Beginner’s Guide To Generating Mortgage Leads Online

Getting the attention of a prospect when you’re competing with online giants like Lending Tree may seem impossible, but really it just requires a little know-how. The online marketing methods explained in this guide may be new to you, but there is a common thread you’re already familiar with:

Meet your prospects where they are.

And where are your prospects?

Online, of course!

According to recent stats from PewResearch.com, about 73% of Americans are online daily. 21% of those say that they are online constantly. With your potential clients spending so much time online, and many times in the presence of competitors, you must leverage your online presence and lead generation effectively.

While some marketers rely solely on PPC and other paid online lead generators, they’re missing out on the potential of organic leads. PPC combined with a professional lender website and the tips found in this guide make for a powerful trifecta!

How can a lender generate leads online?

Be Useful
Our top and the most practical tip is to provide your prospect with useful content. This article is a perfect example of just that: useful content. Chances are, you typed into your search engine “how to generate mortgage leads online” and it brought you to this page. If you’ve read this far, that means you’ve found this content useful!

Similarly, your prospects are searching for answers to their mortgage and home buying questions. Take time to research and get to know your client (read more about this in the social media section below). Find out what sort of questions they have and answer it in an article or blog post!

Writing does not come easily to many, and skillful writing is even more challenging, but don’t let that discourage you! Using content as part of an online marketing strategy is critical to your lead generation.

You can hire a copywriter to ghostwrite mortgage blog posts for you. Or better still, take advantage of LenderHomePage’s Mortage Website Templates. Researched and professionally written content is automatically added to your blog weekly.

Be Social
There are those that love social media and others that don’t. But no matter what camp you’re in, know that your prospects are on it!

Social media can be used to your advantage in numerous ways. Here are a few ways to leverage your social media presence to generate mortgage leads:
• Build Your Brand Voice –Use social media to unify and convey your brand and message. This uniformity helps to create a familiarity with your company that eventually leads to trust.
• Get To Know Your Prospect Better- Social media gives you the opportunity to find out their interests. When you understand your prospective client better, they better chance you have at turning them into a client.
• Listen To Your Prospects Concerns – Social media offers a quick and informal way to interact with your prospect and answer questions. Here’s a golden tip: use these conversations as topics for your blog posts!

As you begin to engage various social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, YouTube, etc.) you may find that some work better than others for you. Don’t feel the need to be everywhere! Test each platform and stick to those that create the most leads for your business.

Be Remembered
Have you ever been to a website showing a banner ad from a previously visited site? This is called remarketing.

Remarketing is when a website you visit adds a cookie (or a tracking tag) to your IP address. When you visit another site that features targeted ads that work with those cookies, an ad for the previously visited site will appear.

Although it may sound intrusive, it’s commonplace and works remarkably well to lure the prospect back to your site!

Google Adwords offers a tried-and-true product for remarketing across the web. Facebook has launched their form of remarketing within their platform and has marketers singing its praises as well.

Be Found
Google My Business is a free and easy way to get your business listed with Google. One of the great advantages of listing with GMB is that it helps your business to rank higher for local searches. This means that when a prospective client is looking for a mortgage broker in your city, your business will be one of the top listed –without having to pay those expensive Google Ad fees.

Because GMB works so well at ranking high on local searches, take the time to curate and edit your business page carefully. Treat it as an extension of your mortgage website.

GMB has two other advantages that many overlook. The first is that you can use Google’s Adwords Express within your page. Adwords Express is a simplified version of Adwords that is automatically managed by Google.

The other advantage is that customers have to opportunity to leave reviews of your service. A recent survey by BrightLocal showed that as many as 92% of consumers read reviews before making a purchase.

Be Connected
Connecting with others in your industry is a remarkable way to generate leads, although building those working relationships will take time.

You can start by connecting with real estate agents, which makes sense since they are often the first contact with a home-buyer hopeful has. Realtors are a rich source of leads and are frequently flooded with business pitches. The key to building a solid connection with a realtor for the purpose of lead generating is the same as above: be useful and be social!

If the realtor has a blog, offer free posts. You can also ask for an interview or their professional opinion on a topic you’re writing about. Include a link back to their site and make sure to include their social media handles when you share the post across the web.

Remember to be social with the realtors too! Share their articles. Comment on their Facebook posts. Give them a double-tap on Instagram and a retweet on Twitter. Similar to remarketing, all this attention you give to your targeted realtors will keep you on their mind and will generate leads.

LinkedIn is yet another place to connect with other professionals. You can team up with a realtor and offer mortgage deals tailored to specific industries. LinkedIn also has ads for purchase to help you advertise directly to your targeted group. What’s even better is that you can create different ad campaigns for various industries at the same time, maximizing the lead generating potential.

The Take-Away
This beginners guide to lead generating online for lenders has all the basics you need to create a buzz about your services. You may want to start with one area or jump all in with every suggestion. No matter what strategy you implement first, creating a substantial online presence is vital to your business!

For more digital marketing solutions for mortgage professionals, visit LenderHomePage.com.