Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at
3:05 pm
How To Channel Your Entire Mortgage Marketing In One Direction For Maximum Results
It doesn’t matter whether you’re using business cards, fliers, door hangers, reports, postcards, newspaper/yellow page advertising, direct mail, or a call-capture system…all of your marketing efforts should be designed with a single purpose and objective…identify and capture the information of new mortgage prospects.
The easiest way to do that is to channel everyone to one place, and that place is your personal mortgage website. When you think about it, it makes perfect of sense.
You’re already involved in a marketing programs that are generating mortgage leads for you, and you also have a personal mortgage website (or at least you should). Combine them effectively and watch your mortgage business grow even faster.
Here’s a specific example using fliers along with your website:
Now, if you’re like most Mortgage Professionals you use fliers or brochures periodically to promote your products and services and generate leads. Unfortunately, you may not be getting the maximum benefit from your marketing material. To do that, you need to combine your flier with your website with “your call to action.”
The most common “call to action” that I see on mortgage marketing material is the infamous statement “Learn more at www.yourwebsite.” There isn’t a single reason given to visit the website, other than the “learn more” enticement. Boring…and, no thank you…I’ll pass!
With some very small adjustments to your marketing strategies, you could easily double your response rates. In fact your response may even be better than that. The nice thing about this is it only takes a little extra effort on your part.
The only thing you need to do is make folks want to visit your website. It’s that simple! There are no instructions to download, no manuals to read, and no mortgage marketing programs with which to invest your money. Simply replace the “learn more at my website” statement with a really good reason for people to visit your website. And the reason you give; offer them a really good “reward.”
Now they’ll want to visit your website and when they do, they are impressed by the information they found and the great “reward” you mentioned in your mortgage flier. Goodness, they’ll even fill in their contact information in exchange for that “reward.” Plus, they’ll probably “bookmark” your website so they can visit it again in the future and possibly notify their friends of your web link.
The key to making this work is the “reward.” You need to come up with a “reward” that people definitely want. I’m not talking about a one or two page report like “Valuable Tips Every Home Buyer Should Know.” I’m talking about a valuable resource of information that people want…that people are willing to down load…and, that people are willing to leave their contact information to receive.
Your “reward” needs to be targeted to the audience that received your offer. Offering great information as a “reward” always works and is simple to deliver. But, your information has to be done properly and look professional. Identity Theft is an example of a hot topic in the minds of most people today. Capitalize on the fact it’s newsworthy and provide valuable information to your prospects. Whatever your “reward,” it can be delivered using email and if you have an auto responder connected to your website, that’s even better.
Your email list will be automatically updated and maintained for you and your new contact will become apart of your drip marketing system receiving your scheduled mortgage marketing messages. You are providing something of real value in exchange for the opportunity to gather information and communicate with a prospective client.
Incorporate this simple concept into all of your marketing efforts and channel them the same way. You’ll dramatically increase your leads, your marketing costs will decline, your database maintenance costs will be less, and a good portion of your follow-up marketing will now be automatic. Yes…that means “hands off.” What more could you ask for?
By: Tom Domin
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Friday, February 26th, 2010 at
11:04 am
Direct marketing is one of the most reliable and productive ways to reach consumers, to motivate them into believing in a product or service, and finally influencing them to make a purchasing decision. Mortgage professionals who offer loan services and programmes recognise this as a viable option to turn their resources to, opening new channels of revenue and leveraging on the phenomenon of more and more people turning to direct marketing as full time profession. Once you have a mortgage mailing list, you must know how to apply direct marketing to it.
Needs identification. This depends entirely on the programmes and services that you have decided to leverage on. The mortgage and subprime markets are awash with individuals who need services ranging from debt/equity mortgage, the renters market and so much more. Potential mortgage brokers must be aware of the valuable connection between product and person. Providers of such loan services have always realised the importance of mailing lists and how they can provide that added enhancement to mortgage prospecting, targeting the right audience, and finally finding the ‘one’ that will definitely be eligible for the loan programme.
Once you have identified the groups of potential prospects, you must act upon it. Industry experts advice that messages, copy, content and even brand messages (and names) have to be tailored to the sort consumers that are being targeted. I have always agreed that personalised marketing messages always attract the customer’s attention. This is an element of direct marketing that is sometimes overlooked and marginalised by the constant need to get the message across to as many people as possible. Remember, loan services and programmes for the mortgage and sub prime markets are not in the same category as consumer goods or lifestyle services, they require an added sincerity and personalisation, as well as more individual time and effort before someone can ultimately agree to a loan programme.
One thing that is also overlooked is the quality of the mortgage mailing lists involved. Many companies offer mortgage lists – compiled from their own expertise – and sell them to direct marketers and mortgage brokers. The database should be highly targeted and should have gone through many levels of checks and balances to ensure its integrity and value to the buyer. Especially for mortgage mailing lists, the database should pinpoint households based on mortgage loan elements, range of properties, the estimated value of the property, interest rate changes, and every aspect of the loan taken (for the household).
This is just an example, but now you realise the field of possibilities and criterion that have to be judged and weighed before anyone can be identified and marked as a potential customer. Be smart when applying direct marketing methods to mortgage mailing lists and always remember the importance of a sincere approach. About getting quality lists? Many websites offer services that go beyond just giving a list that is highly targeted – they provide high quality and profitable lists for the direct marketer – whatever the industry.
So these are just some of the points on how to effectively use direct marketing on mortgage mailing lists. As you go alone, you’ll learn more and more and become more adept at what you do – as is the case for almost anything in the world today.
By: Chris Burns
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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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