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 18ยข 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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