Securing a steady flow of top-tier leads for your pipeline is already a daunting task –but you knew this when you got into this industry. But when you factor in the current formidable market conditions with the already fierce competition, the pursuit of prospective borrowers seems like an even greater Herculean endeavor.

We get it.

That’s why we put together this list of the top 10 mortgage marketing strategies specifically chosen because of their proven effectiveness at helping you stand out from the crowd and uniquely position your services as one that goes above and beyond –making for a powerful and persuasive offer that organically feeds your pipeline with leads.

Make no mistake –while these strategies may appear straightforward (and several are quite manageable to implement), they possess the remarkable power to grant you a necessary competitive edge.

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Craft a Captivating Website: Your Secret to Converting Prospects

Your first impression is a primary determinant of whether a prospect will convert or not, and nowadays, these impressions happen online. Chances are, a prospect will land on your website as the final destination before reaching out to you, so you need to strategize a way to effectively make them fall in love (or at least be curious) right from the start.

Your site also needs to entice them to explore further; whether that means learning more about the company, consuming information, or starting the application process. 

In other words, you don’t want to be ‘just another website’ that the prospect will likely forget. You need to create a memorable visitor experience. 

Creating one doesn’t require a lot of time or know-how if you begin with high-converting website templates like one from LenderHomePage.

Speed Matters: Turbocharge Your Mortgage Website for More Leads

A fast-loading website propels visitors through the lead funnel. If your website is using a poor hosting service, has too many plugins, and/or has excessive lines of HTML, CSS, and Javascript code, your audience will abandon your website before it fully loads. 

Search engines are very strict about this and are quick to push down your website to the bottom of results, so you want to make sure to keep user experience at the top of your priority list.

Mobile Optimization: Your Ticket to Mortgage Marketing Success

Mobile devices drive 62% of web traffic, making it absolutely essential that your site is mobile-friendly. Furthermore, Google favors mobile-friendly sites over sites that are not optimized for hand-held devices. No need to hire a developer to overhaul your site –LenderHomePage sites are already mobile-optimized. 

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From Click to Client: The Art of Boosting Conversions on Your Website

To encourage prospects to share their information, you may need to offer something in exchange. For example, an ebook or a quick quote could be offered in exchange for their name and email address. 

You also need to have a dedicated ‘Contact Us’ page to include more detailed information, such as directions to your office, map, address, email, and anything else that would encourage prospects to reach out.

Rise Above the Competition: Mortgage Marketing with Strategic Automation

While your competitors are mainly focusing on getting their name out there to get leads, you can do the same, but with a focus on the consumer’s value in working with you.

The combination of consumer-facing software + automation is a great way to delight your audience. In the mortgage environment, all your audience needs is a simple and fast homebuying experience where they are properly guided through the entire process. Mortgage software that automates the intake process also allows you to scale profits.

If you want to simplify the home-buying experience for your customers, look no further than Loanzify. Loanzify provides an easy-to-follow timeline to help guide clients every step of the way. 

Some useful features include an interview-style questionnaire for the initial intake process, the ability to track all communications between your company and the client all in a single platform and mobile app, and much more.

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There are also numerous branding features within the software, such as the ability to customize colors, add a logo and profile picture, etc., to better strengthen the relationship between your clients and your brand.

Timing is Everything: Navigating Mortgage Marketing in the Digital Age

Today’s audience is not easy to market to. With attention spans decreasing due to short-form content apps such as TikTok, you need to be smart about how you approach your target market. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to churn out content every day. In fact, the pressure to post daily content may reduce the quality of the content and make you feel burnt out. 

Sure, there are benefits, such as the opportunity to put out various types of posts and see which ones your audience interacts with most. Posting daily can give you some good insights but does not always benefit you in the long run. 

Instead, start noticing when your audience is most receptive. For example, many businesses like to send out newsletters on Fridays when the work day is not as busy, and everyone is getting ready for the weekend vs. on a busy Monday. 

In the case of your target audience, which is potential homebuyers, notice changes in homebuying patterns and market accordingly. A good time to hit your audience with powerful and convincing messaging to buy a new home is when the market is good for buyers.

Solving the Mortgage Puzzle: Focus on Solutions, Not Just Loans

The only way your marketing messaging can resonate with your crowd is if you provide a solution to an existing problem they are experiencing. This message can be as simple as loans for homebuyers with poor credit, but oftentimes, prospects are looking for much more than that. 

Here are some other pain points you can resolve for clients:

• Simple Application Process: This requires a shift in your way of thinking. Mortgage software, like an LOS, streamlines the application process, but it does so for the originator –not the borrower. So when considering how you can beat out your competition with your application process, meditate on what the borrower experiences with the application. 

Once you’ve pinpointed the precise messaging about how you make applying for a loan stress-free and transparent, it should be clearly addressed in your marketing messaging.

• Personalized Guidance: If your messaging revolves around how you guide homebuyers along every step of the home-buying process, you’ll win hearts instantly. After all, it’s not easy for clients to navigate technology that potentially confuses them and sometimes, they need a human to explain the technicals, such as terms and requirements. Excellent, personalized support combined with easy-to-use technology is a powerful way to stand out above the noise.

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Lights, Camera, Action! Leveraging Videos for Mortgage Marketing

Video content is dominating today’s world. We can see this with current social media trends, and how people view videos is presented quite clearly in these trends. For example, short-form video content is preferred over a 20-minute video explaining the same concept. 

Next time you think about writing a whitepaper or other long-form content, ask yourself whether you can effectively communicate the same content in a video. If the video becomes too long, you can easily break it down into smaller digestible videos or even upload a crash course on YouTube. 

Popular types of video content tell an intriguing story, are testimonials, informational or tutorial, or lighthearted for entertainment.

Know Your Competition: A Winning Strategy for Mortgage Professionals

Mega banks aren’t your only competition. Local lenders and originators are too, so it’s worth checking out what they’re up to –where they’re winning and losing. 

You can see your competitors’ strongest and weakest points by reading online reviews. You can check out their social profiles and get content inspiration. You can also see what types of content they produce are getting the most views, which will give you an insight into the hottest topics in real estate. 

A good strategy is viewing your competitors’ content and asking yourself how to make it 10x better.

SWOT Analysis: Your Blueprint for Mortgage Marketing Mastery

A SWOT analysis is a report you can create that lists your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This helps you steer your marketing strategy to focus on growing your strengths, recognize your weaknesses so you can act accordingly, take advantage of opportunities, and become more aware of threats, whether they are in your control or not. 

• Strengths: This involves a comprehensive evaluation of your unique selling points, such as specialized expertise, exceptional customer service, or a vast network of real estate referral partners. By understanding and highlighting these strengths, you can emphasize your competitive advantages and effectively communicate them to potential clients to set you apart from competitors.
• Weaknesses: Assess any areas where you may fall short, such as limited product offerings, inadequate technology infrastructure, or a lack of brand recognition. By acknowledging weaknesses, you can develop targeted strategies to address and overcome them, improve you overall service, and enhance your market position.
• Opportunities: This may include emerging market trends, changes in regulations, or new customer segments. By staying attuned to these opportunities, you can tailor your marketing strategies to capitalize on them. For example, if there is a growing demand for eco-friendly home improvement loans, a loan officer could position themselves as a specialist in this area.
• Threats: This may include increasing local competition, economic fluctuations, or evolving customer preferences. By addressing threats head-on, you can adapt your marketing strategies to remain resilient and competitive.

When You’re Ready To Take Your Lending Career to the Next Level –LenderHomePage

If you’re ready to take your mortgage business to new heights and see these strategies in action, we invite you to experience an on-demand demo to discover how we can empower your marketing efforts to gain a competitive edge and achieve greater success in your mortgage business.

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Many mistakenly believe that SEO and social media are two different entities when, in reality, they’re two sides of the mortgage marketing “coin.”

If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker handling your brand’s marketing on your own, keep reading to learn about social media’s impact on your mortgage website. Our mortgage SEO strategies, backed by an active and impactful social media presence, can significantly improve search engine rankings and increase website traffic, ultimately producing more leads in your pipeline.

Done-For-You Mortgage Social Media

Social Media’s Impact on Website SEO

‘Social SEO’ is a marketing term you may have come across. It refers to the site’s search engine ranking resulting from your social media content.

While Google has mentioned that social media doesn’t directly impact a website’s SEO, many studies suggest otherwise. For example, a recent Hootsuite study revealed that content backed by social promotion performed 22% better in search engines than content with no social promotion.

Other search engines, however, have openly shared that social media signals influence their ranking algorithms.

The truth is that social media and SEO are closely integrated.

In fact, marketers consider social media platforms themselves to be a form of mini search engine. Platforms like YouTube and Facebook receive a couple of billion searches a day! Therefore, would it be unreasonable to assume that those billion searches are influencing search engine rankings, too?

An active social media presence helps to get your business in front of the prospect’s eyes –whether that’s on the social media platform itself or through its SEO impact.

Top Social Media Strategies to Improve SEO

Now that we’ve covered what social SEO means, let’s dive into some expert tips on improving SEO for mortgage brokers using top social media sites such as Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.

Sustain Visibility of Your Top-Performing Content

Social media provides a continuous opportunity to share your best content to bring new traffic. So instead of a one-time post on your website, which will get buried under an array of other posts in just a month or less, you’ll reignite interest and extend the life of each piece of content.

Plus, it gives you more chances to reengage your audience in a topic you already know matters to them!

Want to get even more life out of your content? Invite your followers and referral partners to reshare the post on their social media.

The traffic generated to the content, plus the time spent on your site, all vouch toward your boosting the visibility of your mortgage website, resulting in a boost to your organic search engine ranking.

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Capitalize on Social Media to Share Glowing Reviews and Elevate Your SEO

The public actively searches out business reviews and considers them necessary to learn about a company’s reputation. So it’s not surprising that search engines prioritize businesses with favorable reputations by ranking them higher in search results.

So, how can you use social media to do the same?

Ask your top clients to follow you on your socials. Chances are they will comment on your posts and support you, boosting your buzz and rep! Having social profiles also allows clients to tag you when they want to commend your service.

As long as your social media community praises your services and uses terms related to your industry (mortgage, loan officer, real estate, etc.), the public and search engines will quickly pick up on this to influence your ranking within related searches.

Harness the Power of Social Media to Boost Backlink Prospects

In the world of SEO, having another website link to your site matters. This is called backlinking. Social media opens up an avenue for backlinking by creating opportunities to connect with content creators who also own websites.

You’ll want to do this in an organic and valuable way. Simply messaging or tagging other content creators on a post without developing a relationship first is unlikely to yield results.

It might even get you blocked by the creator!

Instead, engage with their content and build a rapport. Research their site and see where you can add value to their platform that makes sense for your business as well. When you’ve found where you can provide value and you have the content that will fill the gap, share it with them!

They will have a tough time passing on linking to your content now that familiarity and confidence have been established.

Use Social Media To Get Your Content Indexed Faster

Did you know that search engines prioritize indexing content that generates the most clicks in the least amount of time? This tells Google and other search engines that a particular piece of content is important and should be shown in front of more people.

That’s why you should make it a key goal to post your content often on social media so you increase the chances for more clicks to your blogs and pages.

Pro tip: Use social media in tandem with the manual indexing feature in Google Search Console for lightning-fast indexing!

Fast-Track SEO Success: LHP3 Website Templates

Social Media Helps to Establish Authority –A Key Factor in SEO Ranking

Google prioritizes subject authority. It wants to present the most helpful content to its searchers, using every avenue at your disposal to send signals that you are an authority in this industry for your location is a must.

And as you might’ve guessed, social media helps with this aspect too!

There are many types of posts you can share on your socials to present yourself as an expert in your niche, including:

• A reel where you demystify the home loan process in three steps
• Mythbuster carousel posts about why people opt to rent rather than buy
• Client stories about how you led them through multiple hurdles (reels or posts)
• Not only will you increase SEO authority with more backlinks, but with more content circulation, others recognize how valuable your content is.

BUT…

Make sure authority doesn’t stop after someone clicks to go to your website. If a potential mortgage client has high expectations about your mortgage services and is led to a difficult-to-navigate website, overlapping design elements, inconsistent messaging, etc., chances are you’ll never get the lead!

Even details like page speed can affect your SEO ranking!

If you need to redesign your website to better convert your site visitors, consider using a mortgage website template. LenderHomePage’s library of SEO-optimized website templates includes all the features that every mortgage brand needs on their website, including:

• Built-in lead funnels
• Lead magnets with professionally drafted eBooks
• Interview-Style digital 1003
• Landing pages for your paid campaigns
• Interactive mortgage calculator, client testimonial engine,  and more.

Open Up Referral Partnership Opportunities

Social media is meant to connect people in general and not just to connect businesses to their target audience. Remember, thousands of companies have business profiles on top social media sites. This makes it easy for you to seek out new partnership opportunities for client referrals.

To find new partners to work with, look for other brands within the mortgage industry that have a decent following but aren’t your direct competitors. However, keep in mind that if your business profile has 20 followers, chances are that a brand with 5,000+ followers won’t want to partner with you. In the end, both of you should provide equal value for each other’s business, so try to find other accounts with a similar amount of followers as yours.

Once you find a company you are interested in partnering with, DM them asking to collaborate.

Types of collaborations can include:

Content collaborations: Split a piece of content in half so your partner encourages their audience to go to your website to read the rest, and vice versa. (ex. In an article about refinancing tips, go over three tips on your website and send your audience to your partner’s website to read the other three tips. Your partner will do the same for you.).

Client referrals: Ask your partner to refer their clients to you for their loan process, and make sure you do the same for them.

Start Winning With Local SEO

Gain Insight Into Your Followers’ Needs to Provide Tailored Content

If you think about it, social media is one of the few options that provide you with a community where you can get to know your audience better. When you create interactive content that encourages your followers to respond to you or ask questions, you can learn more about their interests.

There are also a number of social media features that help you learn about what’s trending in the mortgage industry, including hashtags, top posts, and others’ blog content.

This can help you brainstorm topics for new content that your audience wants to see. Creating content on trending topics will likely garner more impressions and clicks to your mortgage content through Google.

Through indirect means, social media can help you improve your search engine ranking and helps you gain more traction on your quality content.

If you don’t know how to start creating top-notch social content, or you don’t have a design team to create social graphics for your brand, try using a mortgage social media service –included in every LHP3 Website! That way, you don’t have to worry about reinventing the wheel and brainstorming new ideas for top-performing posts.

LenderHomePage’s social media program includes done-for-you posts to generate social engagement, leads, and followers. Our posts include powerful call-to-actions to ensure your audience is enticed to click and be led to your website. Request a demo of our all-new AI-driven mortgage websites with social media today!

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Link building plays a vital role in SEO and is one of the factors Google considers when determining search rankings. While actions like improving page speed can provide an immediate impact on ranking, link building is an endeavor that focuses on enhancing your website’s authority over time.

Although it may require some patience to see tangible outcomes, each high-value backlink compounds your authority, propelling and solidifying your site’s position in top search results for your target market.

Over time, backlinks increase website visibility and lead-generation opportunities.

While directory sites are a popular and effective link-building tactic, there are more advanced strategies that offer even greater advantages. Uncover the simplest and most impactful method to obtain high-quality backlinks for your mortgage website using AI, empowering your website to enhance credibility, authority, and achieve higher rankings.

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Link-Building 101: Understanding The Basics

When you “build links” to a website, you are essentially inserting your URL on other domains, which tells search engines that your website is important, and, therefore, should be ranked higher in search results. This is one of the main link-building benefits for mortgage websites. 

However, the catch is that you can’t just add any backlinks. It has come from a site with a related niche and also has some authority of its own. More on that later.

It’s also important to note that tackling backlinks to increase your site’s visibility is best done after foundational content and technical SEO strategies have been implemented, such as: 

• SEO mortgage content with meta titles and meta descriptions (continue reading to learn how we make this easier with our AI-enabled content creator on LHP3)
• Responsive, mobile-friendly design
• Optimized site architecture
• XML site map
• Optimized page speed

Now let’s discuss best practices for link building.

Pro Tips for Effective Link Building on Mortgage Websites

There are so many complexities involved with link-building. Here are some practices you should steer away from to avoid getting penalized by search engines.

Avoid paying for links (Sort of)

Google does not like it when sites attempt to artificially enhance their ranking, and this includes buying backlinks that go to sites whose purpose is just to host backlinks. This is called link farming and is penalized by all search engines. 

However, paying a marketer or agency to attempt to secure backlinks on your behalf is allowed. But buyers, be aware! Some marketing agencies may still employ “link farming” tactics in their services. This is because building links takes time and effort. Avoid getting penalized by never buying farmed backlinks, work with a reputable marketing agency —or do it yourself with the tactics we’re about to teach you!

When guest blogging, post on sites related to your niche.

Google and other search engines quickly pick up on the type of websites linking to you. As a mortgage broker or loan officer, you may not want to post on sites about general pet care, for example. Otherwise, search engines assume your site is about pets and will not help you rank for mortgage, real estate, or location-specific keywords.

Get rid of outdated practices, such as commenting on blogs with your website link.

Simply adding your link and a sales pitch to the comment section of a popular website is a very spammy practice and does not make you or your company look good. Instead, provide engaging and thought-leadership commentary along with your website link for the best results.

Loan Officers: Try Our Game-Changing Mortgage Websites

4 Link Building Hacks for Mortgage Websites to Rule the Rankings

On the other hand, here are some practices you should opt for to improve your link-building efforts and ensure you are building links in an ethical way.

Use Web Content as Ego Bait

Ego bait is a strategy that involves creating content specifically designed to flatter or appeal to influential individuals or potential referral partners. The goal is to attract attention and generate backlinks by tapping into the “ego” or self-interest of these individuals.

Ego bait content can be in the form of an article or interview, but listings are fast and easy ways to gain traction from many individuals from just one piece of content. 

The key to successful ego bait backlinking is to create engaging content that showcases the targeted individuals in a flattering, authentic way while also providing relevant value to your business and prospects.

For example, you can create a listicle highlighting the various yoga studios in your target location, like traditional, hot, prenatal, etc, and detail the differences between them.

Another option would be to use local professionals to create content. A piece titled “Omaha Home Inspectors Answer Your Toughest Questions” is an example of a type of content that may perform well for SEO using keywords but also gives you an opportunity to create a backlink.

Reach out to the business and let them know that you’ll be featuring them on your site. Share the link and ask if they can add it to their site –creating the backlink!

They’re also likely to share it on social media, so remember to tag them on any social posts you create from the content.

When executed effectively, ego bait can not only attract valuable backlinks but also establish relationships with influential figures or brands in your industry, potentially leading to further collaboration and exposure.

Struggling to find the right words or short on time to craft captivating content? No worries, we’ve got you covered! Introducing our game-changing LHP3 website platform with its supercharged AI-enabled content creator. Simply share the topic, throw in a catchy title, and let our AI work its magic to generate an incredible first draft. It’s like having a wordsmith sidekick on demand!

All that’s left for you is a quick polish, and you’re ready to publish. Don’t let time or inspiration hold you back – unleash the power of our AI content creator.

Try Our AI Content Creator: Book a Website Demo Now!

Thought Leadership

If you have been actively searching for guest blogging opportunities, you may have come across some that are seeking experts on a specific topic. For example, there is a website called HARO, which stands for ‘Help a Reporter Out.’ You can offer your knowledge and expertise to publications to gain valuable and high-quality backlinks.

Other ways to do this are by carrying out original research, doing podcast interviews, speaking at relevant industry conferences, creating and posting infographics to your socials, etc.

Besides the backlinks, you will also benefit by better gaining your audience’s trust. Everybody wants to work with a savvy, well-spoken loan officer. Let’s also remember that high-quality content often leads to increased trust and higher rates of conversion.

Broken Link-Building

There are so many broken links on the web, and these can badly impact a website. Take some time to research sites in your industry that have broken links. The goal is to either create new content or use your existing content and encourage the webmaster of that website to replace the old content with your new content.

Before reaching out, always make sure that the content you are pitching adds value to the page and is not just there for the sake of link-building. Explain what value it will add to that page when you reach out.

Here is more information on broken link building. 

Do Directory Submissions

Directory sites are a great way to build links to your mortgage website. To get the most out of this tactic, you’ll want to create two lists: top general directories and industry-specific directories.

The general directories are those that every business should be listed in (ex. Google My Business, Yelp, Bing, etc.) plus any locale-specific directories. The niche-specific directories will be ones that are related to mortgage or real estate (ex. Zillow and MortgageBite).

When getting listed in directories, prioritize that that allows for a website URL. The ones without a URL are still good for exposure but will not help you with link-building.

Another thing to keep in mind is to ensure all of your company’s information is consistent throughout different directory sites; otherwise, this can negatively impact your SEO.

LenderHomePage: Empowering Loan Officers to Excel in the Digital Age

Unleash the power of link-building! Elevate your mortgage website’s authority and boost search rankings effortlessly with our AI-enabled mortgage content creator. Book a demo now and experience how our tools simplify the creation of quality content that attracts backlinks and builds your online presence.

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A crucial component of marketing yourself as a loan officer is social media. Social media has made it easier than ever for businesses to reach their target audience, with both its accessibility and the sheer number of internet users on social media. 

Social media has assisted businesses of all sizes in establishing customer connections for years. While it is a helpful tool in increasing traffic and lead generation, more than anything else, social media helps businesses gain more exposure. 

With all that said, it’s a lot easier to state the benefits of using social media than it is to start.

There’s also the issue of keeping up the momentum –knowing what to post, finding the right image, editing it, and writing a catchy headline…

It’s a lot of work, we know!

Read on to learn the steps that can make social media content less intimidating and assist you in creating a lead-generating strategy.

Have you checked out the newly expanded Social Media Marketing Program? Our awesome automated evergreen content now also comes with done-for-you branded content to share on your personal social channels plus the ability to create your own branded social content for partners to share. 

Learn more in this video.

How To Create A Mortgage Social Media Strategy

1. Define your Audience

If you’re a loan officer marketing your services to everyone you can, you’re wasting time, energy, and money. Let’s say, for example, you’re based in Texas. Instead of marketing to “everyone in Texas,” it may be helpful to narrow it down to “first-time homebuyers with poor credit looking to buy in Houston.” Being aware of and planning for your audience, in particular, can help you reach the right people with the right message and more successfully accomplish your marketing objectives.

So, to start, decide who your target market is. Broadly, you may say a homebuyer, but what does a homebuyer specifically look like?  You should base the specifics of who these people are on your market research and the audience information you already have.

Find your target audience by:

1. Gathering data. You must be aware of your target market’s characteristics to reach them. To effectively market to your audience, you should learn what a typical homebuyer’s age, location, and engagement trends are on various sites. Although gathering this data may seem difficult, a CRM makes this information easily accessible and simple to use.
2. Taking advantage of social media analytics. Many social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, have built-in analytics that can provide you with information about your followers, such as when, where, and other interests they may have. Additionally, using these tools with business accounts is free.
3. Keeping up to date with the competition. You’ll gain insights into how to communicate with your audience by knowing what those around you are doing. To fill any gaps in your current strategy, you can look at where your rivals are lacking and improve upon that.

Once you’ve identified your target market, stay up to date on their needs and interests, and put a social listening strategy into practice.

2. Establish Clear Goals

Setting objectives that direct your work is crucial to succeeding at social media marketing. The SMART goal strategy provides a helpful framework for setting up fundamental goals and achieving your overall objectives.

• SMART is short for:
• Specific: It’s critical to be clear about the specific, smaller results you hope to achieve to meet your goals and measure your progress. By being specific, you can narrow in on what you and your team need to do to achieve your larger goal. For instance, you might want to increase your Instagram followers by 15% this quarter as a specific social media goal.
• Measurable: You have to have a way to quantify whether or not you have succeeded in achieving your goal. Having clear ways to measure your goals can do that– you can use metrics to gauge your development and adjust your goals as necessary. For instance, if you discover that likes and follows don’t result in increased website traffic, you can change the metric to one that will.
• Achievable: All of your objectives should be attainable for your company. Unrealistic goals can discourage workers and cause conflict in your business plan. Realistic goals can increase your productivity and keep your motivation up. Make sure to adjust your goals as you set them if it seems like you aren’t achieving them.
• Relevant: Ensure that your social media marketing objectives align with your overarching business goals. For instance, if increasing brand awareness is your goal, you might set a target of getting 25 social media followers to click through a post to a landing page that details your services.
• Timely: Your goals should have a clear and firm deadline to hold yourself accountable. Set a specific cadence to check in and ensure you’re staying on track rather than setting a goal for some vague time in the near future.

Using SMART goals gives you a place to start, as well as a way to check in on your progress and make adjustments as necessary. Even though social media marketing has many moving parts, these goals can help to keep you on track and not get disoriented.

3. Administer your resources wisely

Social media tasks are often mindlessly handled as an afterthought for loan officers. It may seem that you’re saving money and time by just handing social media to whoever has the free time, whether that be yourself or a colleague, but managing social media successfully calls for specific abilities such as:

• A strategic mind
• Organizing abilities
• Branding knowledge

Hiring a specialist to manage your social media can be beneficial if you have the funds. If you don’t have the funds to hire a social media manager, you can still spend money on social media advertisements, increasing reach and promoting brand awareness. 

4. Use each platform differently

You may want to post on as many platforms as you can be strong, but doing so could hurt your social media marketing plan. For instance, if your target audience is people over 40, you may want to focus less on TikTok. You will likely find that most of your audience is on Facebook or Twitter.

When you are creating your strategy, take into consideration:

• Where your competition posts
• Where your target audience is most likely to be
• Your metrics

Additionally, you should consider how to use each platform most effectively based on the purposes for which it was designed and the types of content that perform best there. For example, Facebook is good for quality live video streaming and interacting with followers one-on-one; Instagram and Tiktok rely more on visual content, like pictures, infographics, and short, entertaining videos.

Youtube is also for videos but is more oriented toward longer, informative videos. LinkedIn and Twitter are more written content-based, but Twitter is better for real-time conversations and quick news alerts, while LinkedIn is better for long-form written work, like articles and blogs. 

You might discover that the majority of your target demographic doesn’t tend to use fast-paced platforms like Instagram, so you’ll want to gear your focus more toward Facebook or LinkedIn. Maybe you want to be able to frequently give quick updates to your clientele, in which case Twitter may be helpful.

To get the most out of your marketing efforts, research the best strategy for each platform you use. While there are many ways to expand your small business, social media can be useful for attracting and keeping new clients.

Done-For-You Social Media for Loan Officers

5. Be consistent with your content.

Consistently posting compelling, engaging content is the key to success on social media. This will not only help to give you an appearance of trustworthiness, but it will also demonstrate that you care about engaging with your audience and that you have relevant information to share.

The principle of posting frequently is still valid despite changes in social media platforms’ algorithms over time. It increases the likelihood that your content will appear in newsfeeds. By concentrating on producing consistent, pertinent content, you can convince the algorithms that your posts deserve to appear in different newsfeeds, which will eventually draw users to your page.

6. Engage with your followers

Because social media users enjoy interacting with brands, you can gain advantages like:

• Increased brand awareness and a broader market reach
• Increased brand loyalty
• Seen as a local expert

According to Forbes, a staggering 83% of consumers place a high value on the customer experience, which makes the potential for a high return on investment (ROI) enormous. This includes interactions with brands on social media that help customers feel seen, heard, and understood. Using social media, you can keep an eye on conversations as they happen and quickly address any queries or concerns from your audience.

This can mean several things: it can include posing questions about your offerings, making Facebook groups, and employing the use of fun features like GIFs, emojis, and videos.

It can also be helpful to employ tools like Instagram Live to open up a dialogue with people looking to purchase or refinance a home. You can answer their questions and let your experience speak for itself as you engage with both prospective and current clients in real-time. 

Allow yourself at least an hour a day of constant social media activity to keep engagement high. 

With this hour, however, you should do your best to respond to any urgent concerns as quickly as possible throughout the day.  

7. Keep things professional

Remember that whenever you post something on social media, you are representing your company. Too frequently, posts can be misinterpreted, upsetting followers and causing conflict. Consider developing a social media policy to direct your staff members’ posts and interactions to avoid any unnecessary issues. 

A typical social media policy will include the following:

• Clear, non-confusing guidelines on what to post and how to react to unfavorable comments
• Platform regulations and guidelines
• The consideration of brands
• Security measures

Investing in a social media policy can ensure that your company is prepared for any situation. Remember that social media is fundamentally about putting your customer service philosophies into practice.

8. Hone in your brand identity

Your company’s brand identity makes customers relate to you and distinguishes you from the rest. Therefore, consistency should be maintained across all marketing channels, including print, digital, and social media.

For loan officers, maintaining brand consistency can be difficult, especially in the beginning. But it’s significant in all aspects of your company, and social media is no exception. As you post, be sure to maintain your brand voice (how you speak to customers), keep your posts consistent across each platform, and concentrate on your value proposition. 

A consistent brand identity can help increase loyalty and make it simpler to decide what to post.

9. Quality over quantity

Instead of randomly producing as many posts as you can per day on as many platforms as possible, you should concentrate on producing regular, high-quality posts. It’s actually very likely that posting too many low-quality items will penalize your account and flag you as spam.

It’s also difficult to keep up with a schedule that requires you to post several times a day. So ultimately, posting too often will end up hurting rather than helping your strategy.

Consider implementing a social media calendar to reduce these risks. You can use these calendars to organize your schedule and plan posts in advance. Marketers can keep track of the various moving parts of social media by categorizing posts into categories like when to post, post captions, post visuals, and which platforms to post on.

To keep your posts’ quality high, constantly ask yourself before posting something: Does this information benefit my readers? Is this something new, motivating, inspiring, or enjoyable? Does the text cite its sources?

You can use these to produce high-quality content that interests and draws readers.

10. Watch your outcomes

Social media marketing is influenced by various variables, so it’s crucial to evaluate and track progress. Analytics are helpful because they can improve campaigns, set new objectives, and identify tracking metrics.

Before you begin tracking, you should decide which metrics are most critical to your marketing objectives. 

The most typical metrics include:

• ReachsEngagementsImpressions
• Mentions
• Posting clicks
• Video views

Although social media marketing can seem intimidating, there is much to gain. When done properly, social media marketing can be a reliable, cost-effective solution to keeping your pipeline filled and your referral network active.

If you still need help with your social media presence (or would like a quickstart way to supplement your posts), consider adding our social media marketing to your website plan. Click below to learn more and schedule a conversation with an account executive.

See Our Newly Expanded Mortgage Social Media

Mortgage websites are unlike traditional business websites. As a highly regulated industry, lenders have a slew of compliance requirements in addition to state and federal regulations like the CCPA in California and WCAG 2.0 across the nation.

But having a mortgage-compliant website isn’t the only thing you have to worry about.

A mortgage professional’s website must also incorporate crucial structural, design, marketing, branding, and functional elements –all while delivering a borrower experience that delights and converts!

Does your current site meet the standards of 2022 consumers?

Check out this list of the most critical and essential elements your site should have right now.

Essential Elements of a Mortgage Website

Clear Site Navigation and Architecture

Several avenues may lead a user to your site. Google My Business could have directed them to your homepage, or maybe a search query landed them on one of your mortgage blog articles.

Or perhaps a real estate partner or former client forwarded them an email resulting in the user clicking over to your site. Where ever the user came from, it’s important that they can easily find what they are looking for.

Navigation should be located both at the top and bottom of the site. Nest categories in the menu to minimize clutter and include a link to a site map at the footer.

Also, make sure the navigation is intuitive to the visitor’s device.

View Template Gallery

Visible Call-to-Action (CTA)

Again, depending on the page the user landed on and their intent, you’ll want to provide clear direction as to what to do next, and there are several key spots where you want to include a CTA.

Your homepage should include a lead capture form, and it’s good practice to have an apply now at the top of your navigation –visible on every page they visit on your site.  Including a CTA at the end of every article and a lead capture form on key evergreen content is also an excellent idea.

The CTA can vary in wording, but essentially you want to encourage the user to continue through the sales funnel and get closer to completing an application. This can be accomplished by:

Telling them to contact you for more details on a particular program

• Pre-qualify using your online form
• Download your mortgage mobile app
• Subscribe to your newsletter
• Read more articles about a specific topic on your blog

Mobile-Friendly Version

There’s some confusion about what constitutes a “mobile-free” website. Mobile-friendly isn’t just about its site resizing to fit on a smaller screen. According to Google, a website must have these features to be classified “mobile-friendly” by their Google bots:

• Avoids software not commonly used on mobile devices –like Flash.
• Uses text that is readable without zooming.
• Content fits the screen without requiring users to scroll horizontally or zoom to view
• Places the links far enough apart so that the user can tap on the correct one easily.

Well-Defined Mortgage Business Brand

Your brand is what makes you memorable and unique. From a mortgage consumer’s perspective, a well-defined brand makes them feel at ease and familiar.

It can also give them a sense of happiness and satisfaction -both rooted in the emotional connection that digital consumers build with brands they find trustworthy.

When it comes to your website, make sure that you communicate your brand throughout your site –from your logo and tagline to mission statement and “about us” pages.

Even font and color scheme elements communicate your brand to the digital consumer, so be mindful of that when customizing your mortgage website.

Mortgage Content and Resources

Many loan applications begin with questions like, “how do I…?” or “the truth about…” or something similar. In other words, it’s unlikely that a digital consumer landed on your site because looking to apply for a loan at that time.

A consumer typically lands on a mortgage site researching loan or real estate services and topics, making it essential to have a library of well-written informational articles on your site. Note that relevant content goes hand-in-hand with your SEO efforts and search engine ranking.

Reviews From Previous Happy Clients

Positive reviews from past clients underscore a phenomenon called social proof. Social proof is the idea that others place a higher value on something simply because someone else has placed a high value on it.

Social proof also encourages people to follow suit. In other words, if a prospect is unsure if using your services is the correct course of action, seeing that someone else had used your services and was happy with the result will reinforce the idea using your services is the best action to take.

So while positive reviews raise the trust factor,  reviews also make your services more valuable and desirable. This is why this element is necessary for your site.

Pre-Designed Mortgage Websites by LenderHomePage

A well-built mortgage website that connects to a digital consumer takes more than just looks.

It must also be compliant, well-branded, and positioned as a reliable, professional resource for all mortgage needs –all of that in addition to easy to navigate and designed to capture leads!

Our flagship product, mortgage websites, is still one of our most highly-praised digital mortgage assets. We’ve maintained this reputation by consistently improving and evolving with the needs of our clients, their digital borrowers, and search engine trends.

Explore our gallery of templated mortgage sites –including designs tailored for personal branding –and try it free for 14 days.

Choose Your Mortgage Template

If you are noticing less traffic to your website’s AMP pages coming from Twitter, turns out there is a reason for that: Twitter has subtly updated its AMP guidelines page on its Developer site to say support for AMP will be phased out by the fourth quarter.

How that might affect you. Previously, if a mobile user clicked on a link to your site, Twitter would redirect them to the AMP version of that page if an AMP version was available. Now, that won’t happen and users will just load the native mobile/responsive version of your content.

Thanks for telling us. We’ve heard anecdotally that publishers have been seeing AMP traffic fall, especially since Google started putting non-AMP pages in its Top Stories section. But it was David Esteve, audience development specialist and product manager at Marfeel, and technical SEO consultant Christian Oliveira who spotted the update in Twitter’s documentation.

Looking at our own data, we’ve seen sharp Twitter referral declines since August. But, traffic completely bottomed out in November suggesting the rollout is complete.

We’ve seen similar declines in LinkedIn referrals to AMP pages and have reached out to the company to find out if it is also dropping support. We will update this post when we get a definitive answer.

Why we care. Since Google announced AMP will no longer be required for Top Stories, many publishers have been asking themselves if continuing to support AMP is still worth it. The main worry has been the risk of traffic loss if publishers rely fully on their native mobile experiences for ranking. But, if social media traffic to AMP pages is going to drop as support is lifted, the need for AMP seems to get smaller.

The post Twitter rolls back AMP support, no longer sends users to AMP pages appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Scaling a mortgage business requires a 360-degree effort. From staffing to workflow management and technology, growing a mortgage business is just as much about increasing intake capacity as it is about developing professional attributes such as branding. Even if you’re a one-person shop still a year or so away from expanding your business, it’s best practice to build a foundation that can scale with you. 

That said, this article will cover how to build a brand that’s pliable enough to meet your current business needs as well as your future expansion plans.

Then, we’ll give you ideas on how to use strong branding to fuel your mortgage business growth. Let’s dive in!

How To Create A Scalable Mortgage Brand

Developing a scalable mortgage brand begins with writing a mission statement that stands the test of time. It should be well-defined, simple, and honest about who your company is at its core. No matter how large your company gets, this mission statement will remain true. A simple guideline for writing a mission statement answers these questions:

1. What does your mortgage company do?
2. How does your mortgage company do it?
3. Why does your mortgage company do it?

After writing a 1-2 sentence statement that hits all three points above, you’ll be set with a branding foundation that you can use for everything from your business plan to advertising to scaling expanding your business.

Remember to add visuals! Graphics and color schemes are a memorable part of your branding story. While it’s expected that your visual brand will evolve over the years, it should remain relatively consistent to maintain that familiarity and relationship with your public. 

How To Use Your Brand To Grow Your Mortgage Business

Discover Your Target Buyer Personas

A buyer persona is a fictional ideal mortgage consumer. If you’re doing it right, you’d be able to answer questions like where your consumer lives, her income, his fears and drives, demographics, and shopping habits. 

Knowing your brand and mission statement will help you to discover who your target buyer is. Consequently, you’ll know what messages, content, and advertisements you should create to speak to this buyer effectively. Although it may seem like a minor exercise, knowing your target audience can decrease the cost of lead acquisition while also increasing the quality of the lead.

Understand Your Competitive Edge

The fact is that there will always be a competitor with a bigger marketing budget or more resources. But that doesn’t mean that you’re out of the race. Your mortgage business –its value, mission, service –are qualities and benefits that are unique to your business. 

So when attempting to leverage your brand to scale your business, think about what factors make your business attractive and unlike others. Use what you know about your target buyer persona to develop a list of benefits and features about your business and brand and use it as a framework for your marketing strategy to strengthen your reach. Here are a few examples:

• Transparent mortgage process
• Pressure-free self-serve application
• Investment property professional
• Tech-savvy government loan specialist
• Biligual loan services

Use Brand Awareness To Define Your Pathway For Growth

Brand awareness is the initial step of any marketing funnel and a critical component of organic mortgage lead acquisition. Not only does your brand communicate your value and purpose, but it also builds rapport and familiarity between your business and prospect. This awareness is crucial since consumers typically choose what they are familiar with when making purchasing decisions.

Now that you understand that there is “equity” in your brand, inject it into every touchpoint of the user experience. Just like building a long-lasting business, creating brand awareness requires constant effort for a sustained period. 

Be Social. Studies have shown that over 50% of a brand’s reputation comes from being sociable. Be active on social media by sharing content, replying to comments, commenting on other’s posts, and responding to reviews.

Humanize Your Content. Use personality and storytelling to give your brand depth and your prospects something to latch onto. You can do this by sharing client stories, lending scenarios, and even easy-to-read mortgage articles written in a friendly tone.

Technology + Mortgage Branding

A brand’s ability to scale your mortgage requires more than inserting a logo. To positively impact your marketing campaigns, consumer perception, and revenue, mortgage branding requires a 360-degree effort in awareness and consumer experience. At LenderHomePage, we understand this concept profoundly and have woven it into every mortgage software product we’ve developed. 

From our templated mortgage websites to the industry-leading Loanzify mortgage mobile app, our digital mortgage tools invite engagement, strengthens brand loyalty, and definitively set you apart and above your competition. We’re more than software developers. We’re your partners in digital mortgage business success. Click here to start a conversation.