What this means for your mortgage business is that your audience no longer wants their attention bought––they want it earned. With the marketing environment getting more and more diverse, it can be confusing for a mortgage broker to know where and how to generate leads.
With the ever growing world of digital coupled with the way we market, executing a lead generation system has become more beneficial than cold calling or other methods of prospecting for sales.
The following article outlines some of the most highly effective lead generation ideas you can consider to generate more qualified leads and clients for your mortgage business. These ideas are simple and cost effective once you know what to do and how to do it. However, any success in the world of digital will take time and loving care!
Gate Your Video Content
The simplest way to capture prospects’ contact information is to set up an email gate.
Requesting all viewers to enter their email address before gaining access to a video allows you to create a new lead as soon as a prospect expresses interest.
For example, if you have a trail of content leading to a detailed “how to secure the best mortgage rate” or “secrets behind what banks don’t tell you about your mortgage insurance” type video, you could gate the video to see how many viewers will volunteer their info having piqued their interest with good top-of-funnel content in advance.
Blog consistently (actually do it)
This one’s old – we know by now that blogging is effective for generating leads. Blogging by posting articles that add value and provide answers to your customers or prospects “pain points” will improve your online leads.
Having a blog not only allows you complete control of what is said but also an opportunity to have the undivided attention of the reader. I’m amazed that in spite of this, many mortgage brokers don’t have a strong and consistent blog (many give up when no results come in the first month or two).
Remember to make sure your blog is optimized to generate leads by having a sign-up section for your newsletter. And I feel like a broken record, don’t make the blog all about you! Give real content value to your reader!
Write on LinkedIn
Over a year ago, LinkedIn opened up their publishing platform to all users so anyone can create content. And I’m willing to bet you should invest your time in it.
According to a study by Hubspot that surveyed 5,000 small businesses, LinkedIn vastly outpaced competing social networks for lead generation. As a matter of fact, they found that traffic from LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%, almost 3 times higher (277%) than both Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%).
Remember that getting your post read on LinkedIn is just one part of the battle. You must also have a strong offer and a paired landing page to follow through and capture leads.
Join a LinkedIn group, listen and participate
Join a few groups that are popular with your customers and prospects. Building a targeted lead generation program that uses social media means you need to start by watching and learning. What types of information do the members engage with most? When you get comfortable with the pattern of the groups join the conversation. Remember, go easy on the posts, you want to add value but don’t be “that guy or gal” who over does it on promotional posts.
You could do your brand more damage than good if you’re not careful.
Build Your Website to generate leads
Good-performing websites convert between 7-14% of visitors and are optimized toward this goal. A lot of people think that beautiful websites are better, but studies show that even ugly, but functional websites can be just as successful, if not more successful at converting leads.
Our basic strategy for optimizing website conversions for lead generation is to:
1. Restrict the number of options a person has to explore through your website. The more overwhelming it is, the greater chance that they will get bored and leave.
2. Strategically place calls to actions after every section. Always be telling your visitors what they need to do next.
3. Make the forms simple and easy to complete. Ask for less information and offer a social login as an option.
4. Create tags and keywords within your website to generate search engine results through organic searches.
Give Awesome Offers
Fact: the top 10% of landing pages have conversion rates 3x to 5x the average.
How do they do it? Give awesome offers.
For example every software company offers a free trial. Every plastic surgeon offers a free consultation. As a mortgage broker, what do you have to offer that is unique, compelling, and offers real value to your visitor?
Contests
Contests have been huge hits on Facebook for years. The upside is they draw a lot of attention. The downside is that the leads you get aren’t always the most qualified because you’ll have a lot of “tire kickers” or freebie seekers. But nonetheless, it’s a great way to gather emails.
Create an eBook
These work great for a mortgage business as people love to read and gain expertise about your industry. Make sure you don’t promote your services or products. People don’t want to be sold, they want to be informed. So write it from a neutral perspective and give actionable insights.
Share the eBook socially and ask your network to share it for you.
You’ll want to ensure that you have a landing page set up that requires visitors to input their name, email and phone number for a chance to download the eBook.
By the way, your eBook could range from four pages to 25+ pages.
Monthly Newsletter
Do you have a newsletter yet? If not, you’re missing out on one of the simplest ways to generate more leads. Make sure you put a newsletter sign up in every possible place that makes sense on your website.
With your newsletter, not only do you have a captive audience (people have to opt-in to your newsletter). Remember to not make it all about you. Instead, share with your contacts your insights, recent wins you created for your customers and industry news.
Using a software tool like Constant Contact will make your life much easier in terms of creating, integrating and executing your newsletter.
Host Video Webinars (with special guests)
Webinars are an inexpensive way to get your message to thousands of potential customers.
There are a variety of software services that allow you to broadcast a webinar quickly and easily. Zoom is software that will support video webinars and video meetings.
And if you make it a recurring event, you’ll continue to grow your following. So, come up with a great idea that helps your customers and promote it using social media, your network and your newsletter. At the end of the webinar, feel free to ask the attendees to download an eBook, sign up for your newsletter, or visit your site. This will bring the leads flowing in.
What’s next?
The bottom line for your lead generation program to be successful is to test, test, and test.
None of these tips will do you a bit of good unless you test them for yourself and determine what works for your mortgage business.
We are here to help you. We have the services and talent to execute one or a series of the lead generation tips that have been outlined. What’s next? It’s simple.
Call me direct at 416-889-6069 (yes, that’s my direct number) or send me an email to javed {at} empression(.)ca and let’s talk.
This article originally appeared in the 2016 Fall edition of “PM Today Magazine”. Flip to pg. #28