information straightforwardly and incorporates your brand’s tone and voice
- Delivers valuable information before it asks anything of your customer
- Ends with a call to action (CTA) prompting leads to learn more, fill out a form with their email address, get in touch, etc.
Remember to publish your content on a regular cadence, even if that means an article just once a month. Producing high-quality content can be time-consuming. Evergreen pieces—meaning pillar articles, videos, etc. that remain relevant over time—can serve you for years with a few updates. Lastly, if the resources for content production are tight, freelancers from Upwork and other contractor sites can help you test out the concept cost-effectively.
Lead generation method: Social media marketing
Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and others have made it harder for businesses to promote themselves online in recent years. Facebook, namely, has slashed the number of people that can be reached organically through normal, unpaid posts by businesses in an effort to push their advertising platform.
But even with all of the changes, social media is still a fantastic way to connect with your current and past customers, as well as acquire new ones.
Facebook is an easy place to share, create, and promote news, your content, and special offers. It’s fast and straightforward to make a quick post and to share your company’s latest article or video. Facebook is also a great way to display your trustworthiness as a lending institution. Prospective customers will look up as much information as they can about your firm before they ever ask you to help them originate a mortgage. Having a Facebook page with good reviews, followers, and activity will help them legitimize your services, making them more likely to reach out.
Real estate agents, other loan officers, investors, developers, and more all interact with each other on LinkedIn. Building a company page or doing your own cold outreach is a fantastic way to start building a powerful referral network.