I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with world-renowned marketing automation expert, Jordan Glickman of Impremis Marketing.
I asked Jordan a whole lot of questions about what the average Realtor and mortgage lender is doing right, wrong, and what they can do better to boost their online presence, bring in more leads, and close more deals. In this short (2 minute) video, Jordan touches upon the need for sales engines and lead generations for agents or mortgage lenders. To see more about next-level marketing and lead generation tactics for your real estate or mortgage business, you can email me or go to Impremis.com to contact Jordan!
1 Comment
If you’re old enough to remember the 1980s vividly, then you definitely recall a Trident television ad in which the brand’s spokesperson claimed that “Four out of five dentists surveyed recommend sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum.” It was actually launched by the Warner-Lambert Company as part of their ad campaign for a novel-yet-fledgling innovation, a sugarless gum called Trident. It’s hard to imagine these days, but the sugar free or sugarless phenomenon hadn’t caught on yet (this is when you could still smoke on airplanes!), However, Trident was tanking with consumers, and about to be discontinued. Then, the “Four out of five” ad was released, and it changed everything. Based on a poll of 1,200 dentists conducted by the somewhat-obscure Chicago Reader in 1980, they determined that sugarless gum was recommended by 85 percent of dentists (that’s why they couldn’t say “Nine out of ten” at first). Still to this day, no one knows which knucklehead dentists actually recommended more sugar in their patients’ gum! The TV ad became so popular that it was soon a household saying, a cultural trope, and the stem of many jokes. But, the marketing epiphany of using data from a survey or poll was replicated by toothpaste brands like Crest, Sensodyne, Colgate, and others (who all claimed that 9 out of 10 dentists recommended their brands, which is statistically impossible!). There’s nothing stopping you from running your own survey or poll, and using the data as a marketing coup, just like Trident did back in 1980. Yes, I do realize that you're in the business of selling homes and funding loans, not brightening smiles. But, there are 3 inherent advantages to surveys that make them so invaluable no matter what field you're in: 1. Learn about your target audience/clients You’re directly asking your target audience or potential custom base to volunteer information about their beliefs, attitudes, motivations, needs, challenges, and more. (All of the big brands, shopping sites, and retailers are obsessed with collecting your data and finding out more about you!) 2. Come up with tangible data You don’t just end up with a range of opinions or a few answers to open-ended questions but specific, tangible statistical data. 3. Snazzy and presentable format That data lends itself perfectly to charts, graphs, and other forms of visual expression that aren’t only appealing to the eye, but easy to scan, understand, and lend themselves to sharing online. Case Study #1: I recently ran a survey for one of my favorite clients (and good friends), Jason Matthews of Matthews Insurance and Financial Services. We sent out invites for people to take a simple survey consisting of just 10 questions, which only took them a few minutes. (I’ll talk more about how to effectively run surveys and best practices in a future blog.) When we collected the results, we had some clear, concrete data that really stands out when we use it as a marketing tool. Not only does Jason have a much better understanding of what makes his clients or audience tick, but there are SO many helpful ways we can use this data, the survey results, and these graphs to market his business going forward. We even included an open-ended question, “What are your top fears about the economy,” and gleaned this useful list: With minimal effort and little or no cost (or, just outsource the work to me!), the average Realtor or mortgage lender can come up with something like:
Those are just examples, but you get the idea. All of this leads to an exponentially larger audience, new levels of trust and credibility, boundless opportunities to share your content, and plenty of new clients – just like it turned Trident’s fortunes around virtually overnight. Case Study #2 Does this one look familiar? I ran this survey for my own little brand, Real Estate Marketing w/ Norm, a week or two ago. But instead of surveying PEOPLE, I surveyed the Instagram posts and content of the top 100 Realtors and mortgage lenders in the U.S. The result was easily summarized in this handy dandy graph that has since been shared and re-shared across the industry, conveying huge value to any Realtor or loan officer who wants to follow in the footsteps of the best in the business (and what they’re doing for marketing). Other chief benefits to hosting surveys: Endear yourself to your audience Studies show that one of the most powerful ways to get people to like you isn’t by doing something for them, but by asking them for a favor or to complete a task that helps you out. People also want to be heard, counted, and valued, and asking them to complete a survey appeals to that. Congrats, you’re instantly an industry leader 99.999% of your competition are NOT doing this, so surveys are a fantastic took to differentiate yourself from your competitors and elevate your brand. If you use this correctly, the data from these survey results will be useful for years, and you can ride the wave of promotion and new opportunities as you pick up scores of new clients along the way. Establish authority No matter how big or small your operation, how long you’ve been in business or how much income you’re pulling in, you immediately become a credible and authoritative voice of your industry by using surveys and releasing the findings. Become quotable Surveys result in useful, clear, and compelling statistics, and those are shared, used, and referenced over and over for years to come. Attract media Did you ever wonder how one Realtor or mortgage lender in your city keeps getting quoted over and over again in just about any article about the housing market? Creating statistics based on credible surveys is the best way to “break in” to that closed media circle. Send a press release based around your survey findings and you’ll be surprised how effective it is for garnering media attention – and they’ll have to quote you or give you credit! Once you have a relationship with certain members of the media, you’ll always have their ear since they’re constantly looking for stories and concrete data to use. Get published You can take that to the next level by publishing your survey results as a special report or white paper on Kindle for Amazon, Apple Books, etc. All of a sudden, the world’s leading content platforms are listing your name and promoting FOR you! Create unique social media and marketing content As you see, the data and information you glean from these surveys is perfect for graphs, charts, lists, and stats that can be used for custom content you share on social media, email, your website, buyers and sellers’ packets, etc. *** In a future blog, I’ll give you tips and best practices how to create and use surveys to launch your brand and grow your business to new heights! Or, you can just ignore this smart marketing tactic and keep doing what everyone else is doing for marketing, instead. Guess what the results will be? -Norm :-) The Instagram Formula of the top-100 Real Estate Agents & Mortgage Lenders in the Industry.8/25/2019 What content mix are the best Realtors and mortgage lenders posting on Instagram? They say that there’s a roadmap to success, and the best way to achieve greatness in your respective field is to follow in the footsteps of industry leaders. However, when it comes to Instagram, those road maps are a lot harder to find (or changing almost monthly). The social platform continues to evolve rapidly, as do the ways marketers and business owners use it. So, for the average entrepreneur or real estate pro to maximize their presence on Instagram, they’d have to spend hundreds of hours reading guide, blogs, and eBooks and watching scores of instructional videos. Then, it hit me: instead of doing it that way, why not just follow the most successful Realtors and mortgage lenders in the U.S. and track what THEY are doing on Instagram? By observing the best of the best and analyzing the results, I could form a rough blueprint for best practices -and share it with you (so you can shamelessly copy it). By the way, if you’re in a rush then you can skip all of this methodology and just check out the results and graph near the end of this blog. I did just that over the course of the last three months, but it wasn’t easy. It took endless combing through lists of top mortgage lenders and Realtors, checking in with industry periodicals and sites like Mortgage News, Mortgage Origination, Scotsman Guide, Realtor, and many more, and cross-referencing endless smaller blogs and rankings. The other issue was that I was only looking for the best on Instagram, not just the best, and many of the traditional “old guard’ don’t bother with social media, or just use it sporadically and personally. I also wanted to track individuals (or teams), not large companies with huge social media ad budgets and countless interns, and I threw out the outliers (like Crazy Cat Realtor and Political Post Broker) and discounted any post that had to do with going to the gym, random vanity selfies, or snapshots of their lunch (there weren’t too many of those, as the top-100 definitely do things for a reason, don’t waste time, and have a tight social media plan). Likewise, I took into account the fact that Realtors post a whole lot of content about houses: open houses, houses for sale, houses that just sold, and just plain nice houses. So, those will always be more prevalent in a real estate agent’s Instagram timeline, and I split them up into sub-categories based on the purpose of those posts. So, while this list shouldn’t be taken as 100% accurate, it is based on a mountain of data and observation. I think the result is a very fair representation of what the top Realtors and mortgage lenders in the U.S. are posting on Instagram to bring in clients and grow their business better than the rest. Let’s get the good stuff – the top-100 formula for Instagram. (Keep skipping to the next section) In all, there were 30 main categories of posts for top-producing Instagram accounts (in no particular order):
That’s a whole lot to process (and way too much to summarize in one simple yet snazzy graph), so I decided to break it down into nine main categories, ranking them by a percentage that they appeared on the Instagram timeline. (Finally, here it is.) The top categories for top-producer Instagram content: 34% Personal, Family, and Slice-of-Life 27% On the Job 11% Events, Happenings, and Offers 9% Community and Charity 6% Social Proof, Reviews and Testimonials 5% Products and Services 4% General Interest and Humor 3% Network 1% News, Blogs, and Content That’s pretty useful data if you’re a Realtor or mortgage lender (not yet in the top-100 in America) and trying to strategically plan your marketing on Instagram.
It also means that it’s much easier to walk into the footstep of these industry giants and emulate their success! A few other notes: Video versus image posts: Videos are a huge part of their marketing plan, but don’t dominate their Instagram feed – yet. In fact, videos comprise only 21% of all content for the top 100 Realtors and mortgage lenders in the U.S. – a little more than one out of every four posts. However, averages can be deceiving, as I tracked several real estate pros who post almost nothing but videos, and a good number of pros post them rarely or not at all. How often do top Realtors and mortgage lenders post on Instagram? Among the best of the best of Realtors and lenders, they post on Instagram 1.7 times per day. Personal versus business Instagram profile: 93% of all Instagram accounts were business profiles for the top 100 Realtors and mortgage brokers. That’s it for today – enough number crunching until next week! Hit me up if you have any questions or need some help with your marketing! Your friend, Norm :-) The best damn marketing you can do…if you only have 5 minutes per day! I received a great question from a new client the other day. Based in breathtakingly-gorgeous Lake Tahoe in Northern California, my client is even busier than the average realtor (or mortgage lender). One minute, she’s showing luxury homes and negotiating better deals for investors. The next, serving 'Tahoe locals who are trying to buy their first home, in between managing vacation properties and dealing with the peaks and valleys of the off-season versus the ski season. So, she's thrilled to have me on-board to help, freeing her up to focus on meeting new clients and selling homes ($200/hour-and-up tasks) instead of grinding away with mundane marketing (the $20/hour tasks that I handle). However, this soon-to-be-superstar Lake Tahoe agent was still worried about the time it would take to commit to our new marketing campaign. “So, if I only have an extra hour each day,” she asked me. “What’s the most important thing I should be doing to market my business?” Fantastic question – and many of you are in the same boat, with so many obligations and important matters (like putting out fires and closing deals!) pulling you in every direction that it’s really hard to find an hour – yet alone a few minutes – to sit down and dedicate to marketing. “I’ll do you one better,” I told her. “And tell you what you can do in just five minutes every day to grow your business.” “What is it?” she asked, eagerly. “Just turn on your camera and start videoing!” I said. I genuinely believe that is the #1 most beneficial marketing activity for any real estate agent, mortgage lender, or any small business owner or entrepreneur. If you only could do ONE thing for marketing… And only had an extra 5 MINUTES every day… The best use of that time is to shoot a few short videos. Like marketing icon, Gary Vaynerchuk says, “No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story.” I can give you a ton of data to back up that assertion, like that 83% of brands, companies, and entrepreneurs using video marketing think it gives them a good ROI. But that's kinda boring, so I’d rather get you excited about how easy, fun, and effective this is. You're already paying too much for your smartphone every month, and it's with you at all times, so why not put it to work? These videos don’t need to be fancy, formal, or use any special equipment – just point and hit record. The opportunities are boundless. In the car driving to an appointment? Turn on the camera and talk about the house, the clients, the market, or the crazy things the home inspector just found. Take that time to wish a client happy birthday, send them a happy home-buying anniversary vid, congratulate them on getting married, or thank them personally for that last referral they sent you. You can shoot quick videos to update buyers and sellers, or answer a common question or concern you hear often. Lenders should be doing this EVERY DAY with valuable content that helps Realtors as well as educates and informs their clients. And a personalized video update is a great way to invite people to events you’re promoting. The best part is that you can film short vids anywhere and anytime as you go about your typical day. Do you love it when the leaves start to change color in autumn? See a stunning sunset from your new listing’s back yard? Your first-time homebuyers just got their keys and are practically (or literally) jumping with joy? Turn on the camera and share those moments!
Here are examples from three of my clients who do a great job shooting quick videos all the time.You can also give tangible, concrete advice and information with these quick videos. Discuss a statistic or market trend in a video, walk through an example of a good (or bad) investment property, or talk about property taxes and why it’s better to buy than rent, etc.
Oh, you’re having a bad hair day (or, a bad hair decade like me!) and look like you just rolled out of bed? Simply turn the camera around the other way so it’s pointing out into the world. Narrate the video as you drive through certain neighborhoods, visit local landmarks, and walk through homes you’re buying or selling. At your escrow office for a signing? Introduce your favorite title and escrow team - or appraiser, home inspector, and home improvement contractor. Lunchtime at your favorite local restaurant? Why not scan the room, video the menu, say hi to the owner, and give them a great video recommendation? If nothing else, just share a few of your thoughts on gratitude, why you love your job, or THANK someone. You’ll be surprised how fun this is once you get rolling and make it a habit, and how much fantastic marketing content you can produce in just five minutes a day. If the video comes out too dark, your voice is drowned out by an 18-wheeler, or you just come out sounding like a rambling crazy person (me again!), then you simply discard that video, or edit out the parts you don’t like. With video marketing, short and sweet is better, and you can share them on Instagram (feed, story, or TV), Facebook, YouTube, etc. I realize that I’m getting fired up and talking a lot about WHAT to video, but you get the point – stop thinking and just turn on the damn smartphone and get started. It will offer the highest ROI by far on your time and marketing dollars. In just five minutes a day, you’ll be FAR ahead of the competition and, most importantly, far ahead of where you were this time last year. Now, I gotta run – I’m going to fix my hair and try to take my own advice by shooting a few helpful marketing videos! -Norm :-) P.S. Need help with those $20/hour marketing tasks so you can focus on making $200 an hour or more? Hit me up! Last week, Equifax was slammed with a court-ordered settlement for their 2017 data breach that could seriously impact consumers – and this time, in a good way. One of the Big Three credit bureaus, Equifax was ordered to shell out about $700 million to those affected by the breach that saw sensitive financial information hacked, stolen, or compromised. In total, that adds up to about 147 million Americans! While you may be tempted to run and file your own claim right now, you can also seize this opportunity to grow your business, using the Equifax payout news as a valuable marketing tool. I suggest that you offer sound information and guidance regarding the Equifax settlement, positioning yourself as the go-to resource to help others access their settlement funds. Basically, you’ll be marketing by helping people get “found” money. How cool is that? First, I’ll talk about the settlement itself in this blog. Then, how you can use that as a marketing tool in the second half of this post (so scroll down if you’re already well-versed on the Equifax settlement news). How the Equifax settlement payout works for consumers: The first step is finding out if you’re eligible for a payout. To do that, you just need to go to the Equifax website: https://eligibility.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/en/eligibility Enter your name and the last six digits of your social security, and you'll find out instantly if you're part of the class-action suit against Equifax. If they confirm that you were affected by the data breach and included in the settlement, go here: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com They’ll ask you a few questions about what compensation you’re claiming, where you want it sent, etc. I just went through the process there and within five minutes, found out that I was a victim of the Experian data breach (which I already knew), filed my claim, and confirmed that I’ll receive a check for $125 within 90 days. There are options for how much you’ll recover. The standard is about $125 just for being included in the data breach, although you can file a custom claim to recoup time, money, or other financial detriment (like if your identity was stolen, cards used fraudulently, etc.) But those claims can go as high as $400. Equifax is also offering compensation aside from cash, like ten years of free credit monitoring for all three credit bureaus. It's pretty simple, but there are a few finer points to understand, especially if you want to apply for a payout larger than $125. Those include what documentation you need to provide, the evidence you need to show to demonstrate a greater financial loss, and more. Who wants and needs info about the settlement: Who wouldn’t want to know if they were eligible for “free” money? (I put free in quotes because it’s not really free if you were a victim of the data breach, but it’s money due to you.) You'd be crazy NOT to go through the process at some point to see if you're due $125 or more! So, we're talking about countless millions of people – no small opportunity. Remember that even if people weren’t affected by the Experian breach or aren’t due any settlement money, they could still use your help/this guide just to find out if that’s the case or not. You should reach out to your entire database of past clients, contacts, social media followers, and the general public in the city, region, or state where you do business. Using the Experian settlement as a marketing tool: There are plenty of ways you can create and share content around the Equifax breach, getting your name (and company name) out there at the same time. Some marketing ideas include: • Write up a blog with the high points and facts of the Experian data breach and the big payout news. • This can be as basic as “Claim your Equifax settlement in these three easy steps,” or “10 Tips for getting every dollar you deserve from the Equifax settlement,” or something similar. • In it, instruct your clients how to check to see if they are due settlement money and how to make a claim. • Share this blog on your social media pages. • Also, send out an email newsletter (or just an email to your database) alerting them of the Equifax news and giving a link back to your blog. • Create a visual graphic on social media giving basic information. You could create a whole series of graphics, each offering a single fact or tip. • Film a short video talking about the Equifax settlement and offering more help. • No matter what form of content you create and how you get this information out there, offer to help anyone who needs it and list your email, phone number, and social media accounts, of course. The best part is that you’re basically just using the same information in different forms (email, graphics, video) and sharing it across multiple channels. LEVEL-UP TIP: If you really want to use this Equifax news to 2X your database, do this: Set up a simple landing page on your website that offers a free guide they could download if they input their email address and name. Run a Facebook and Instagram ad that offers this helpful free guide to people in your local area (or wherever you want clients to come from) once they enter their email and name and watch your email and phone start jumping like popcorn on a hot stove. The benefits to you and your business: Use the Equifax news as a great talking point or item of value. This will be warmly received ($125!) and a great excuse to reconnect with your database, gain an exponential number of new followers, and stir up conversations with past clients. • Grow your database • Establish authority • Create significant public interest in you and your brand • Generate local press or media interest • Add value to your clients and audience • Show that you really care and are looking out for them! • A chance to get people calling, emailing, and messaging YOU instead of the other way around. Engage in a natural conversation that touches on their credit, their home, the market, and if it’s a good time to buy or sell – or just refinance (because it is!). Remember that as a Realtor or mortgage lender, credit scores and reporting are part of the range of topics you should be well-versed in (no credit = no loan = no house!), so this news is a perfect opportunity. You don’t have time to set this all up? Of course, I know you’re busy selling houses and helping people refinance their mortgages, so I’m not assuming you have time for all this. Don’t worry about doing this all yourself – I can do it for you. Need help writing that quick guide, writing the blog, email newsletter, graphics for social media, and running an ad? Just contact me and I'd be happy to help. We could get it up and running this week because people are looking for this information! -Norm Schriever :-)
Real estate and mortgage marketing Q&A: Should I run Facebook ads, Instagram ads, or both?7/24/2019
So, today I enlisted someone a lot smarter than me - Jordan Glickman of ImpremisMarketing.com to chat briefly about the pros and cons of Facebook ads to generate leads versus ads on Instagram, and how they're sort of the same thing (but not entirely). Give it a watch and I'll summarize a few bullet points below. Great info from Jordan, who is world-class when it comes to running ads that get businesses new leads and clients. Here are a few key takeaways:
So, the answer is probably that you should be doing both - if you take your business seriously and want to not only generate leads this year, but ride the wave of future homebuyers, sellers, and home loan prospects. Hit me up any time if you have more questions for me or want some help with your marketing! Go get 'em! -Norm :-) Everyone’s talking about Facebook ads these days, especially in the field of real estate and mortgage lending where a simple ad on a shoestring budget could generate a ridiculously high ROI. I’m getting more and more emails and messages asking me to break down best practices for setting up Facebook (and Instagram) ads. That content is coming soon, and we’ll have a whole lot to cover from geo-targeting to landing pages, remarketing to A/B split-tests. But before we go behind the scenes and “learn how the sausage is made” (my new favorite saying), I wanted to remind my Realtor, loan officer, and small business peeps that it’s not just enough to upload any stock photo, write a quick line of text, and start throwing money at your Facebook ad, expecting to see great results. Just like any other form of marketing, you need a high-quality ad with a specific purpose, laser-targeted demographic, clear call to action, and enticing offer waiting on the other side of their click. Many of these will also work best with a separate web landing page (where they receive their free download in exchange for their email address and contact info) or the landing-page-like platform that Facebook offers. So, today I wanted to share my 25 Facebook (and IG, since they are interconnected) ads that have proven to be ridiculously effective for real estate agents, mortgage lenders, or any small business. This isn't HOW to run ads, but WHAT KINDS of ads to run that will maximize your results. Of course, a lot of these pertain to finding customers who need to buy or sell a house, but I’ll cover a few tactics for mortgage lenders looking to attract new clients for a refinance and widen their network of Realtors for referrals, too. (By the way, so few mortgage lenders are advertising on Facebook – only about 3% compared to the number of Realtors running ads, so opportunities are wide open!) Let’s get started! 1. Open house and listing ads An easy place to start is advertising your open house through Facebook. Research shows that you’ll get the greatest result if you run the ad for at least 5-7 days before the actual open house and include both people who live in that radius as well as those who have been there recently (checked in at local businesses, etc.). Of course, you'll ask them to register to see the open house and receive a free listing report, getting their email. 2. Home value report Other than advertising listings, this is probably the most popular form of ad-into-a-lead magnet you’ll find, and it does work well since everyone loves to hear how much money their home is worth. 3. Value change alert! Did I just get your attention? This is an AWESOME ad that I get great results from. Notice how it doesn't say that the value in their neighborhood (or their home) has gone up or down, just that it's changed significantly. That will get them clicking to find out! 4. Survey We're always asking people to buy, sign up, and do business with us, so it's a relief when we just want a consumer's opinion in the form of a quick survey. Add in the incentive that they'll be in the drawing for some sort of prize or giveaway and this will be one of your most effective ads for building your email list – and getting to know your core target demographic. 5. Attention Investors Click for a list of houses under $200,000, multi-family houses, etc. 6. Mistakes This can be for home buying mistakes/listing mistakes/home loan mistakes, etc. Negative-slant blogs, articles, and ads really get people responding to your Call to Action, as psychological research shows that people are more afraid of making mistakes and losing money than they are motivated to earn money! 7. Event Are you helping with a charity event, client appreciation night, or educational seminar? Advertise it on Facebook! 8. Market report A good old-fashioned report with real estate marketing conditions can be a great lead magnet from a Facebook ad. This one is very consistent and easy to set up. 9. Seller Checklist that will save you $30,000! This one works ridiculously well, as you breakdown a list of everything the average seller can do to save up to $30,000 on their listing (or some amount you deemreasonable). Of course, it's based on existing data and national averages, but you'll basically make a case study for curb appeal, listing and marketing correctly, etc. 10. Buyer checklist You can do the same thing for homebuyers, giving them a few tips, tactics, negotiation strategies, etc. to save money (and avoid pitfalls). 11. Welcome to the neighborhood! Download your neighborhood report with the best restaurants, shops, and amenities in the area, as well as a list of schools (not rankings!), parks, and other helpful info! 12. A luxury living ad that speaks to their sophistication A Harvard study found that ads that were more subtle or discreet and complimented the viewer's sophistication worked exceptionally well, especially for luxury markets. You can also substitute hard-working, intelligent, discerning, having good taste, etc. for sophistication 13. Human interest/profile piece We’re always so focused on the nuts and bolts, but an ad that highlights you as a professional but even more so, family man/woman, community member, etc. is highly effective in garnering interest. Again, this works best with a short, professional video, but you’ll get a lot more clicks and leads off of it than you might anticipate. Personal and humanizing content is good! 14. Lifestyle-targeted ads Golf? Cycling on the nearby bike trails? Walking distance to everything? Downtown/midtown living? Make an ad that speaks to that! 15. Ad aimed at out-of-town buyers and investors As an example, run an ad in the San Francisco/Bay Area about the affordable prices and golden opportunities if they buy in Sacramento. I'm not sure why more Realtors don't do this! Ok, mortgage lenders; Most of these can be adapted to lending, like how to avoid common mortgage mistakes instead of home buying mistakes, etc. But I have some great ads for you, too. 16. 3 Homes with 3 Payments ad Run an ad with three houses, ranging from smaller to bigger and nicer and write in that all three of them have the same monthly payment. (Based on three different lending scenarios/home loan programs/pricing, etc.) People will click just to see how you plan to pull that off! 17. Refinance savings report Did you know that Fannie Mae estimates that 10 million US homeowners would benefit from a refinance, potentially saving them a collective $500 billion in mortgage payments? (Or something like that). Are you one of them? Click here to find out. 18. Can I save you $32,467 on your home loan? Any variation of that savings-with-a-refi ad above will work but put in a very specific number for the dollar savings based on projections for the average refinance. 19. Rent versus buy If you’re going after the first-time homebuyer market (Millennia homebuyers will be coming in drove soon!), you can run an ad demonstrating the benefit of buying versus renting in several ways, from being funny and visual to offering reports with actual hard data. 20. Ad for a first-time buyer checklist A checklist or guide for first-time buyers is easy to put together and will get you a lot of activity. 21. Prize/raffle/giveaway Whether you’re a Realtor, lender, or offering any product or service, don’t forget that you can supercharge your ad results by offering a prize/raffle/giveaway. In fact, that can be the whole ad and you’ll get tremendous results for click-throughs (to expand your email list and social media audience, if not outright leads)! 22. Get pre-approved in seconds A quick prequalification ad that leads to your website and the auto-prequal matrix. 23. “How to save $______ on your next home loan” Run an ad and show them the benefits of a 15-year versus 30-year mortgage, rate buy-down with points, etc. 24. Target realtors working in your area – you have buyers? Interest rates are so low now that most lenders are busy with refinances, but I notice that a lot of my clients are playing it smart and keeping 50% of their focus on Realtor relationships and referrals. One way to cast a wider net is to run an ad proclaiming that you have buyers who may need a Realtor to help them. Of course, you’ll want to actually deliver on this promise. 25. Free weekly marketing tip offered to lenders You can target by occupation with Facebook ads so run an ad offering a free weekly marketing tip or mortgage update for Realtors. *** Want some help with your Facebook ads to bring in new leads and maximize your ROI? Drop me a line at info@REMnorm.com. -Norm :-) A quick note on liability:
There are things you can and can’t say in your ads based on national Fair Housing laws, state regulations, as well as independent broker and company rules. I’m going to assume that you know these and follow them, but be careful when talking about interest rates, pricing, neighborhood specifics like school systems, crime, demographics, and more. If in doubt, it’s a good idea to run your ad by your broker first! I just published an industry white paper on Apple Books and Kindle with Amazon.com. But instead of paying for it, I wanted to offer it to you here for FREE. This is a great eye-opener for mortgage brokers, lenders, and Realtors alike (yes, the same benefits apply to real estate agents!). You can download it here:
A sample from inside the special report: Instagram is also a terrific resource for mortgage brokers and loan officers who are looking to gain a larger client base, connect with Realtors for more referral business, and close far more deals this year (and who among us isn't looking for that?!) What will you get out of marketing (correctly) on Instagram? Leads, referrals, and more leads! In fact, 73% of consumers report that their purchase decisions are impacted by a brand's Instagram presence – including when it comes to getting their next home loan. Here are ten reasons why smart mortgage brokers and loan officers NEED to have a business profile on Instagram and actively market: (Want to read the rest? Just download the special report for free above ^^^)
Need a little help with Instagram marketing for your business? Just contact me! Your friend, -Norm :-) We live in a digital age, but when it comes down to it, personal one-on-one communication is still paramount for any sales person or business owner. In order to get new clients, you first need to attract and engage the people you interact with everyday, proving yourself likable and trustworthy in the process.
We meet hundreds if not thousands of people every month, so strategically using interpersonal tactics and techniques can equate to a huge bump in leads, clients, and closed deals. So, today I’ll share five communication “cheat codes” that will help you do just that. Try these the next time you’re sitting with a sales prospect, at a business mixer, or even at a cocktail party! 5 Communication cheat codes: 1. DON’T smile right away When you first meet someone, don't flash an immediate smile, and don’t enter a room or encounter already with a full smile. If you do so, it appears to the other person that you already have that smile, and so they are not special. Instead, pause and look at the person’s face for a brief moment, and THEN flash your big, warm smile. By smiling AFTER you see them and register their face, your smile will always appear sincere, and people will know that you’re lighting up specifically for them, not just because you happen to be in a good mood, leaving them with a strong positive impression and emotions. 2. Make eye contact for 60% of a conversation Maintaining eye contact with the person you're speaking with is key to engaging them and forming a connection, but how much is too much? After all, you don't want to blankly stare at their eyes, which is a surefire way to weird them out and make yourself highly avoidable! Instead, maintain a balance by making straightforward eye contact about 60% of the time, and you'll be perceived as interested, friendly, and trustworthy. Another interesting note: focus not on both of their eyes at once (that will leave you a little cross-eyed!) but on one eye or the other, which will feel (and appear) more natural. 3. Everyone loves to hear their name – the Cocktail Party Effect No matter who you are or where you’re from, chances are you respond positively to hearing your own name, a trait that’s hard-wired in humans. So, whether you’re meeting someone for the first time or just trying to woo them, repeat their name a few times organically in conversation. In fact, scientists have established that hearing your name activates a different part of the brain - the medial prefrontal cortex, and you respond in “self-representational” ways that are linked to identity and other self-image processes. So, that’s why you can hear your own name over the din at a noisy cocktail party, when you wouldn’t be able to hear anything else in a normal conversational tone. And it’s also why using a client’s name is so damn effective! 4. Follow their feet to gauge interest Is someone genuinely interested in you and what you have to say, or just going through the motions and being polite until they can get away? There's a great trick to be able to tell, and it has nothing to do with reading facial expressions, voice, or other body language. Instead, look at their feet. If they're pointed in your direction, the person is interested and really listening to you. However, if their feet are pointed away, they're not engaged at all and can't wait to get out the door. 5. People remember unfinished… Interestingly, people remember communication messages that are cut off early or aren’t finished at higher rates than those that are completed. Called the Zeigarnik Effect, advertisers, marketers, and behavioral psychologists are using this trick everywhere - but you probably don’t even notice. You can use this tip to get someone’s attention and ensure that they remember you, possibly by telling them that you have a great story for them later on, a joke without a punchline yet, or letting them know that you want to tell them something important, like… ... ... ...see how well that works? Contact me if you need any help with your marketing or if there's a topic you'd like to see here. Now go get 'em! -Norm :-) Would you like to win a free Starbucks card? How about a gift certificate to your favorite restaurant? Or even have a chance to win an iPad?! Of course, you would! After all, who doesn't like winning free stuff? And that's the basis of an incredibly powerful – yet underutilized - marketing tool for mortgage lenders, Realtors, and any small business owner that I’ll talk about today: Contests, giveaways, and raffles on social media. Psychologists have found a nuance of human behavior that's nearly universal: we love to win just about anything, and we love free. In fact, studies prove that people vastly overvalue an item, good, or service if the word "free" is attached. Such is the case with an advertising campaign conducted by Krispy Kreme years ago when they offered a free donut to each patron on one particular day. The lines were so long that people had to wait up to two hours just for one donut (how much is two hours of your time worth?). The promotion was so frenzied that the donut retailer ended up having their most profitable day ever! You can use this same psychology to promote your business, albeit online and without the donut (eat that yourself). To give you a broad definition, we’re talking about giveaways, raffles, and contests (I’ll refer to them as GR&C) as interchangeable since they’re basically the same thing despite subtle differences. Likewise, these all can be conducted online via your website, Facebook, Instagram, or any social media account, email blasts, or any combination. Today, I'll mostly talk more about GR&C's for Facebook, but contact me if you want strategies for promotions on Instagram or email. The basic premise is simple: we offer something of value for free for the winner(s) of these GR&C’s as a way to promote your brand and business. The benefits to you will include:
What might a GR&C look like on Facebook? Here are a few ideas to get started: -A quiz or trivia contest -Caption contest -Help us name (something) contest -Fill in the blank contest -Funniest GIF contest -A random drawing for new people that like your page -Random drawing for all of your followers -Fan/Client/Follower of the Week -Funniest/best selfie contest -Choose your favorite _____ contest -Raffle off something -Vote for something -Transformation (lose weight in 30 days, best before and after makeover, etc.) -A social media scavenger hunt, where you give clues and people have to take a photo at those places around town or per your instructions My favorite GR&C’s involve some form of a photo contest: -Take a funny selfie -Take a selfie or photo somewhere recognizable in the city/neighborhood you live in -Take a photo of a DIY home improvement or decorating project you did -Take a selfie or photo in front of one of your For Sale signs -Take a photo of a home you’ve helped buy or sell -Take a photo of the funniest/best/most creative ______ you can find -Take a photo from a certain event or holiday (Christmas/back to school/baseball game, etc.) The possibilities for great GR&C’s involving photos are endless, giving you important social proof, humanizing your brand, and also gaining far more interest than text alone. You can also extend this to videos but realize that you'll get fewer participants. What can you give away? Prizes can range from free (you can bake cookies and deliver them!) to ridicuslouly fun and pricey. I once ran a promotion where a client gave away two tickets to a Justin Timberlake contenst! Here are some other ideas:
The key to a good GR&C is that you make it simple and document the rules clearly. That includes:
To promote your GR&C: Create a nice graphic that clearly explains the contest, the prize, the terms, etc. You can also post about the GR&C on your blog, website, all over your social media, and via email blast. When the deadline ends for submissions, there are several ways you can decide the winner. It can be a random drawing based on names-in-a-hat or random number selection (which you can video and post), or you can simply choose your favorite. But my preferred method for picking a winner is by posting all of the photos from the participants (assuming you ran a giveaway with photos) and let your followers vote for their favorite. The photo with the most likes wins! That also encourages participants to share their photo/your post to encourage their other friends to like your page, follow you, and vote. Cross-promotion with a popular brand or local business To step up the promotion for the sake of enhancing your business, partner with a local business in the city or neighborhood where you operate. Businesses will often gladly give away a restaurant coupon for a free meal, a free car wash, a free massage, a free coffee, etc. just because of the advertising it will yield them. By bringing in a local business, you also encourage them to share it with their extensive customer database on Facebook and elsewhere, so you’re really gaining massive new exposure to a new audience. Before you fly off and start setting up GR&C’s on Facebook, there are some rules and regulations you should be aware of: From what I’ve read, you can only run these GR&C’s on your business page (not personal). You also have to clearly define the terms and rules, who is eligible, and share a standard Facebook disclaimer that states that Facebook isn’t involved in any way. You also CAN’T ask contest participants to:
Here are Facebook’s specific rules for promotions like this: E. Promotions 1. If you use Facebook to communicate or administer a promotion (ex: a contest or sweepstakes), you are responsible for the lawful operation of that promotion, including: a. The official rules; b. Offer terms and eligibility requirements (ex: age and residency restrictions); and c. Compliance with applicable rules and regulations governing the promotion and all prizes offered (ex: registration and obtaining necessary regulatory approvals) 2. Promotions on Facebook must include the following: a. A complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant. b. Acknowledgment that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. 3. Promotions may be administered on Pages or within apps on Facebook. Personal Timelines and friend connections must not be used to administer promotions (ex: “share on your Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend's Timeline to get additional entries”, and "tag your friends in this post to enter" are not permitted). 4. We will not assist you in the administration of your promotion, and you agree that if you use our service to administer your promotion, you do so at your own risk. Final notes: My advice is to start small, with a simple Starbucks card giveaway or random drawing. But start to do it regularly – like a Free Giveaway Friday, as an example, or on the first day of every month. Eventually, people will flock to your Facebook page regularly as word gets out and they realize that you're consistently giving great prizes away. And remember – you share these same giveaways, raffles, and contests on Instagram, through your email, and elsewhere. Give it a try – and contact me if you want to game-plan and get some help! Norm :-) |
Categories
All
Archives
December 2020
|