As a loan officer, you have a lot going on in your day-to-day, and marketing your services may be an aspect of your business that gets overlooked. But you have to market your business to grow it.
Sometimes this can result in poor, half-efforted strategies as a last-minute addition to a loan officer’s duties. If it does, you will gain very few new leads and may hurt your existing mortgage business.
To avoid this, you need to invest a bit of time and research into finding the best marketing strategies for your company and implementing them. Let’s take a minute to study mortgage marketing ideas for loan officers and how to implement some key strategies.
Key Takeaways
- Understand the difference between a loan officer and a mortgage broker
- Learn effective marketing strategies and the importance of online and offline marketing
Loan officer vs. mortgage broker
Before we jump directly into marketing strategies, it is important to understand the difference between loan officers and mortgage brokers. While they both perform similar jobs, their marketing approach may be slightly different.
What does a loan officer do?
Loan officers typically work for one lender only, closing mortgages based on that one specific lender. When it comes to marketing, it means they are limited to a specific line of lending programs and must cater to a specific client base.
What does a mortgage broker do?
Mortgage brokers represent multiple different lenders, giving them the ability to shop around for the best potential loan for their clients. They have the potential to market a variety of different lending options to a much wider range of potential clients.
Why is online marketing important for loan officers?
There are several reasons why it’s so important for loan officers to market their services online today. Perhaps the most important is that the internet is one of the easiest, most accessible places to find potential clients. With traditional marketing strategies, companies usually need to advertise by city or region with radio ads, billboards, or other ad forms.
But online, you can reach hundreds of thousands more because the internet is everywhere. The best way you can take advantage of this is by doing the proper research and recommendations.
Research
The internet is incredibly useful for doing research, and your potential client pool knows that. They use online resources to research the best lending companies and officers, where to find the most affordable loans, and which loans will work best for their finances and timeline. So, if you have a strong online presence, you are more likely to pop up in searches.
Recommendations
While people use the internet to research the best companies, they will also use it to look up recommendations on the best loan offices as well. If your company has a lot of positive reviews, potential clients will find your business more trustworthy, and they’ll be more likely to solicit your services.
18 mortgage marketing strategies to attract more business
There are many mortgage marketing tactics that you can use to attract more attention to your company. Here are the top 18 you should implement now:
1. Find your niche
Before you can sell your product or services, you need to make sure you know yourself and your business well enough to market it correctly. To do so, you must find your niche. Finding your niche, or the specific segment of your service’s market, can take a little bit of time, but it’s worth it.
If you’re advertising mortgage loans in the same group as student loans, for example, you are very unlikely to find any clients. You need to focus your attention on the niches of the internet where other mortgage loan companies are concentrated and where you’ll find the best clients.
To do this, consider asking yourself the following questions:
- What clients do you want to work with?
- Is your company good at helping first-time buyers or experienced investors?
- Is there a particular geographic location you are more concentrated in?
- Do you specialize in FHA or reverse mortgages?
- What about VA/FHA and refinancing?
2. Referrals
Referrals are a great place to start when garnering a stronger presence. These are already warm leads because the individuals you are asking for referrals from have already worked with you. They already have a good impression of your company from the excellent services you provided them and from the relationship you’ve established with them.
Here are a few tips on how to ask existing clients for referrals:
- Request reviews: After working with an existing homebuyer and closing a deal, let them know how much their business is appreciated and ask them if they would be willing to provide a review of your services.
- Keep your name in front of past clients: Chances are recent homebuyers will not need your services in the near future, however, they can still help your business grow. Periodically checking in with previous clients, such as on holidays or sending a birthday wish, let’s them know that their business is still important to you. When they need your service down the road, they are likely to remember your name and make contact. In addition, the more you nurture a relationship, the more likely they are to recommend you to others.
- Take advantage of their anniversary: Buying a new home is a milestone for any homebuyer so sending an anniversary email or video message on their home purchase anniversary is a great way to stay connected with previous clients and gain potential referrals.
3. Use your social media platforms effectively.
Social media provides you with an incredible platform to share your business, but you need to make sure you use it effectively.
- Get creative with visual content. People love visually interesting content. The more pictures and unique illustrations you can share in your social media posts, the more engagement you can have with your content.
- Use live videos. Normal Facebook videos can generate a lot of interaction, but live videos can generate 10x more engagement and as many as 6x more engagements.
Remember, social media marketing is highly effective at helping you build relationships and advertise your services. It allows customers and potential customers to interact with you and your company in a relaxed setting while simultaneously allowing you to market your services.
Building Relationships
Social media allows you to interact with potential home buyers, real estate agents, and other businesses within your community. These interactions help you build and nurture relationships that can boost your business. Some great ways to help boost these relationships include:
- Comment and engage with posts made by your followers and contacts
- Provide feedback and answer questions posted to your social media
- Ask questions that promote engagement
- Share content that your followers will find valuable
Advertising
While most social media platforms offer advertising options, there are ways to advertise on these platforms that don’t require dipping into your advertising budget. These include:
- Share beneficial and helpful content from your blog or website
- Announce events that you are hosting along with information on how to sign up or join
- Post photos of home closings
- Share listings from real estate partners and tag these partners in your post
- Share reviews from new homebuyers
Different Social Media Platforms
There are a variety of different social media platforms available for you to choose from. These can include:
- Facebook: The largest and most used social media network in the world
- YouTube: YouTube is the second-highest-used social media platform in the world and YouTube marketing and advertising can be a valuable tool for loan officers
- Instagram: Over one billion worldwide users as of 2020, with the majority being in the younger demographic, seeing the most users in the 18-29-year-old bracket
- TikTok: Over one billion users as of 2021, with over 50% of users being under the age of 39
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the number one social media platform for business professionals and B2B Marketing
When considering social media marketing, it is best to determine which of these platforms are most popular to your marketing demographics.
4. Connect and network
It is important to connect and network with other people in your industry. Doing so allows you to build rapport with like-minded individuals and can increase your long-term success. You can accomplish this by providing value through the sharing of tips and industry trends. Doing so proves your authenticity and authority in your field and can build your name and reputation to potential clients. Some ways you can do this include:
- Co-host open houses with your real estate partners
- Get involved in community events, such as sponsoring a charity event
- Host educational classes, such as on improving credit, with a financial partner
5. Email marketing
Email marketing has been around for a while, but that doesn’t make it any less valid. It’s still one of the best digital marketing strategies around because it allows you to segment your audience and address them much more personally. It is done by directly addressing individuals and grouping messages to clients based on their specific needs.
Video email marketing is a technique that allows you to embed video images into a standard email message that the reader can then watch. These videos allow you to provide a unique connection to the reader and offer you a platform where you can provide valuable information. The addition of video to your email marketing campaigns can often boost results. In fact, studies show that 64% of consumers are more likely to purchase goods or services after watching a branded video. When creating email video content, the goal is to create something that offers information your readers can actually use. For example, mortgage news and industry update videos offer educational information, and tours of your local area’s hotspots can give potential homebuyers information on your community.
6. Host virtual events
In today’s busy world, not everyone has the time or availability to attend virtual events. The good news is virtual platforms offer another option that can both be attended live or watched when it is convenient. Some virtual event ideas can include:
- Open office hours: Making yourself available to people when they have questions is essential. With platforms like Zoom, you can offer this availability online. Each week, you can set aside an open Zoom meeting where people can connect and ask any questions they may have.
- Educational webinars: Offering educational webinars are a great way to appeal to potential clients and local partners. You can offer courses on everything from improving your credit score to the importance of creating an emergency fund. These webinars can be scheduled so viewers can watch live and interact with questions and then you can post the recorded webinars to your social media platforms and website so people can view them at any time.
7. Content marketing
In addition to directly talking to your audience through social media and email marketing, you can provide value to your clients by providing educating and engaging content. Online resources like blogs, guest posting, and community forums allow you to help establish authority and demonstrate your expertise to clients and peers alike. When creating engaging content, the sky is the limit. You want to offer a wide selection of valuable information that will attract the attention of potential buyers. This can include:
- Homebuyer checklists
- Financial document checklist for closings
- How-to guides that cover everything from credit repair to preparing for a home walkthrough
8. Adding video marketing
If you feel comfortable creating educational videos and sharing information in video format, consider creating a YouTube channel or publishing videos on your website. Quick, casual videos that provide quality information that is easy to understand by the viewer can be a powerful tool. Sharing these videos on your social media platforms is another way to increase engagement.
9. Have a quality database
Having a quality database can help increase the success of your business. Databases allow you to track the success of different strategies and campaigns you undertake to determine which work best for you, which brings you the most business, and which may need some extra attention.
10. Market to real estate agents
As a loan officer, chances are that most of your clients are already working with a real estate agent. Real estate agents are often likely to recommend loan agents to their potential buyers, so it is essential that part of your marketing strategy includes marketing and partnering with real estate agents. But how do you focus on marketing to real estate agents?
Nurture new relationships
When you plan to market to real estate agents, you must first plan to develop relationships with agents in your local area. The best places to meet these local agents are by visiting open houses, attending trade shows, and connecting through social media platforms. Once you have an initial interaction, your goal is to nurture this new relationship and find ways you can benefit each other.
Create partnerships
Creating a partnership with local real estate agents is a great way to benefit both partners. Working together, you can create new home buyer packets, host open houses, host virtual or in-person seminars or community events, and target audiences that work for both your business goals.
Provide value to your partners
Providing regular value to your real estate partners, such as regular market updates or webinars for their homebuyers, for example, continues to show your agents the value your partnership provides, shows industry authority, and provides a benefit to their bottom line as much as it does yours.
11. Invest in a website
If you do not currently have a website or your website hasn’t been updated in years, it is time to invest in a quality site. In today’s electronic world, a website acts as a virtual storefront, enabling consumers to shop for products, services, and general information when it is convenient for them. If you do not have a website, you are likely missing a lot of potential business and connections. But what makes a quality website? These critical elements are essential to providing a quality website that not only attracts potential leads but also helps to convert them into potential clients.
- Design: When creating your website, your design should be crisp and clean with a focus on making the user’s experience as streamlined as possible.
- CTAs: After providing clear information to the user, you need to create visible calls to action, letting them know what steps they need to take now.
- Client reviews: The goal of your website is to provide the information the user needs but also to begin developing trust with the user. By including reviews from past clients, you can gain credibility and start to establish trust among new users.
12. Create a FREE GBP (Google Business Profile)
When a potential client searches Google for loan officers, you want to come up high in the search results. Creating a Google Business Profile (GBP)is the way to accomplish this goal. Google prioritizes GBP listings in their local searches, often above larger national lenders.
13. Foster a quality online reputation
In today’s digital world, an online reputation can be the key to a thriving business or one that is rapidly sinking. As a loan officer, it is important that you regularly monitor your online reputation. A few bad reviews can quickly reduce the trust potential clients connect to your business, leaving you struggling to find new clients. If you come across poor reviews, do your best to address them quickly and in a transparent manner.
Offline mortgage marketing strategies
While you will likely find most of your marketing strategies rely on online efforts in today’s world, there are marketing opportunities offline that can prove valuable.
14. Buying mortgage leads
Despite all your marketing efforts, sometimes the leads are not always forthcoming. Buying mortgage leads is a simple way to jumpstart your marketing strategy and fill your current sales pipeline.
15. Attending local events
While we have touched on the idea of sponsoring local events, such as a local sports team, attending community events and getting to know the people within your community is a great way to show your commitment to your community and create relationships that can turn into clients and partnerships.
16. Wrapping your car
If you spend a lot of time driving around your local community, it may be beneficial to take advantage of your driving and turn your vehicle into a mobile billboard. Car wrapping allows you to put your brand and face in front of a wide audience of potential clients every time you get behind the wheel.
17. Creating eye-catching flyers
Despite the popularity of the digital world, many potential clients still prefer traditional marketing tools, such as flyers. AS a loan officer, creating eye-catching flyers that provide valuable information to potential clients is key to success. For example, if you are partnering with a realtor for an open house, consider teaming together to create a flyer that highlights the home as well as potential mortgage financing options available.
18. Utilize custom business cards
A well-designed business card can be a valuable tool for both lead generation and developing referral partnerships. They are an inexpensive way to provide your contact information on the go. You never know when you might run into a potential client or referral partner and having a business card on hand allows you to make a connection that might have been missed.
Find success with loan officer marketing
Effective mortgage marketing strategies are vital to the success of any business, and they are critical to mortgage loan officers. Choosing and implementing the right ones can boost and scale your business. Whether you choose to start with social media, email marketing, blogging, or peer-based tactics, it can help you increase your client pool and get your name out there.
To learn more about effective marketing strategies, check out Good Vibe Squad’s Unfair Advantage™, the mortgage marketing system for loan officers designed to help you generate quality leads. To learn more about how our team can help, call today to book a free strategy call.
