Mortgage brokers work independently on a borrower’s behalf to find them a lender and loan with the best rates, terms and closing costs for their needs. However, “independently” can often mean “solo” – and juggling all aspects of the home buying process can be difficult for a mortgage broker who lacks a large team or lender-funded resources to back them up. Most lending institutions have entire teams of marketing specialists to help lighten their loan officers’ (LOs) workloads. Brokers, on the other hand, are typically responsible for managing their own marketing, building referral networks and still completing their day-to-day work.For this reason, many brokers struggle to find time to market themselves, which is one of the best ways to drive new business, re-engage past borrowers and establish referral relationships. To compete with institutional lenders, brokers must take a creative, self-sufficient approach to mortgage marketing.

This article covers:

• • Unique marketing obstacles for mortgage brokers
  • How mortgage brokers can succeed as a one-person mortgage marketing team
  • Optimizing processes through marketing automation and technology integrations

Mortgage marketing strategies used by mortgage brokers are different to those used by mortgage companies with a dedicated marketing department. Independent mortgage brokers often serve as their own one-person marketing team, but they still need to compete with the Billboard Guys — mortgage lenders that have the time, budget and personnel to support large marketing initiatives. Fortunately, reliable tools and solid mortgage marketing strategies can help mortgage brokers succeed — even in a high-cost, low-demand market.

Efficient mortgage brokers run a one-person show by remaining structured enough to handle all aspects of their daily workload, yet flexible enough to address last-minute problems and keep pipelines moving. There is no one-size-fits-all mortgage marketing plan for brokers, so it is important to consider your unique goals and personal bandwidth in order to create a realistic plan that enables you to convert leads efficiently and with minimal cost.

One of the most effective ways for mortgage brokers to stay on top of marketing is to build a monthly, quarterly or annual mortgage marketing plan. The plan should lay out the who, what, when, why and how of mortgage broker outreach:

• WHO do you want to market to? Which target audiences do you want to engage?
• WHAT type(s) of content do you want to leverage? Do you have any loan products that you want to market?
• WHEN will content be distributed? Before, during and/or after the mortgage process?
• WHY should consumers care? Is the outreach relevant and informative to the audience?
• HOW will consumers receive this outreach? Are there any specific outreach channels that will most effectively engage your market?

Once a mortgage broker has answered these questions and established a mortgage marketing plan, a mortgage marketing automation solution can enable brokers to preschedule social media posts, email deployments, SMS text messages and more.

Because they generally cannot count on corporate marketing initiatives, many brokers use mortgage marketing solutions to help keep their pipelines full. An automated customer relationship management (CRM) platform is a key resource for mortgage brokers. Mortgage CRMs help brokers market themselves, better understand their customers and cut down on time spent on manual lead generation and outreach.

A mortgage-specific CRM with configurable automated workflows enables mortgage brokers to enact a marketing plan, create engaging content and distribute timely, relevant outreach across multiple channels. But not all solutions are created equal, so there are a few key capabilities that today’s mortgage brokers should look for in a marketing automation platform:

1.)  Search Engine Marketing

One of the best ways for mortgage brokers to win business over their competitors is by marketing themselves where most consumers start searching for available listings: a search engine such as Google. Search engine marketing (SEM) must be done deliberately if a broker plans to be on the very first page of search results, where consumers can find them the fastest.

Mortgage brokers can also attract the attention of prospective homebuyers more effectively and earlier on in the home search process by creating eye-catching landing pages with careful search engine optimization (SEO). A mortgage CRM can help a broker prioritize keywords that their target audience is likely to use when searching for a loan — things like neighborhoods in their service region, a specific loan product or a homebuyer advice topic.

2.)    Social Media Marketing

Mortgage brokers can also generate new leads and referrals by posting engaging and educational marketing content designed to be shared on social media, like mortgage memes or current mortgage market updates. A powerful mortgage CRM will even enable brokers to create and schedule their social media posts in advance, making daily social media marketing a hands-free process.

A CRM can even help with maintaining compliance. For example, a mortgage CRM can enable mortgage brokers to approve social posts and messages ahead of distribution, as well as track posts for auditing purposes.

3.)    Text Message Marketing

Now that almost everyone carries a smartphone wherever they go, mortgage text message marketing is the fastest and easiest way to make a personal connection with borrowers. And best of all, text message marketing does not have to be overwhelming or time-consuming.

A comprehensive mortgage CRM will enable mortgage brokers to pre-schedule text message outreach. For example, Surefire Power Messaging helps busy mortgage brokers effortlessly keep customers and referral partners on the same page with in-process loan updates delivered via text. What’s more, text message marketing can be made even more engaging with Surefire’s Power Videos, which provide personal and timely text message templates that give mortgage brokers control over when, to whom and under which circumstances messages are sent.

4.)    Print Marketing

In a world where digital marketing is everywhere, mortgage brokers still need print mortgage marketing materials in their omnichannel marketing strategy. Mortgage brokers can employ this tried-and-true mortgage marketing tactic by distributing direct mail outreach and by posting printed single property flyers in local businesses and public areas. By cobranding listing-specific marketing content with a real estate agent, mortgage brokers effectively provide motivational homebuying content and two business cards in one place.

5.)    Integrations

A mortgage CRM should communicate seamlessly with brokers’ other digital tools. For example, technology integrations make it possible for brokers’ loan origination systems (LOS) to automatically update mortgage CRM contacts as the lending process moves along. A CRM’s rules and workflows can then trigger borrower outreach relevant to specific loan milestones.

The best mortgage CRMs also manage communication triggered as part of prospect and post-close workflows or as recurring deployments, including birthdays or holiday greetings.

As a leading mortgage marketing software provider, Surefire CRM helps mortgage brokers stay productive and relevant by facilitating streamlined communication with award-winning creative content. Surefire is continuously evolving to meet the needs of the mortgage industry, enabling mortgage brokers to:

• Build a database of referral partners and prospects
• Provide customizable mortgage content that engages and retains customers
• Increase the number of new prospects with marketing automation that lets mortgage brokers understand each customer’s needs
• Strengthen referral partner relationships with co-branded communication