7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW before you spend your hard-earned money on marketing.
The following will help you get the best bang out of your marketing dollar.
Know your competitors
Put yourself in a potential borrower’s shoes. It’s always wise to know what your clients are getting when they go to other brokers or lenders. Find out everything you can about your competitors and develop your unique positioning in the market.
Know your product
Learn the key attributes of the program as well as how it compares to others in the market. What are some of the pros and cons of each? How does each benefit different types of borrowers?
Many mortgage professionals are reluctant to begin marketing because they lack a comfort level or familiarity with the product they’re offering. The fear of questions that may be difficult to answer is only a roadblock for as long as you allow it to be. You can increase your confidence by studying the program or getting introductory training first.
Know your value proposition
Understanding the value behind Silver Hill’s innovative program features will help you develop a higher level of comfort with the product.
Why should your clients care about low down payments, terms up to 30 years, quick closings, fully amortizing loans, no loan covenants and other program advantages? How important or valuable are these benefits to the borrower? Be ready to present the answers to clients specific to their scenarios.
Know your audience and how to reach them
On the residential side of the mortgage industry, almost everyone you speak with is a potential client for either purchase or refinance business. However, that’s not the case in commercial lending. You can greatly increase the return on your marketing dollars by making sure your message gets delivered to prospective commercial real estate investors, commercial property owners, and/or real estate agents who actively deal in or are interested in entering the small-balance commercial market.
On the retail side, we’ve seen clients experience great success by segmenting their target audience by occupation (for example, doctors, lawyers, CPAs), property type, or referral source (targeting real estate brokers, financial planners and bankers).
Know how to effectively speak to your audience
Speak to them in their language. It’s important to remember that some borrowers may not understand what “high LTV” or “no minimum DSCR” really means. In order to make sure these great selling points aren’t lost, feel free to use simpler terms. “Low down payments” and “the property doesn’t have to generate a minimum amount of income” express the same ideas as the above – but in a way even a novice borrower can understand. Remember, if they don’t know what it means or why it’s important, it won’t have an impact.
Know the right vehicle for your audience and budget
Once you decide who you want to target, and you have an idea of how much you want to spend, you can choose the best media for reaching your target audience effectively. Is your audience web savvy? Do they read specific magazines or newspapers? Do they attend specific tradeshows? You get the idea. Depending on the size of your budget, you may need to start with just one medium.
Know the response rates of all your efforts
Make sure you’re tracking responses for each and every campaign you execute.Tracking your return on investment (ROI) is an absolute must. It will allow you to know if what you’re doing works. Build in a system for measurement even if it’s simple.
