Saturday, June 26th, 2010 at
3:34 am
If you want to promote a mortgage program, be prepared to pay a pretty penny if you try to utilize online advertising methods such as Google Adwords. Currently, in order to grab the keyword ‘mortgage’ you will have to pay at least $10.95 per click. This means if you get 1,000 clicks to your mortgage program, you will have to pay $10,950. And with the average conversion rate being just 1 percent, that means you’ll only be getting 10 sales. Now, maybe if you’re a mortgage company you can afford to pay $10,950 for 10 sales, since you’ll be making hundreds of thousands more. But if you’re an affiliate promoting a mortgage program, you should consider a better alternative… mortgage leads.
What are mortgage leads? Mortgage leads are a collection of data pertaining to individuals that would be interested in a mortgage or refinancing loan. They are gathered by marketing companies who use a variety of methods both online and offline to collect them. Some of these methods involve extracting data from public records. Others use methods that make it easier to acquire more personal information. For example, a marketing company could conduct an online survey of a group of individuals. Or, maybe they get the data from realtors, banks or other entities having access to such information. Either way, most mortgage leads will contain enough information to allow for a direct mail campaign. This means at the very least, a basic package of mortgage leads will provide you with a person’s name and address and whether or not they own a home.
There are also more specific mortgage leads. These are known as mortgage trigger leads or exclusive mortgage leads. Mortgage trigger leads collect data based on a person’s credit report. Usually, with mortgage trigger leads, the person had just made an inquiry, indicating they are obviously interested in a mortgage loan. Mortgage trigger leads are a bit more expensive, because they target a niche of people that are very interested in getting a loan. This translates into a better conversion rate.
Then there are exclusive mortgage leads, another type of more specialized mortgage leads. They do not target highly-convertible leads like mortgage trigger leads do, but they offer another invaluable advantage… exclusivity. Just as their namesake indicates, with exclusive mortgage leads, your list is sold only to you. This means that you don’t have to worry about other marketers or mortgage companies trying to reach the clients that you are also trying to advertise to. But, just like mortgage trigger leads, expect to pay a little bit more for the exclusivity.
Price-wise, the fees associated with mortgage leads will depend on the company you decide to work with. But generally, they will range from a few cents to a few dollars. If you’re low on funds, it’s best that you just order the minimal amount of mortgage leads, like maybe 1,000 or so. From there you need to decide how you’re going to do your direct mail campaign. Believe it or not it doesn’t have to be fancy. There are plenty of marketers that use regular stamps and Microsoft Office-created flyers to advertise to their mortgage leads. In fact, doing things this way is a great method to affordably determine if your mortgage leads will convert. All you have to do is get a pack of 100 stamps, (which are available from USPS for just $41), a color cartridge, a pack of paper and envelopes. All together these things should cost less than $100. From there, you can test your market, mailing out flyers to 100 mortgage leads at a time. You’ll want to aim for a 10 percent conversion rate, which means 10 sales. If you’re not getting the sales you’re looking for, you can consider changing your flyer or even thinking about whether your mortgage leads were worthwhile to begin with.
Disclaimer:This blog or article is for information purpose only, and should not be treated a professional advise or price protection guarantee. This blog is mainly used for search engine optimization and other commercial purposes and it is advised that readers seek professional consultation in the field of interest for more information.
By: Black Book Data
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Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at
3:34 am
So you have been writing mortgages like crazy now for the last few years. You have a pretty big database of customers and hopefully you have been getting and keeping full contact information for them. An organized database is the first key to customer retention.
The next step is to put together a direct mail campaign to keep these customers thinking about you when they think about mortgages. It is often years between times when each customer needs a mortgage professional, and it takes far less than that for them to forget your name. As well as fighting time, you are fighting indifference. Customers who get great service are often reluctant to pass that information along, while customers who feel they have gotten poor service will tell everyone. Most of the time good customers need to be reminded of their experience. By following up with each customer on a regular basis you will not only stay in the front of their mind but you will also start to build a reputation as a solid and responsible business.
So how do you get started? Below are a couple of the most frequently asked questions when starting a campaign to keep in touch with past clients.
What Type of Direct Mail Piece Works Best?
There is a great debate amongst Mortgage Professionals about what type of direct mail will work best for getting new business. Many swear by letters for their appearance of professionalism, while others like the low cost and high visibility of postcards. Overall, both seem to work adequately for bringing in new business. You just need to find which works best for you personally.
For keeping in contact with past customers, however, the way to go is postcards. This is due to the fact that if your customers are not currently looking for a mortgage for themselves, they are far less likely to take the time to open a letter. That causes most of your “keep in touch” promo that is in envelopes to get thrown out before it ever gets read.
Since the goal is recognition and not direct action you only need to get them to read the message. Postcards have the message visible when mailed, which means that while your customers are deciding what to read and what to throw out, they are already being exposed to your message.
How Often Should I Send Promo?
You will want to mail a piece to your database every 30-60 days. Any longer than that and they may have already forgotten you when their friends are looking for a mortgage. Since you will want to send promo out often, you will need to keep your costs down. With postcards there are no envelope costs, no assembly costs and the postage is 30% less than letters. When using a mail house to send your postcards you can often get postage rates as low as 18¢ per piece.
What Should Be On My Brand Recognition Pieces?
There are some basic rules for the design of a brand recognition direct mail piece.
Rule #1: Keep color consistent.
Many times people fall into the trap of changing the look of their promo for the seasons or for the holidays. The thought is that people are thinking about Christmas or St. Patrick’s Day so they will respond better to promo with those colors. The truth is exactly opposite. Their senses are so flooded by those images that they actually start to skip right over them. Pick a color for your company and stick with it. You will do much better in building recognition.
Rule #2: Make a logo and use it on every piece.
Having a clean, professional logo is best. It may be a little pricey to have designed but in the end it is well worth the money. Experienced designers can often charge up to $2000 for a corporate identity package including logo, letterhead and business cards. If you aren’t looking to make that type of investment simply pick a type style for your company name and use it every time. Consistency is key because your logo is your main identification point.
Rule #3: Make it Informative.
Every piece should have something useful for your customers. Whether it is new information about the mortgage industry or even possible investment properties in their area, it can even be completely unrelated to the mortgage industry. A calendar or list of emergency numbers, even the old recipe card trick still works pretty well. Anything that is likely to be kept around will help to build recognition in the minds of your past customers.
The mortgage industry has experienced a huge amount of growth over the past few years. Unfortunately this growth cannot last forever. At some point it is going slow down and the only way to keep your income in the range that you have become accustomed to is to ensure that you retain as many past customers as you possibly can.
A direct mail campaign is the best way to do this, but remember, this type of program is a long term process. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t directly calculate the amount of money that you bring in right off the bat. What you are doing is burning your name into the minds of your customers. Eventually it will work out to you seeing less attrition and far more referrals.
By: Joe Niewierski
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at
7:06 pm
How To Set Up A Totally Free Direct Mail Program For Your Mortgage Business
Glad to see that this article caught your attention. You’re going to love this amazing little direct mail mortgage marketing strategy.
This super simple idea will actually allow you to mail 500 or 1,000 or 10,000 or even more…postcards and/or fliers each week for free…all of this without you having to pay one single cent for postage. In fact, this idea is so profitable, that a number of mortgage professionals notified me that they replicated the idea multiple times and created their own lucrative direct mail companies outside of their mortgage businesses. Now that’s powerful!
Forgive me for jumping ahead here. Let’s start back at the very beginning and explore the details of this idea.
The most expensive part of a direct mail campaign is your postage. For that reason alone, you may not currently be using direct mail in your mortgage business. Your next most expensive item will be your list. The postcard might cost you a few cents apiece to print depending on your quantity. So that’s almost nothing.
What all of this boils down to is that it’s pretty tough to get a mailing out these days for less than 55 cents each or maybe 65 cents apiece. So that makes direct mail pretty darn pricey. So here’s what you do to avoid paying postage, list rental, printing, and even make a profit using this idea.
First, you find out how many people live in your marketing area. What you want is the number of residences in your area. The post office will show you how to do a “Dear Resident” mailing. The post office will deliver your “Dear Resident” postcard very cheap if you are trying to hit every household in a certain zip code or set of zip codes.
If you’d like to personalize the carrier envelope, just look under the Yellow Pages under the category labeled “Mailing Lists,” and you’ll find a list of local companies that can help you. However, personalization is not a requirement. In fact, most loan officers that use direct mail address their offers to “Dear Resident.” You’ll also find this reduces costs substantially.
Second, let’s say you find out that there are some 12,275 residences in the targeted area you want to reach. What you now do is approach other businesses that would also be interested in reaching these same people with a postcard advertisement. Ask these businesses if they would like to spend, say, 20 or 25 cents instead of 55 or 65 cents to reach a potential customer in their target market.
As a reminder, only approach businesses with this idea that are not competing with you and your mortgage business. There are tons of businesses willing to participate and a good letter promoting the concept will keep your waiting list constantly filled.
All of this sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?
Well, it is. In fact, the odds are good you already receive a mailing like this. There are a number of companies out there that will provide this service for you at a cost. They are called “card deck mailings.” Just type “card deck mailing” into Google, and you’ll see all kinds of companies come up in the listing that will do your card deck mailing for you. Better yet, when you receive your next mailing…call and check out their pricing. Your card will be ganged in with all the other merchants.
But here’s the simple truth. You can save a lot of money my doing these mailings yourself. They are really very easy to do. There is something to be said for that old adage “If you want it done right, do you it yourself.” You’ll have total control of the process. And especially total control of who is getting your mailing. Very often, the “card deck” mailing companies hit to big a geographical area and include too many folks outside your marketing area. So, do it yourself so you can be certain you’re only paying to reach those people you want to reach.
Also, you can gang together more than just postcards in an envelope. You can also gang fliers, letters and other advertising materials. Although I have seen some “card deck” mailings arrive in clear shrink wrap, plain old envelopes work just great.
But whether you do it yourself, or use a company that specializes in card deck mailings, this is a very cost effective way to advertise your business in your local marketing area.
But there is one key you need to be mindful of to make this kind of a mailing work for you. You need to make sure your mortgage message stands out from the other messages in your mailing package. Again, don’t offer this opportunity to your competitors…only to those businesses that want to reach the same people in your marketing area.
Here’s a great opportunity to actually make money in two businesses.
You’ll make money in your mortgage business by promoting your company via your mailing…that is, with your own postcard or flier. And, you can make lots of money selling your direct mail program to your co-op mailing partners. Just mark-up the cost. A 15% mark-up or so to compensate you for your work and initiative is certainly reasonable, and you’ll still be under pricing the big national “card deck” mailing services. When you get all your prices together, you may find that you can demand an even larger mark-up.
Start mailing your co-op mailings once a month, and then increase the frequency as you get your systems and procedures in place. I’m sure you can see that there is some great money to be made doing this. If you’ve got some guts and ambition, you can work this system to a point where you are mailing countless card decks and other co-op mailings per week with very little if any cash outlay. Your co-op mailing partners are funding the entire process and even paying in advance for the privilege of working with you.
I’ll let you do the math here on what you could make with this idea if you just mark-up the cost a minimum of 15% to your co-op mailing partners. You may need to consider a part-time assistant early on to make this work for you. Of course, nothing will work if you don’t work the plan. To get this system up and running will take a little initiative and some oomph on your part.
At the very least, use this little trick to conduct direct mail marketing campaigns for your mortgage business at no cost to you. It’s not at all hard to find six or eight or ten or more businesses that will be more than happy to sign-up for the program and participate with you.
This is a great idea…drop me an email or give me a call…I would love to hear of your success with this program.
By: Tom Domin
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