Category: Marketing

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CU2.0 Podcast: Rates, Relationships & Resilience: Credit Union Growth in 2025

Our very own General Manager of Banking James White recently joined Utah Community Credit Union (UCCU) Vice President of Mortgage Production Zakary Short on the CU2.0 podcast, hosted by Robert McGarvey. Their conversation dove into the factors shaping the current housing landscape and the ways that credit unions can leverage modern tools like Total Expert to increase loan officer efficiency, identify members’ mortgage needs, and proactively engage them with personalized communications to help build relationships and close more loans.

On the podcast, Zakary Short shared specific examples of how UCCU is leveraging Total Expert to drive growth and uncover mortgage opportunities even in an unpredictable market.

Tune into the conversation below!

The post CU2.0 Podcast: Rates, Relationships & Resilience: Credit Union Growth in 2025 appeared first on Total Expert.

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Jason March 14, 2025 0 Comments

The Future of Compliant Lead Generation [Evocalize podcast]

Marketing is part science, part art. There are systems and strategies that you can implement to help make promoting your brand and engaging with customers faster, easier, and more replicable. But without adding the human element (that’s you!), you risk putting off customers by delivering generic messaging and running into compliance issues by not properly vetting your lead sources. 

Our own VP of Marketing, Donnie Kenneth, joined Justin Ulrich of Evocalize on their Local Marketing Lab podcast to share how loan officers can bring personalization to their marketing automation, lead-gen strategies for the upcoming year, and how to fuel long-term growth by prioritizing relationships over transactions. 

The post The Future of Compliant Lead Generation [Evocalize podcast] appeared first on Total Expert.

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Jason December 23, 2024 0 Comments

Prioritizing Lifetime Loyalty: Thinking Beyond the Next Quarter

Leaders of banks, credit unions, and other financial services organizations have been on a roller coaster over the last five years. Signs suggest some of that disarray will settle in 2025 as interest rates drop and inflationary pressures ease. Yet, according to Deloitte, the top challenge for financial institutions in 2025 will be adapting to what it calls a “low-growth, low-rate” environment, where a mix of slower consumer spending, higher unemployment, and lingering geopolitical and regulatory uncertainties keep us teetering on the edge of a recession that’s been threatening the last three years.

But leaders need to resist rash reactions to these anxieties because, as we’ve said before, financial institutions can’t cut their way to growth. Those that pull back too strongly on investing in innovation will quickly damage customer experience and hurt long-term loyalty—and won’t be ready to capture opportunities when conditions do begin to turn around.

Success in 2025 depends on thinking beyond the next quarter. Financial institutions need to build enterprise-level strategies that position their businesses for long-term success.

So, what does that long-term, enterprise-level strategy look like?

How we got here: Boom times shifted the focus from relationships to transactions

Think back to the five years leading up to the start of the pandemic: Things were good. Many financial institutions saw such high business volume that they were just trying to get the transactions done. Strategies became ad hoc and short-term—making quick hires to throw people at the problem and/or piling on point-solution products that promise to solve specific issues.

We can look past the pandemic period of 2020-2021 as a (hopefully) once-in-a-century anomaly. But when rates started increasing in 2022 and the economy slowed down, the transactional focus of many financial institutions led to some knee-jerk reactions: cutting costs, cutting staff, and cutting vendor expenses.

The economy proved surprisingly resilient, holding off the recession that was forecast in 2022 and 2023. Some financial institutions saw volume bounce back—forcing them to quickly add staff and develop ad hoc strategies to keep up.

Today, we’re back to worrying about a slowdown. We’re seeing major banks worldwide announce significant job cuts, with Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs all making huge layoffs.

What smart financial institutions do differently: invest in a long-term growth strategy

The most successful financial institutions over the last several years (and, more broadly, the most successful businesses across all sectors) share a common strategy: They didn’t enact massive cuts. In fact, many invested more, doubling down on building the best tech stack and developing extremely efficient processes.

There are two outcomes of this double-down strategy:

  1. Leading financial institutions remain leaders in delivering best-in-class customer experience. After all, with revenue already down, no business wants to lose customers. And with FinTech disruptors constantly innovating, if you’re not keeping up, you’re falling behind.
  2. Leading financial institutions are able to build the scalable infrastructure they need to capture opportunities at speed. So, when the economy turns back around, they’ll be instantly ready to handle the increased volume—without having to add incremental costs by throwing staff at the problem.

Case study: Lake Michigan Credit Union maintains mortgage purchase volume through high-rate years

A great example of this is Lake Michigan Credit Union: As rates rose over the last two and a half years, this credit union’s mortgage volumes stayed far higher than most.

Why? Because when the refi boom occurred back in 2020-2021, Lake Michigan CU stayed the course on its overall strategy of balancing purchase and refi business. They didn’t over-index on refi, so they were able to stay consistent through the down economy.

Moreover, they continued to evolve and advance their tech stack. Bet on them to be at the front of the line to capture volume when it returns.

Learn more in our case study with Lake Michigan Credit Union >

Three pillars of a long-term strategy

How can financial institution leaders take a long view on positioning themselves for success when the economy turns around?

Here are three key pillars of a long-term strategy:

1. Building an enterprise-wide data strategy

Financial institutions generally have three main pools of data: accounting, marketing, and IT. These data pools are typically not well integrated—and short-term strategies tend to only reinforce those data silos.

To effectively leverage data to interact and prospect, financial institutions need to develop an enterprise-wide data strategy that integrates all their data to unlock new insights and drive better outcomes. The benefits of consolidated data management will almost inevitably come in the form of better marketing ROI, improved customer interactions, and even increased profitability.

Today, we’re seeing more and more financial institutions hiring consultants to help them design this kind of overarching data strategy—delineating how data will be aggregated and integrated. A comprehensive data strategy will also set data governance policies to ensure data is cleaned and protected—and define how compliance teams handle data to ensure sensitive data is locked down properly.

2. Reducing friction points in CX (and EX)

Leading financial institutions are doubling down on tech investments, particularly around reducing friction points in their customer experiences (CX) and employee experiences (EX). Building a tech stack that works seamlessly together often means consolidation. Following an analysis, the financial institution will work to remove duplicative or point products and replace them with widely adopted, comprehensive platforms.

For customers, that means delivering omnichannel, predictive, and hyper-personalized experiences. For employees, it means connecting data silos and making it easy for them to get the information and workflows they need to be productive.

3. Enhancing internal training & onboarding

The short-term, transactional approach treats staff as fungible resources: When volume goes down, financial institutions lay off employees. Because when volume comes back, it seems easy to just hire additional people.

This approach overlooks the reality that the value of employees largely depends on their experience.

Moreover, training is the only shortcut to experience. A smart, long-term strategy focuses on maximizing the value of a financial institution’s human resources. Building strong internal processes and training programs will ensure employees are both able to execute well within your environment and enable you to more efficiently and effectively onboard new staff if you need to add people to accommodate volume.

Double down on relationships & build long-term loyalty

Right now, we’re seeing a sharp divide in how financial institutions are reacting to slowing growth amid other persistent economic anxieties and uncertainties.

It feels like half of financial institution leaders are waking up every day scared—and letting those emotions guide an overall strategy toward a much shorter-term focus. Of course, it’s human nature to get concerned when revenues drop. The natural temptation is to slash costs and take a month-to-month or quarter-by-quarter view on survival. But it’s never smart to let emotions guide enterprise strategy.

The other half are doubling down—continuing to focus on improving CX and deepening loyalty. They’re building scalable business models that will let them pounce on opportunities, without the chaos and costs of having to scramble to add people and build ad hoc processes when the moment of opportunity hits.

Total Expert General Manager of Banking James White says, “It isn’t about cutting costs. It’s about giving your organization the ability to generate more revenue for every dollar spent.”

Cutting back and focusing on survival is a risky proposition. By doubling down on what you need to win loyalty today and capture volume in the future, your financial institution will be able to differentiate from transaction-focused financial institutions—and win the long game by earning customers for life.

Building deeper customer relationships starts by truly understanding your customers’ financial needs and goals. Learn how Total Expert Customer Intelligence can give you the insights you need to engage your customers in more meaningful conversations.

The post Prioritizing Lifetime Loyalty: Thinking Beyond the Next Quarter appeared first on Total Expert.

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Jason December 23, 2024 0 Comments

Build the Tech Stack Your Organization Deserves with the Total Expert Marketplace 

FinTech software doesn’t suffer from a supply-and-demand problem. There are dozens of powerful, innovative tools and technologies that modern financial institutions can leverage to simplify and streamline their operations, lead management, sales outreach, and marketing campaigns. 

The challenge is identifying which solutions best meet your organization’s needs and creating a tech stack that’s free from redundancies and excessive strains on your budget. That’s why we created the Total Expert Marketplace: to help you search, select, and secure the integrations you need to get the most out of your tech stack. 

What is the Total Expert Marketplace? 

The Total Expert Marketplace is designed to be a one-stop digital shop that features easy-to-integrate technologies at every stage. Our goal is to help financial institutions of all sizes find innovative tech solutions that expand and enhance their existing investment in the Total Expert platform. Every partner in the Total Expert Marketplace is carefully chosen to provide out-of-the-box integrations that users can leverage quickly to deliver the experiences their customers deserve. This a la carte approach allows each Total Expert customer to implement only the solutions they need as their business grows, making it effortlessly scalable and ensuring compliance at every turn. 

We also invite Marketplace Partners to collaborate with the Total Expert team to ensure that every integration with the Total Expert platform provides the frictionless functionality our customers need to deliver the perfect financial journey and maximize the lifetime value of every customer or member. 

Who are the Total Expert Marketplace Partners? 

Capacity 

Capacity is a support automation platform that uses AI to answer questions and automate repetitive tasks. The Total Expert integration allows users to perform various functions from Total Expert, like searching and creating contacts, adding notes, and more—all through chat or text. 

Adwerx 

Adwerx is an industry-leading digital advertising automation platform that provides personalized, hyper-targeted, and fully automated digital advertising solutions for mortgage lending companies and their top loan officers. Adwerx provides an easy-to-use, affordable advertising solution that exposes your brand to new audiences and deepens relationships with your most valuable contacts. 

InGenius 

Simplicity in a complex business: Multiply your growth through actionable intelligence in mortgage recruiting and overall mortgage market analytics. 

Verse.AI 

Verse.ai is a powerful two-way conversation platform that combines AI with SMS to enable compliant, scalable, and customizable automated texts that drive real results. Their solution helps mortgage and financial services businesses accelerate revenue growth by actively engaging and converting leads while simultaneously assisting with cutting costs by streamlining operations, reducing operational spending, and enhancing efficiency. 

DirectMailers 

Dynamic direct mail marketing delivers a targeted marketing strategy that allows you to send personalized mail pieces directly to customers or prospects. This can all be done automatically by interacting with Total Expert’s journey automation. By leveraging the DirectMailers creative team and delivery best practices, you will be able to automate personalized, compliant mailings that can be tracked for delivery and engagement to drive better ROI out of your direct mail campaigns. 

Experience.com 

Experience.com is a pioneering SaaS platform with top-tier AI-powered solutions for online reputation and experience management. They drive enhanced online visibility and boost customer and employee engagement. The integration with Total Expert empowers customers to convert data insights into immediate, actionable improvements that elevate customer satisfaction, foster brand loyalty, and enhance their online reputation. 

Birdeye 

Birdeye is the leading reputation, social media, and customer experience platform for local businesses and brands. Over 150,000 businesses use Birdeye’s all-in-one platform to effortlessly manage their online reputation, grow their social presence, connect digitally, and improve customer experiences. 

Clever 

Clever leverages its premier agent-matching technology, data insights, and network of realtors to simplify the mortgage process using its engagement suite, rewards ecosystem, and home concierge to help businesses grow and enhance borrower engagement. 

What do our partners think about the Total Expert Marketplace? 

Adwerx 

“Adwerx and Total Expert have been collaborating closely for years. So, when the opportunity to officially join the Total Expert Marketplace came up, we eagerly embraced it. Our regular team meetings provide invaluable insights and generate real opportunities for existing and potential customers. Together, we enhance our service to customers, ensuring they maximize the value of both platforms.” 

– Dan London, Adwerx Chief Marketing Officer 

DirectMailers

“We are thrilled to be part of Total Expert’s Marketplace to help more organizations see the power of multi-channel direct mail marketing. We have been servicing the mortgage and banking industry for the past three decades, and partnering with Total Expert has enabled us to help more lenders see how direct mail can support marketing, from opted-in leads to closing more funded loans.” 

– Richard Irwin, DirectMailers Chief Executive Officer and Founder 

What are our customers saying about the Total Expert Marketplace? 

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation 

Fairway combines Total Expert’s Credit Inquiry Alerts with their DirectMailers integrations to ensure they provide a Firm Offer of Credit (FOC) to every contact they monitor for credit inquiry activity. Financial institutions are legally required to provide an FOC via traditional mail or email within a specific timeframe once an alert has been delivered for any credit inquiries pulled through a credit bureau. 

The DirectMailers integration allows Fairway to automatically deliver personalized FOC postcards whenever they receive a credit inquiry alert. 

“The integration was easy and seamless. We worked with Total Expert directly to implement, and we were up and running quickly. Leveraging the Total Expert + Direct Mailers integration has freed up time for our team, and we no longer have to manage the process manually. Additionally, we are impressed with how easy it is to customize the postcard to ensure it reflects our needs.” 

– Jaci Betor, Fairway CRM Solutions Architect 

Visit the Total Expert Marketplace to learn more about our Partners and explore these seamless integrations! 

The post Build the Tech Stack Your Organization Deserves with the Total Expert Marketplace  appeared first on Total Expert.

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Jason December 23, 2024 0 Comments

3 Ways Banking Leaders Can Secure Funding for Engagement Platforms That Fuel Growth 

The boards of banks and credit unions are often very different, but there are three tried-and-true ways to convince them that it’s time to prioritize your institution’s digital transformation and secure the budget for the technology you need. 

Understand what your board of directors wants 

If you can get a good sense of what your board (or budget committee) is prioritizing in the coming years—revenue growth, process efficiency, quick ROI, customer/member experience, etc.—you’ll be able to present your digital transformation as a critical piece of their plans. 

No two financial institutions have the same plans or needs for their technology and digital tools, but your larger strategies (frictionless payments, digital transformation, fraud management, etc.) should work together to support the board’s vision. Being able to demonstrate how specific technology solutions will accomplish that makes it difficult for the board to say no. 

Proactively address tech fatigue 

From core systems and LOS to marketing automation and social media tools, teams across financial institutions everywhere are juggling more tech platforms than they can handle. And boards are growing weary of being asked to dedicate more budget to more platforms. 

The key here is to demonstrate your intentions to simplify, streamline, and remove redundancies from your current tech stack to create an integrated ecosystem that provides access to your team’s most valuable digital tools within a single platform. 

Attach your digital transformation to an already-funded project 

If your budgets are already locked in for the next year, look for opportunities to combine your initiative with other marketing- or technology-focused projects that may have a buffer built in for “scope creep” or unexpected costs. 

This might require some creativity (and maybe calling in a few favors from other departments), but it allows you to chip away at the most pressing technology needs on your list while you wait for the next budget season to open up. 

Download our Banking Budget Toolkit

Nobody will understand your team’s technology needs like you do, so your challenge is to show the board how investing in a digital transformation will benefit your entire organization and how continuing to delay will negatively affect their long-term goals. 

That’s why we created a free Banking Budget Toolkit to help you build a case and secure the funding you need to modernize your tech stack.

The post 3 Ways Banking Leaders Can Secure Funding for Engagement Platforms That Fuel Growth  appeared first on Total Expert.

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Jason December 23, 2024 0 Comments

Secrets of Social Media Marketing for Mortgage Loan Officers

Social media has become today’s marketplace. If you want to share your product or idea, you’ll do so through one of the major social media channels. Loan officers can leverage social media to gain new leads. Here are some tips on social media marketing for mortgage loan officers.

Focus on the Right Platform

How many social media channels are there? A lot. It may be tempting to establish a presence on all of them. But that’s just a recipe for confusion.

Instead, try to focus on one to three channels that are relevant to your core audience. Facebook is a great catch-all, though Instagram can be an effective way to reach millennial moms. The point is to focus your energies on a platform that makes sense for your audience and that you can easily manage.

Share Great Content

Social media marketing for mortgage loan officers is primarily about educating your target market. Focus on developing and sharing solid content such as blog posts and videos.

Platforms like Facebook also let you promote certain posts. If you want to reach a wider demographic, consider boosting a post to get more eyes on your content. But don’t forget to have a clear, compelling call to action to capture customer data.

paid social media with business man in suit inside phone with outer men standing next to him

Show, Don’t Just Tell

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s 100% true when it comes to social media marketing. When you share content, use colorful images to capture the attention of social media viewers.

The same applies to sharing data. Create compelling infographics to arrange your data into a story. A quality customer relationship management (CRM) platform can provide you with the tools you need to create and share interesting images and infographics.

Stay Engaged

It’s tempting to just park your content on social media and wait for the “likes” to roll in. But the best social media marketers take time to engage their core audience. Respond quickly to comments and questions. Doing so may help you build an initial connection with social media users, which can become a client relationship in the future.

Better yet, use social media to ask questions of your followers. Think of things like: “What kinds of things are you looking for in a first-time buying experience?” This will give you great feedback for future marketing and also let you build relationships with social media followers.

 

Planning and scheduling flat composition with people making cross marks in calendar computer windows and lamp with a content calendar vector illustration

Automate Your Social Media Calendar

Keeping up with social media is a full-time job unto itself. Don’t get caught up in the juggling routine. Instead, use technology to your advantage. You can automate your social media posts, creating a social media calendar that will help you strategically deliver great content to your core audience.

Many mortgage CRMs offer templates and other tools to get you started. The more you can streamline your marketing content, the more you can focus on connecting with followers and building relationships.

Let a Mortgage CRM Help With Social Media Marketing for Mortgage Loan Officers

A mortgage CRM can help you with marketing and much, much more. The BNTouch platform provides a comprehensive set of tools for managing your practice, including your marketing and social media calendar. Contact us today to schedule a demo.

To learn more or schedule a demo, contact BNTouch today.

Request a free demo

The post Secrets of Social Media Marketing for Mortgage Loan Officers appeared first on .

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Jason March 15, 2024 0 Comments

Generate Mortgage Leads Online Without Blowing Your Budget

Every mortgage professional knows the challenge and demand of generating leads. Some of your best and most affordable marketing tools are found online. The best strategies both capture customer data and nurture relationships for better engagement. Here’s how to generate mortgage leads online.

Leverage Local SEO

What’s your current SEO strategy? Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of sprinkling in keywords to boost your ranking on today’s top search engines. For instance, you might already use “mortgage broker” or “lending service.” But you’ll connect to even more leads with a local SEO strategy.

For example, consider keywords like “mortgage broker in [your city].” You might even include your city in the URL of your landing pages. The point is to gain quality leads by attracting local home buyers to your website.

Improving local SEO is crucial for businesses aiming to enhance their visibility in local search results, attracting nearby customers effectively and to generate mortgage leads.

Leveraging specialized tools can significantly streamline the optimization process. Google My Business (GMB) is fundamental, allowing businesses to manage information and engage with reviews.

Yoast Local SEO, particularly beneficial for WordPress users, aids in optimizing website content for local searches. Tools like Moz Local and BrightLocal focus on maintaining accurate business listings across various directories, ensuring consistency and reliability.

Platforms such as SEMrush and Ahrefs offer broader SEO insights, including local keyword research and competitor analysis. Specific tools like Whitespark and Synup concentrate on citation building, local rank tracking, and managing online business information.

Staying attentive to local SEO best practices with the aid of these tools helps businesses establish a strong online presence in their local communities, attracting and retaining customers effectively.

Content Creative Technology Planning

Create Compelling Content

If you want to know how to generate mortgage leads online, content is king. Your website visitors and social media followers may have questions about the lending process. You have the opportunity to educate them.

Blog posts, videos, and infographics make great tools to inform people about your business. You can share this content on your social channels to generate more likes, shares, and engagements.

Have a Clear CTA

Every blog post and web page should have a clear “call to action” (CTA). For example, you might prompt visitors to contact you for more information or to subscribe to your newsletter.

The point is to direct viewers to take the next step in their journey. Ideally, your CTA should capture customer data. Otherwise visitors simply leave without providing an opportunity to connect further.

Create a Lead Magnet

One way to gain leads is through a “lead magnet.” This is a specific “item” that you give away in exchange for contact information.

E-books are a common lead magnet. You might write a guide for first-time home buyers and offer it through your website. This will help you gain more contact information and connect with potential buyers in your area.

AI Mortgage machine learning

Use a Chat Feature

Website visitors are looking for information. Why not make it easy for them? A web-based chat feature can provide automated responses to common questions. And chances are that if you can provide clear answers, the customer might just stick around for the rest of the mortgage process.

Some chat features are fully automated, meaning you never have to lift a finger. Chat programs can also harvest customer data to follow up later in the process.

Mortgage Loan Officer Advertising

Customized Email Marketing

Think of your marketing plan as one big funnel. You should be focusing on specific content for each phase of the customer’s journey through that funnel. Email marketing can help. You can design and send emails that anticipate customer questions and keep them engaged in the lending process.

A customer relationship management (CRM) system can help. The best CRM platforms offer prebuilt templates to help you send informative emails and nurture leads through the entire customer journey.

How to Generate Mortgage Leads Online With a CRM

The right CRM platform is key. BNTouch offers marketing  for mortgage loan officers content and other features for nurturing strong leads. With these tools, you can convert more leads into satisfied customers. Contact BNTouch today to schedule a demo.

 

To learn more or schedule a demo, contact BNTouch today.

Request a free demo

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Jason February 29, 2024 0 Comments

How to Market Yourself: Loan Officer Personal Branding

Loan originator marketing is about more than just getting noticed. It also involves building a rapport with your potential clients. The following loan officer strategies can help you craft your personal brand. As a result, you’ll improve client relationships.

What Is a Personal Brand?

Your personal brand is what sets you apart. Your brand might include your company mission statement and logo. However, it also extends to the experience your clients can expect when working with you.

Loan Officer Advertising Strategies for Building Your Personal Brand

How can you build your brand as a loan officer? Here are some loan originator marketing strategies that can help you connect with potential borrowers.

Create Authoritative Content

As a mortgage professional, you need to communicate knowledge in your field. One of the best ways to do that is by publishing authoritative content. 

For example, you can publish blog content on subjects like “alternative loan programs for first-time buyers.” Blogs like these are helpful for two main reasons. First, they show your clear knowledge of the industry. Second, they let you include keywords that improve your search engine rankings.

bntouch branded apps

Video Content

Video is a simple, natural way to connect with clients. You can create and publish video content that instructs visitors on the lending process.

But you can also use video to highlight details that only apply to your practice. They provide borrowers with a “face-to-face” interaction long before you even meet them. And even more helpful is that you can use videos in emails and social media posts in addition to embedding them on your website.

Omnichannel Marketing

Many business owners already operate a basic Facebook page or other social media profiles. But the best way to build your brand is through omnichannel marketing, which means using more than one social media platform.

The advantage of this is simple. Some social media platforms will be better suited to reaching your target market. Sites like Instagram, for instance, help you better connect with millennial home buyers. 

Vector illustration, Customer reviews rating, Different people give a review rating and feedback, Support for business satisfaction.

Use Testimonials

Let your clients build your brand for you. Customer reviews and testimonials can offer insights into your strong points. Publishing stories from past clients also clues future clients into what to expect from your business.

A mortgage CRM platform can solicit feedback from past customers. You can then respond to any negative feedback to protect your reputation. You can also publish positive reviews through your web page or social channels. 

Network with Other Professionals

Another option is to build your personal brand by networking with other industry professionals. For example, realtors and lawyers can be great sources of mortgage leads. 

Mortgage CRMs can facilitate these relationships via a partner portal. Your area partners can use that portal to send leads your way. You might even be able to impress them with your mortgage pipeline and boost your reputation.

The Best Loan Originator Marketing Tools

BNTouch offers a comprehensive CRM solution for your lending practice. Our platform offers tools for marketing, collaboration, and more to help you build your brand. To see these features for yourself, contact BNTouch today. We can schedule a demo to help you learn what a mortgage CRM can do for you.

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Jason December 29, 2023 0 Comments

Effortless Lead Generation: Automation Tools for Mortgage Lenders

Lead generation is the lifeblood of the mortgage industry. Without a steady influx of potential borrowers, even the most competitive mortgage offers and customer service excellence would go unnoticed. Traditionally, generating these leads has been labor-intensive, often requiring manual efforts and a significant investment of time and resources. However, lead generation is changing, thanks in part to automation tools for mortgage lenders.

Automation is redefining how mortgage lenders approach lead generation, making it more efficient and less time-consuming. This article explores the various automation tools available to mortgage lenders that can streamline the lead generation process. 

From capturing leads to qualifying them, we’ll look at how automation is making this crucial aspect of the mortgage business easier than ever before.

A Look at Traditional Methods of Mortgage Lead Generation

Before automation came into the picture, mortgage lenders had a handful of ways to find potential borrowers. Cold calling, direct mail, local ads, networking, and real estate partnerships were the mainstays. While these methods got the job done, they had their drawbacks.

To begin with, they were labor-intensive and time-consuming. Cold calling had a low success rate despite requiring a dedicated team. Direct mail was pricey and didn’t always hit the mark in terms of targeting. Local ads cast a wide net but often missed the mark, reaching people who weren’t actually interested in mortgages.

The lack of targeting also led to low conversion rates, as many reached were not genuine leads. Qualifying the leads that were generated was another hurdle, adding more time to the process. Plus, it was tough to measure how well these methods were working, making it hard to decide where to invest resources.

The Shift to Automation Tools for Mortgage Lenders

When it comes to automating lead generation, there’s a variety of tools designed to tackle different aspects of the process. Here are some of the most commonly used types:

  • CRM Systems: These store customer data and help target campaigns. Some even score leads to help lenders focus their efforts.
  • Email Marketing: Software here can set up automated email series to keep leads engaged.
  • Social Media Ads: Tools manage campaigns on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, adjusting in real-time for better ROI.
  • Landing Pages: Automation can test different page elements to improve lead capture.
  • Chatbots: These 24/7 agents answer questions and collect info, no human needed.

Marketing Automation

Qualifying Leads through Automation

Capturing leads is just the first step in the lead generation process; the next crucial phase is qualifying those leads to identify which ones are worth pursuing. 

Automation can significantly streamline this aspect, making it easier for mortgage lenders to focus their efforts on the most promising prospects.

Automated systems can use a variety of criteria to qualify leads, such as:

  • Financial Stability: Automation tools can quickly analyze a potential borrower’s credit score, income level, and debt-to-income ratio to gauge their financial stability. This helps in identifying leads that are more likely to convert.

  • Engagement Level: Some systems can track how a lead interacts with your content or website. Did they open the emails you sent? Did they click on the links? This engagement level can be a strong indicator of interest and intent.

  • Property Interest:Suppose a potential borrower has been browsing through property listings or has a history of inquiring about mortgages. In that case, automated systems can flag these actions as signs of a qualified lead.

  • Location:Geographical data can also play a role in lead qualification. For instance, if a lead resides in a high-value property area, they may be a more attractive prospect for mortgage lenders.

Also, by automating the qualification process, lenders can ensure that their sales teams are spending time on leads that have a higher chance of converting, thereby making the entire lead generation process more efficient and effective.

Marketng Automation

Compliance and Data Security in Automated Lead Generation

Compliance and data security are big deals in the mortgage industry, and automation tools haven’t overlooked this. Many of these tools have features that help lenders stay compliant and secure. For instance, some CRM systems can flag activities that don’t meet regulations, prompting quick fixes.

Furthermore, these tools often come with built-in security measures like encryption to protect customer data, helping lenders meet data protection laws.

Conclusion

Automation is making lead generation in the mortgage industry more efficient and effective. It’s a step up from traditional methods, offering speed, precision, and the added bonus of compliance and security features. As tech advances, lenders using these tools are well-placed for whatever comes next in this fast-changing industry.

To learn more or schedule a demo, contact BNTouch today.

Request a free demo

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Jason October 6, 2023 0 Comments

Boost Your Network: Streamlining Referral Marketing in the Mortgage Industry with Automation

Referral Marketing in the Mortgage Industry means asking your clients or partners to recommend you and your services to others. While this method has proven effective, managing a referral network can be a bit of a juggling act.

That’s where this article comes in. We will see how automation can make referral marketing easier and more efficient for everyone involved.

The Importance of Referral Marketing in the Mortgage Industry

So why are referrals so important in the mortgage industry? Well, to begin with, people trust recommendations from friends and family more than any advertisement. This trust translates into higher conversion rates and, ultimately, more business.

But it’s not just about getting new clients; it’s also about the quality of those clients. A strong referral usually means a more qualified lead, someone who’s more likely to complete the mortgage process. This makes the return on investment (ROI) for a well-managed referral network very impressive. When you compare the cost of running a referral program to the value of the new business it generates, the numbers clearly speak for themselves.

The Role of Automation in Referral Marketing

Managing a referral network manually can be a lot like herding cats. You want to know who recently closed and can give a referral. You also want to know who referred you and how to handle the follow-up. It’s a lot to deal with.

Automation is a lifesaver, offering a way to keep everything organized without chaos. With automation, you can easily track each referral from point A to point B.

Who made the referral? Who was referred? Did they become a client? All these questions can be answered easily and you can ensure nobody falls through the cracks. It’s like having an extra set of hands that work around the clock.

referral marketing automation

Types of Automation Tools for Referral Marketing

When it comes to automating your referral marketing in the mortgage industry, you’ve got options. Here are some of the tools designed for this very purpose:

  1. Referral Management Platforms: These specialized tools focus solely on managing your referral program. They can track referrals, calculate rewards, and even send out automated emails to keep everyone in the loop.
  2. Integrated CRM Systems: Some Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems come with built-in referral tracking features. This is great since you can keep all your customer-related data in one place.
  3. Marketing Automation Software: These tools can handle a variety of tasks, including referral tracking. They’re a good option if you’re already using one for other marketing activities.
  4. Custom-made tools can be created to meet your specific requirements and easily work with your current systems.

The beauty of these tools is that they can often be integrated with systems you’re already using, like your CRM or email marketing platform. This makes for a smooth transition and a unified approach to managing your referral network.

Building and Maintaining Partnerships through Automation

Automation isn’t just about making your life easier; it’s also about strengthening your business relationships. Think about it: when you automate the referral process, you’re not just tracking who sends business your way. You’re also making it easier for your partners to refer clients to you.

For example, some automation tools allow for easy sharing of referral links via email or social media. Others offer dashboards where your partners can track the status of their referrals and see what rewards they’ve earned. This kind of transparency builds trust and encourages more referrals over time.

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Compliance and Data Security in Referral Marketing

When you’re dealing with referrals, you’re often handling sensitive information. That’s why compliance and data security are big deals. You need to make sure that the way you collect, store, and use this data is all above board.

Many automation tools come with features designed to help you stay on the right side of the law. For instance, they might have built-in compliance checks that flag potential issues before they become actual problems. And when it comes to data security, these tools often offer robust encryption methods to keep sensitive information safe.

Conclusion

In summary, referral marketing remains a vital aspect of success in the mortgage industry, and implementing automation technologies significantly enhances its effectiveness. Automation simplifies the logistical aspects of tracking and managing referrals and plays a crucial role in nurturing and maintaining valuable partnerships. These automated systems also offer robust features that assist in compliance and data security, further solidifying their importance in a highly regulated industry.

As we look ahead, the potential for automation in referral marketing is expansive. As technology improves, mortgage lenders can expect better tools to increase efficiency, gain insights, and improve investment returns. The prospects for growth and success are promising for those in the mortgage industry willing to adapt and integrate these technologies.

To learn more or schedule a demo, contact BNTouch today.

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Jason September 29, 2023 0 Comments