How to Identify and Attract your Ideal Mortgage Leads
Communication works best when it’s targeted to a specific audience. To create an effective marketing campaign for your mortgage business, you must identify and understand your target market. Here are five questions to ask… and answer:
- Who’s your target audience?
- What problem of theirs are you trying to solve?
- How do you do it?
- What’s your value proposition and why then should they go with you?
- How do you retain them?
Know Your Strengths and how they’re Relevant to Your Target Audience
Generic marketing campaigns are often ineffective because they don’t catch anyone’s attention. Simply casting a wide net may produce some results, but competing mortgage businesses can siphon away your business by stressing expertise in a specific area.
The first step in a targeted marketing campaign is to understand which consumers are most likely to choose your mortgage loan products. Where does your primary expertise lie?
Do you cater to first-time homebuyers, focusing on helping those new to the mortgage loan process? Are you well versed in the refinance market, with experienced consumers that are more price-focused and adept at negotiation? Would other niche markets like retirees or those looking for vacation homes find your experience useful?
Potential customers don’t care if you have a wide variety of expertise in mortgage loans. They only care if you have the expertise that fits their needs. How are your strengths relevant to your target audience? You must make that case through well-focused marketing.
You can still go after a wide net, but ensure that you’re able to prioritize. You should have more invested in the segment that best meets your strengths and has a higher Return on Investment. And for those that have a smaller ROI, consider how can you still service them, but with fewer resources and lower costs to make the pursuit worthwhile.
Find the Optimum Outlets
Any marketing campaign should have a strong online presence through websites and social media. Even consumers who prefer doing business face-to-face are likely to find your company through some form of online outreach.
To help potential mortgage customers find your site, make sure that your online content contains keywords that properly reflect the market segment that you are after, such as “first-time homebuyers” or “affordable refinancing”.
Your social media presence must be matched up with the demographics of your target market. This allows you to allocate your online advertising product properly toward outlets that will provide the best result. Facebook, LinkedIn, and other outlets should have data readily available to assist you with your choice.
Catch Their Attention with Your Content
Once you find your target audience and choose the best channels to communicate with them, the challenging work begins. Today’s consumer has a short attention span. Your online content must grab your target market’s attention through concise and meaningful headlines, and follow through with information that they need to make educated decisions. Make sure that your content is timely and accurate. In this age of “fake news”, potential customers are suspicious of pie-in-the-sky promises that you can’t deliver. Strive for ethical and honest interactions with potential customers, and they could end up marketing your services to their friends for free!
If you are trying to enter a new market segment, your message is even more important. How do you convince consumers that you can meet their needs without a track record to show for it? Your blogs and webpages must provide relevant, useful information about that market segment to show potential customers that you understand the field and can offer them a superior mortgage loan.
Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin
In short – don’t try to be everything to everyone. Mediocrity will be the likely result. You are unlikely to gain new business and competitors will encroach on the business that you already have. If you have to cast a wide net, or offer multiple products, make sure you have product or market experts who can concentrate on those specific areas. Stay focused and success will follow.
