6 Marketing Tactics for Mortgage Retention and Acquisition in Any Economy

Emphasize content marketing.

A quarter of home buyers say that lack of understanding about the mortgage process is the biggest challenge to home ownership, according to the NextGen Homebuyer Report from Cultural Outreach.¹ That makes a value-added content marketing plan essential to your mortgage acquisition efforts.

It’s equally important for mortgage retention. Relevant, useful content helps strengthen relationships with existing customers and keeps your institution (and your products) top of mind when they’re ready to refinance, make a new home purchase or use their home equity.

Topics can run the gamut from guiding people through the mortgage process, to providing facts on the value of homeownership to building awareness about home equity financing and how it can help them achieve financial goals. Developing a content calendar will help you make sure your content covers key topics and aligns with your other marketing initiatives.

Development is only half the job, though. You also need to distribute the content. You’ll reach the most people by leveraging multiple channels, such as website blogs, newsletters, email, social media, in-app messaging, direct mail, webinars, statement inserts and ATM messages. Using a variety of formats can also help engage consumers, and video (as well as other visual content) is especially impactful.

Refresh your website.

When someone seeks out a mortgage, chances are they’re going to plug a query into a search engine, regardless of whether they’re purchasing, refinancing or tapping equity. That makes search engine optimization (SEO) a critical part of your mortgage acquisition and retention strategy. Implementing SEO tactics can help push your website higher on the search rankings.

But it’s also important that once the consumer clicks through to your website, they get a good experience. That means making sure your site renders well and your forms function properly on any digital device. And it means making sure visitors can find what they need easily — from products and rates to loan officer contact information to customer reviews. Don’t forget that popular pages on your site are also good places to feature your mortgage marketing messages.

Address abandoned applications.

E-commerce retailers have long used abandoned cart campaigns to re-engage shoppers who put an item in their checkout cart, but never made a purchase. The same idea can now be useful to financial institutions. As consumers increasingly shift to digital banking, they’re starting loan applications online — and some are never completing them. Following up on these very warm leads can increase conversions.

Start by ensuring your online application process is as friction-free as possible. Then create an email campaign that’s triggered when an application is abandoned. A series of abandoned cart emails could work 63% better than a single email.² For instance, you might consider a three-part campaign like this:

Expand and strengthen professional partnerships.

Real estate professionals and financial advisors are positioned to recommend mortgage lenders to their customers. To help ensure your company is a favored resource, you need to gain trust and demonstrate how you can help their customers. One way to do this is by sending potential partners value-added content, such as through email “bulletins,” newsletters or blogs on your website.

You might cover topics such as mortgage news and trends, as well as consumer-facing information on the mortgage process, different types of home loans, mortgage lingo and other content that helps them educate their customers.

Ask for referrals and testimonials.

This one is an oldie, but a goodie — and there’s a reason why. For starters, more than half of home buyers find their mortgage lender through a referral, according to a Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report.³ And positive online reviews are just as powerful:⁴

Given the importance of personal recommendations, it’s surprising that just one-third of all financial institutions in North America have a referral program.⁵ Developing one could give your organization a competitive advantage.

Look Beyond Marketing

Beyond these mortgage retention and acquisition marketing strategies, it can be beneficial to conduct an objective review of your products, processes and services. You may find opportunities to offer new products that would draw in a new audience. Or you may discover friction in your application process — or hiccups in your customer service — that might be turning prospects away before they become customers.

Evaluating these factors and enhancing your marketing efforts can help keep your home loan portfolio healthy and growing regardless of economic and real estate cycles.

If you need an objective, data-based overview of your HELOC portfolio or strategic marketing recommendations, CCG is here to help. Our financial marketing experts have more than 40 years of experience guiding financial institutions to improved revenue and driving customer action with a comprehensive array of services and solutions. Schedule a free consultation or call us at 303.986.3000 today to see how we can help.