If you’re not digital, you’re in trouble.
In fact, from independent loan officers to boutique mortgage brokerages, private money firms, banks and high volume national mortgage lenders, if you haven’t implemented an effective barrage of digital marketing strategies, your time in the industry is going to be pretty limited.
Here are thirteen digital marketing tools, tactics and mediums to use to create a more modern and effective funnel, campaigns and to maximize loan volume and profits.
Search and SEO has been one of the biggest areas of opportunity for mortgage marketing over the past decade. It isn’t going anywhere either. It may continue to evolve with voice and image based search engines, though will likely continue to be anchored by text based content. Google is clearly the big dog in this field, though there are other intermediaries which continue to try and compete.
SEO is hugely complex. It covers a vast amount of ever changing factors. It is a full time job for an expert team to keep up with on a monthly basis.
SEO encompasses keyword research, tagging, linking, on page and off page SEO, page structure and speed, authority, uniqueness and so much more.
If there is one area in which mortgage professionals and companies still have the means to make an impact here, which can deliver short to medium term gains, with incredible value, it is probably mortgage blogging.
Online ads play a crucial role in mortgage branding and lead generation today. There is a lot that falls under this umbrella, including image ads, banner ads and text ads. They can appear in Google search and across the Google display network, as well as in Gmail inboxes. CPM ads are an option too. Though most mortgage marketers on a budget may prefer the predictability and tackability of PPC more. It’s fast and easily scalable. However, PPC has recently been plagued with a lot of click fraud, and competition and novice marketers are making it more difficult to navigate. Without realistic expectations in terms of budget, a full funnel and the time involved to get from click to closing this can prove to be a very frustrating medium as well.
Retargeting ads are used to complete those follow up touches required to get from initial engagement to conversion. They shouldn’t be ignored. Yet, the recent lawsuits against Facebook have also made targeting ads in general far more challenging, ineffective and costly. Many targeting filters have been stripped away to help prevent discrimination. That is a good cause. It is just going to deplete the cost effectiveness of this medium even further. Google is also running into trouble here. Most recently being fined $1.7B for its monopoly in Europe, where it controls at least 70% of the ad market.
Social is clearly a core part of digital marketing today. Increasing adoption means it is only growing in importance. Many members of our younger generations may never send an email or letter in the mail. They may never even make a traditional phone call. Yet, they are active on social. Just be alert to how usage of social media platforms is changing. Many will never use Facebook. Instagram and Snapchat have become much more popular. Trump made Twitter popular again. LinkedIn continues to be a top choice of real professionals and executives.
Email is still a very common form of digital. As long as mortgage borrowers are still heavy users of email that’s unlikely to change. Though this will have to morph over time too. Younger generations don’t use email. Mobile phone numbers are becoming sticky and are replacing former uses of email.
Given text’s core role in online and digital marketing today article marketing still offers a valuable channel for mortgage professionals and lenders. What works in this arena has changed over the years with more competition and ever changing Google preferences and penalties. Today it is all about high quality and uniqueness that rules. Prioritize quality over quantity if you hope to win in this medium.
While not everyone is an expert at creating video and it can certainly be far more intensive and costly than text content, it is growing in importance.
Educational webinars and live events broadcast on the web still appear to be a high performing digital channel. Time intensive, but well worth testing out.
Podcasting seems to be displacing traditional blogging. Though both can work better in tandem with each other.
Online classified ad directories like Craigslist still seem to be a staple for the real estate industry. Yet, increasing amounts of fraud and junk marketing may rapidly devalue this platform. Everything in marketing is cyclical.
Amazon is unlikely to allow its ebook business to fade out anytime soon. Writing your own books can be a fantastic branding and marketing tool, which can go on providing value for years.
While phone numbers used to be highly disposable, their integration with just about everything via apps today make them a much more valuable list asset than they have been since everyone had a landline. This is especially true in banking and finance. This medium offers a fast, low cost way to continue to engage and get noticed.
Ringless voicemail campaigns bring all the advantages of texting, but with an added human and personalized touch. As we see other digital marketing avenues peak and contract, this could be the optimal moment to embrace ringless.
