Are you with a mortgage company looking for new business? Here are some new ideas for mortgage lead generation.
With mortgage interest rates on the decline and people still scrambling to buy and refinance homes, it’s a good time to be a mortgage lender. But finding new leads is not a process where “if you build it, they will come” applies. You want to be proactive in reaching prospects to get ahead of your competition.
Buying lists of leads may work for some companies. But using them puts you in the position of cold calling your prospects. People are growing weary of being constantly marketed to, and this approach is likely to scare them away.
The best ways to promote mortgage lead generation involve turning cold approaches into warm ones. This means applying modern technology that connects with your prospects how they want to be reached. It involves a true understanding of how people interact with technology and the internet, but the payoff means more engagement with prospects.
Read on to learn five better ways to approach mortgage lead generation.
Maintain A Quality Website
The first step for mortgage lead generation is to make sure your company website is on point. It must be fully functional, easy to navigate and look professional. You should also make it accessible to users regardless of their abilities and impairments, considering guidelines set by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Be sure your website is also functional on mobile browsers, as most of your prospects use smartphones for internet browsing. Designing your own mobile app is great, but don’t neglect your website for prospects who don’t want to download something new.
Why is this important? While having a live website won’t send prospects flocking to you, a website with poor design will turn people away. A good website is the foundation for all other practices outlined below and will make or break your business plan.
Content Marketing
Have you wondered why so many business websites have a blog? It’s actually part of an effective advertising strategy called content marketing. These blogs contain informative articles about all aspects of a business, geared to a variety of new audiences. Ideally, these articles are engaging and not too focused on sales.
They also conform to certain best practices for search engine optimization (SEO). SEO guidelines determine how websites rank on search engines — if they appear at all. So when a prospect searches for “how to refinance my mortgage,” the goal is to have your website appear at or near the top of the search page.
Effective content marketing means posting new articles regularly. These articles should be well written and follow the current standards for search engine optimization, including keyword usage, metadata, linking, and headers. You want your blog to grow into a comprehensive resource about who you are and what you do, so don’t be afraid to throw in a few news updates and pictures of your staff. You can tie this in with an email newsletter to get new content out to subscribers. You should also promote your new articles on social media pages.
Keep Up With Social Media
Everyone and their grandmother’s cat has a social media profile somewhere. You do yourself no favors if you don’t. Most recent estimates say that 82% of Americans use social media. By not using at least one platform, you cut yourself off from an opportunity to interact with prospects.
Pictures, testimonials, and stories can tell prospects more about your company than a website could. Regular postings mean higher visibility depending on platform algorithms. But more importantly, you give prospects an opportunity to interact with you on their terms by using social media. They can share questions and feedback, giving you a chance to respond publicly for the benefit of an audience. People see how you interact with clients and prospects. This factors heavily in one’s decision to do business with your company.
Best of all, social media platforms are free. They provide a great source of cost-free advertising that, when used effectively, takes up minimal time.
Before establishing your social media presence, take the time to research each platform you want to use and understand how other companies make use of the format. Don’t post one standard message across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tailor each post to get the most out of each platform and audience.
Get Listed On Search Engines
Search engine results pages (or SERPs) no longer consist of website lists. You’ll often find more detailed results on the right side of each results page for any given search. This is especially true if you’re looking for a business. You may see the name of the business you want, along with contact information, a website, and a map. That could be you!
Google provides a Google My Business service that lets you build a company profile on the search engine and engage with prospects for free.
Take A Data-Driven Approach
All the above best practices for mortgage lead generation focus on you being more visible to your prospects. Now you’re ready to reach them directly.
ProspectNow combines a nationwide property database with a feature-rich CRM. But it’s the likely seller/likely refi algorithm that will give your prospecting a jump start. This algorithm uses machine learning to analyze sales and refinance data across the country. It then predicts which properties in your area are likely to sell or refinance in the next twelve months. These predictions often come before properties hit the market, so with this data you can reach prospects before anyone else.
Reach these prospects with the platform’s included email, phone, and postcard options. If you apply this alongside the other best practices listed above, you start out with a strong presence in the prospect’s mind. They’ll be more likely to come to you when they’re ready to refinance.
Are you ready to refinance more mortgages? ProspectNow can help lenders, agents, brokers, and anyone else who relies on property data to do business. Take a look at the ROI calculator to see how much more money the platform can make for you. When you’re convinced, sign up for your three-day free trial!
Now that mortgage interest rates are coming down, expect to see more homeowners looking to refinance. But where can you find them?
Finding leads for mortgage refinancing isn’t an “if you build it, they will come” situation. But that doesn’t mean you should buy lists of leads and start cold calling. There are better ways to do it!
Here are five ways to build a strong online presence while turning cold approaches into warm ones. Take a proactive approach to find new business.