As a mortgage broker, you know that marketing is essential to growing your business. But with so many digital marketing tools out there, it can be tough to know where to start, especially if you’ve just branched out on your own after being in a well-established brokerage firm. You might never have had to even think about marketing before, but now you’re running your own show, it all lands on you.
Never fear! We’ve compiled a list of the 5 essential digital marketing tools every mortgage broker needs in their toolkit. From social media to email marketing, these tools will help you reach more borrowers and close more loans. Keep reading to learn more!
1. Social media management tool
There’s no question that social media is a powerful tool for businesses. It can help you reach a wider audience, connect with customers and clients, and promote your brand. However, managing social media can be a time-consuming and tricky task. That’s where social media management tools come in.
A social media management tool (or a range of tools) to help you with scheduling posts and analysing your audience is going to become important for you as you grow.
There are so many tools available out there and, depending on your platform(s) of choice you might decide that an integrated tool such as Hootsuite or Plann is the best – it’s usually a case of trial and error, and most offer free trials to give you a chance to try them out.
The majority of social media management tools can help you schedule posts, track your analytics, and automatically repost your best content based on your audience’s engagement.
Linkedin is another great option for businesses, offering users the ability to create a professional profile, connect with other businesses, and share relevant content at times that best suit you and your audience.
Choosing the right social media management tool for your business will depend on your specific needs and goals. However, all of these tools can help you save time and energy when it comes to managing your social media presence.
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to keep track of all your leads and clients
A CRM, or customer relationship management system, is a tool that businesses can use to keep track of their leads and clients. By consolidating information into a single database, businesses can more easily manage their relationships with customers and prospects. In addition, a CRM like our preferred tool for brokers – Salestrekker – can help to automate tasks such as email marketing and SMS follow-ups, making it easier for you and your team to stay in touch with their leads.
The right CRM should also be an essential tool for building and maintaining relationships with customers. Salestrekker is a popular CRM for brokers because it offers a variety of features, including lead management, communication tools, and custom workflows.
Your CRM will become the bedrock of your business as you scale so that you never have to worry about lost leads or admin follow-up again because it’s all taken care of.
3. A lead generation tool to help you find more potential clients online
We all know that generating leads is essential for business success. But what’s the best way to go about it? There are a lot of lead generation tools out there, and it can be tough to know which one to choose, especially for brokers who rely so heavily on new leads coming in to grow their business.
The option we recommend to our clients is WebloanQ – part of the Salestrekker CRM platform and offers website plug-ins that allow consumers to use 8 different calculators, compare products, complete a quote and a full application on the broker’s website, with all data mapping to the CRM.
The benefit of using this embedded tool is that customers are already engaged to enter their information and your CRM will display everything you need to know about them before you speak to them – a lot of the upfront work has already been done.
In addition, multiple plug-ins for asset finance and personal loans, and home loans can be added based on your services making it a great option for businesses of all sizes.
4. Automated email marketing system
A marketing automation tool to help you automate tasks like email marketing and customer segmentation is vital if you want to grow your brokerage business.
As a busy business owner, you can’t afford to waste time on tasks that can be easily automated – especially such as welcome email sequences (the same thing sent to every new customer/subscriber) or refinance sequences – reminding customers when their interest rate is about to change and to encourage them to refinance with you.
We recommend to our clients that ActivePipe is a great solution for brokers, especially if you’re already using Salestrekker as it integrates directly to your lead information.
With an email automation tool such as ActivePipe you can create email sequences and campaigns that are triggered by specific events, such as when a customer signs up for your newsletter or goes cold for 3 days. It also makes it easy to segment your customers into different groups so you can send them more targeted communication and save you time while also helping you to better communicate with your customers.
5. Graphic design tool
Yes, you might be wondering why a broker needs a graphic design tool but the reality is that marketing is part of your job as a mortgage broker (or you can outsource to an assistant which we highly recommend as you grow). Having a consistent visual brand that people associate with you across your website, blog, LinkedIn and email signature might not be a big deal to you, but it will be to your customers. It’s not about having a flashy website or a bespoke logo (although those things can be nice, they’re not always needed straight away), it’s more about the trust and credibility factor.
A customer wants to know they can trust you with their time and their financial situation. That trust is built when they see you are consistent, show up for them with relevant content, and know what you’re talking about. And your visual brand is a huge part of this.
Start small with a free Canva account (that also includes some amazing templates to get you going) and you can easily spruce up a blog or LinkedIn post with your brand colours in no time.
While you might not have joined the broker world to be a digital marketer, it is important you consider these areas as you grow your business. And remember – you don’t have to do it all alone. Auctus Coaching can offer much of the guidance, support, and services you need to get your marketing efforts off the ground. Talk to us today…
