250 billion dollars. That’s how much US businesses are dedicating to their media budget in 2020. This is the first time in our history that companies will spend such an extraordinary amount to market themselves.
Digital platforms, the ease of “clicking” an ad into creation, and the possibility of massive exposure make success almost a sure thing –almost but not entirely. Sure, you can throw a lot of money at your digital mortgage ads and learn as you go.
Or you can read this article to find out how professional marketers design a perfect ad and save yourself time and money.
Now we’re using the term “design” as a catch-all term for all the elements that need to go into creating an ad before click “post ad.”
This includes:
- researching your target market
- creating the message
- deciding which medium to use
- designing the assets themselves
- choosing the platform to deliver the message
- measuring and tracking success
Does that seem too advanced? In many ways, it is. That’s why your ad will work better than other DIY mortgage ads.
But fret not, we’ve simplified it to 6 bite-size steps that even the busiest, marketing novice mortgage professional can do.
And if you think that you don’t have the time or patience to create a killer lead-generating mortgage ad, remember that that $250 billion partially represents what your competitors’ are spending on marketing.
Eager to get started? We thought so, so let’s get to it.
Designing the Ultimate Mortgage Advertisement
Decide On And Research Your Target Audience
On average, people see about 10,000 ads per day. Yes, you read that number correctly. With so much advertising noise, you want to make sure that your ad gets noticed and get the desired action.
The way to go about making this masterpiece mortgage ad is to know who precisely you are speaking to. So you start by building a profile of your ideal prospect.
How old are they? What are their spending habits or their marital status? Any kids? What are their motivations for getting a home loan?
Dig deeper than, “he’s 30, and it’s time to get a home loan.”
Why would a 30-year-old male want to buy a home? Is that the median age for first-time homebuyers in your ideal location? What does he hope to accomplish by becoming a homeowner? What does he hope to avoid by purchasing a home?
What social media platform do does the prospect prefer to use?
Answers to many of these questions are found in sites like the Pew Research Center, US Census Bureau, and the National Association of Realtors. You can also create your own survey to gather info about your geographic location.
Choose A Platform for Delivering Your Mortgage Ad
During your research, you also want to found out where your prospect lives “digitally.” You may even discover that they live in more than one social media platform. Where ever they are, that’s where your ad will be.
And sorry, but excuses like not knowing how to use that particular platform or not being a “Facebook person” are not allowed if you are creating your mortgage ad. If you want their trust and business, you need to meet your prospects in their “home.”
Remember Google retargeting ads, too! Consumers often need to be exposed to an ad several times before taking action, so being present on both social media and retargeting ads makes it more likely that your ideal prospect with click on your ad.
Decide on Your Marketing Budget
When creating your marketing budget, make sure to include both what it costs to run the ad and create the ad. Ad creation costs may consist of:
- Purchasing a royalty-free image or video
- Purchasing editing software
- Hiring a copywriter to write a compelling offer
- Web developer to create a landing page
- Hiring a graphic artist to create an animation or graphic
It is possible to do all of this yourself, by the way. You can use your image or video. Use free software to edit, such as what you have installed on your computer already. Write the copy yourself and use the landing page creator that comes with your mortgage website from LenderHomePage. We’ll talk more about creative assets a little later in this article.
Running a social media ad is pretty straightforward as far as the costs to run it. Generally, the greater the reach and the longer you want the ad to run, the higher the price. That doesn’t mean you need to drop a lot of money on running an ad.
A few hundred a month is a reasonable budget for some social media marketing budgets. Sometimes a little more get it done. Sometimes a little less will suffice.
Retargeting ads, such as those on Google, are a different ball game when it comes to budget. Keywords have various costs depending on popularity in a particular region. Then there’s deciding whether you are paying per click or by impression.
Generally speaking, retargeting ads have a higher cost, but their ROI often justifies it.
Writing The Compelling Offer
You don’t have to be Shakespeare to write a sizzling offer, but you do need to put some serious thought into writing it. Fortunately, since you already did most of the heavy-duty work when you researched your prospect at the beginning. Coming up with a noticeable and clickable offer should come pretty quickly.
For example, if your ad targets military and vets, your ad could be along the lines of “finally home” with a video snippet of a smiling uniformed servicewoman in front of a home. Include a call to action like, “100% home financing. Click here and welcome home,” would tug at a veteran’s heartstrings for home.
See this previous post for more ideas on creating an ad that sizzles and read on for creating the creative assets.
Creative Assets for Your Mortgage Ad
Creative assets include media and copy for your ad, such as:
- Video
- GIFs
- Photography
- Animations
- Long-form copy (landing page)
- Short-form copy (ad copy)
- Graphics
If this seems overwhelming to you, don’t worry. You don’t need to make your own graphics nor do you have to set up a photoshoot with a model dressed as a veteran. There are PLENTY of resources available for purchasing ready-made media and professionals ready to create the rest from scratch.
What’s important is that you have a clear idea of:
(1) who your target is
(2) where they live digitally
(3) what you want the ad to say
So in the above example, the one with the servicewoman, your ad development might go something like this:
Your mortgage firm is looking to sell more VA loan products. Additionally, your firm prides itself on diversity. So you decide to create an ad that reflects that value and speaks to VA minorities who would have an affinity to mortgage brokers that “get” them.
Through your research, you’ve also found that this particular minority group often has multiple generations living in the home, speak two languages, and are mostly first-generation US-born millennials who are very active on Instagram.
Knowing all this information, would you choose a video with a white male in a service uniform soluting a waving US flag?
Would you hire a graphic designer to create an infographic listing all the benefits of a VA loan?
Or would you choose an image of a uniformed servicewoman, smiling along with her parents, in front of a home with compelling copy PLUS a small snippet about your firm speaking Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, etc.?
The answer is clear.
So while you don’t need to make any of the creative assets, you still need to have ownership of them. Know who your target it and have the assets speak to them.
Measuring and Tracking Performance
The only way to tell if your ad is performing well is by deciding what “well” is in the first place. For mortgage ads, well is a combination of:
- Click-throughs
- Filling out your contact form (lead capture)
- Is a qualified lead
High click-through with low conversion (filling out the form) is not considered a well-performing ad. On the other hand, a high rate of quality leads to low click-throughs may be just as bad, considering how much was spent per lead.
Tracking information is readily available across all platforms. Dashboards like Google’s are exceptionally detailed and give you tons more information than you probably know what to do with.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat dashboard’s a little easier for the novice mortgage marketer to understand while still giving you all the essentials for measuring success.
Remember to add a tracking code!
A tracking code or pixel is a sort of tag that you add to your site. It allows the platform to track what your prospect does once they click from the ad to your site. It’ll gather information about whether they filled out the form, abandoned the form, or clicked to another part of your site.
Without this tracking code, it’ll be a little tough to tell how many of those clicks turned into a lead.
And that is the long and the short of the genesis of the perfect mortgage ad –the essential complement to your digital mortgage platform.
Don’t have that foundation set yet? That’s where you want to start! Call us to learn which digital mortgage tools you need to complete the digital mortgage experience.
