This article will discuss three simple marketing ideas for mortgage loan originators. Buying a house can be stressful, particularly for a first-time home buyer. Getting approved for a mortgage loan can be one of the greatest sources of anxiety.
Getting started as a brand new licensed loan officer can be challenging. The job is very complex. There can be thousands of case scenarios. Starting out as a newly licensed loan officer can be difficult because not only do you need to learn the guidelines of the dozens of mortgage loan options which can be confusing, but you also need to market yourself to get business.
One of the biggest factors for a client in choosing a loan officer is finding someone they trust. Since taking out a mortgage has such serious implications, people need to feel like they can get their questions answered by someone with their best interest at the forefront and knowledge of the market.
Gain The Borrowers’ Faith and Trust
We often forget that we were once on the other side of the client relationship. We forget what it’s like to be an expert and what it’s like to be them. Hey, it’s easy to do, and it’s a phenomenon often called “familiarity blindness.”
Being a loan officer can be a highly-paced rewarding career. However, marketing is the toughest part of being a loan officer. Use your creativity when marketing. Look at the competition. What can you do better than your competition that makes you stick out.
Assuming that these traits describe you, how can you market yourself in a way that demonstrates your trustworthiness? Read on! In this article, we will discuss and cover Three Simple Marketing Ideas For Mortgage Loan Originators.
1st of The Three Simple Marketing Ideas For Mortgage Loan Officers
Be a Teacher, Not a Salesman. Educate your borrowers. Educate your realtor partners. Be available 7 days a week. Well, certainly everyone thinking about buying a home understands that you have to factor in the cost of home owner’s insurance, right?
Remember that knowledge is king when it comes to becoming the best of the best mortgage loan originator. Also learn the newest products that hit the marketplace. Study the mortgage markets and housing values in your targeted areas.
I mean, that’s pretty basic stuff. In reality, your clients may not be familiar with those costs – or even worse, may be making decisions based on inaccurate information they picked up along the way.
2nd Marketing Ideas For Loan Officers
The 2nd of The Three Simple Marketing Ideas For Mortgage Loan Originators is being a teacher to your borrowers. This is the perfect example of why you need to have a teacher’s mentality with your clients.
Borrowers should know the ins and outs of the mortgage process. The steps of the mortgage process should be taught in a simple form to borrowers. Explain the role of the set-up desk, the role of the mortgage process, the mortgage underwriter, the closing department and funding departments.
The good news is – being a teacher is also an outstanding marketing tactic. One of the best ways to share your expertise is through your website/blog.
A Great Loan Officer is a Great Teacher
This is also an opportunity to build your own brand, as a loan officer who is a true expert in the field and someone that will be open and honest with their clients. That is why I love the business philosophy “We make life-time friends with our clients”. It shows that this company really cares about its clients and empowers them by keeping them educated about the process.
Knowing The FAQ By Homebuyers and Homeowners
It’s a great feeling to know what is going on with the largest financial transaction in a person’s life. A great way to implement this is to write down the most common questions you hear, and then take time to answer those questions on your website in a more general way. For instance, if you get a phone call today and someone asks “Can I still buy a house if I don’t have a down payment?”
Take Your Message on Blogs, Social Media Sites, Video, Email Marketing
Answer the question over the phone, then come back later and create a blog post titled “Can I Buy A House Without a Down payment?” and write out an informative answer.
Brand yourself. The best, fastest, and cheapest way to branding yourself and make yourself known is through social media. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedln, email marketing, and other social media platforms. The more you get out in the public, the better reputation you will have and the more clients you will have knocking on your doors.
If someone asked you that question, you can rest assured that many other people are asking the same question of Google. The second way is similar to the first. You’ll still be using your website as your platform to share information. But this time you’ll be doing keyword research to find out exactly what questions/topics you should be targeting.
3rd Marketing Tactic For Mortgage Loan Originators
Keyword research is important because it tells you how often things are searched for, and it tells you how difficult it would be to rank near the top of Google for that search phrase (AKA keyword). The ideal strategy is to find keywords that have low competition. Meaning that you can rank on page 1 of Google faster and easier. Send Lumpy Mail Snail mail is dead, right?
Research, research, research marketing strategies. Creating your own custom website is a great idea. However, it will take six months to a year worth of hard work to get a new mortgage website known. If you can make the time and commitment in devoting several hours a day on your website, it will pay off and you will be rewarded.
You might assume that sending out direct mail would simply be wasting your money. But here’s something a little different to try: Danielle Lue, owner of Stitch to My Lue Promotions, has found that spending a little on “lumpy” mail goes a long way.
Make The Borrower Feel Important With Five-Star Service
She defines lumpy mail as any traditional/snail mail that “clearly contains a “gift” inside, thus “lumpy” mail. The recipient can feel the item in the packaging, prompting them to open it! This can be anything from stationary to magnets to pens.
If you were to ask me what social media platform is the most important for you to get known and new business, it is the online reviews. Zillow, Better Business Bureau, YELP, Google My Business Review, Bird Eye, Glass Door, and other online review sites is a must. Every borrowers will Google you and thoroughly read your reviews.
Response rates jump from 1-2% to over 30-50% with this approach according to some sources. Danielle gave an example of sending out a branded USB charger, but you could do anything small, creative item that might tie into buying a home. Giving a small, thoughtful gift will get people to open your mail and make them more likely to respond since you took a ‘give first’ approach.
Getting Free Publicity With Marketing Ideas For Mortgage Loan Originators
Getting Free Publicity is part of the Three Simple Marketing Ideas For Mortgage Loan Originators. One of my favorite marketing techniques that I’ve heard of actually doesn’t cost a dime. It works exceptionally well for loan officers and real estate professionals. If you’ve not heard of HARO – Help a Reporter Out – you are missing out on free publicity. The idea is that journalists, bloggers, and others in the media use HARO to send out queries when they are up against a deadline and need a source.
Be Different Than The Competition
You simply need to sign up for their emails, and you’ll get about 3 emails per day full of questions that you can respond to in the hopes of being quoted in their story. The idea is that you really give excellent answers to any query you respond to. Be thorough and in-depth, so you are more likely to be used in the story. When your quote is included, you’ll typically have a link back to your website in addition to the great publicity and notoriety you receive by being cited as an expert on a major media outlet’s story. It’s truly a win-win.
Marketing Ideas For Mortgage Loan Originators That Works
The author of this article Marketing Ideas For Mortgage Loan Originators is Michael Gracz, the National Sales Manager of Gustan Cho Associates.
Just think about it, loan officers need to possess much real-world knowledge about clients, their backgrounds, and their current financial situation. In this article, we will discuss and cover social media marketing for loan officers and mortgage lenders.
Relaying the Best Interest of Borrowers Through Social Media Marketing For Loan Officers
The mortgage loan officer should always act in the client’s best interest and take a vested interest in the client’s history. Your loan officer will go through your background when you apply for a loan. The loan officer should learn your life story from the past few years. In addition, loan officers can offer advice to adjust your spending habits if you aren’t the most qualified borrower. The loan officer should be able to increase your credit score to obtain a loan down the road easier.
Social Media Marketing For Loan Officers With Proper Planning
Unfortunately, where many mortgage loan officers do fall flat is utilizing social media to grow their client base and advance their branding. You can’t just go on social media and throw everything at the wall without rhyme or reason. The following items are what you can do to get in tune with social media and use this as a valuable resource to jump-start your career.
Understanding Technology With Social Media Marketing For Loan Officers
First and foremost, you need to understand social media. How will you utilize this resource if you truly don’t understand it? You first need to realize that you cannot turn into a spam-blasting machine. Social media is not to be used as your messaging service to harass the few followers that you do have. Think about it like this, when you receive all that junk mail daily, how much do you read? The answer is simple, ZERO. Take this to heart with social media. If you don’t think you would read it, don’t waste your time posting it.
Organic Unique Content
Secondly, you need to develop and broadcast your organic content. This ties to my previous blog about organic content and backlinking it to your website/blog.
You can use Facebook to post links and a brief description of the new blog post on your website. You always want to drive traffic back to your website.
Social Media Marketing For Loan Officers With New Content
Finally, the last few things you need to do is realize anything you post is SOCIAL, and you need to stay active on social media as well. First of all, remember that anything you post can be saved or shared, which can be good or extremely bad for your career, especially if you post something offensive. Remember to share educational and informative posts that people can use and take to heart.
Hopefully, this was a crash course for you, and it is just the tip of the iceberg of the type of training you will get from Gustan Cho Associates. Please visit our website at www.gustancho.com.
