Mortgage brokerage is not an easy line of business. You need a constant supply of leads – but not just people who are interested in buying a house. They must also meet the financial criteria for qualifying for a mortgage loan. Since the 2007-2008 global economic crisis, these criteria have become increasingly difficult to meet by many would-be homeowners.
This does not mean that the market is dying – not by far. Your business is an example of the fact that real estate transactions still take place on the consumer market. What you need is a smart and cost-effective way to find qualified leads. And the solution is Facebook™ ads.
Get Your Customers Where They Like to Hang Around
Most people spend their online time browsing their social media pages. At present, these platforms – Facebook™, Instagram, and Twitter – are used not just for socialising, but also for finding products and services.
This is why brand pages have so many followers – and this is why Facebook™ ads are so effective, too. The idea of finding a trusted brand has moved from “I’ll do a Google search” to “I’ll look around on Facebook™”. The reason for this shift is looking for trusted references. A Google search will return websites without any endorsement attached to them. Facebook™ business pages and ads display the names of friends who also like the respective brand.
Apart from this aspect, people perceive Facebook™ ads as less disruptive and annoying to their browsing activities than, for instance, a banner or video ad taking the foreground of an article they are reading on a website.
These being said, here are some simple, actionable tips to help you find qualified leads for your mortgage brokerage business with Facebook™ ads:
1. Be Specific About Who Will See Your Ads
Facebook™ ad prices are based on three criteria: clicks, impressions (how many people see the ad) and conversions (how many people take a specific action). This means that if your ads are shown to people outside your target, you will lose money.
Fortunately, you can add a lot of selection criteria to your audience for Facebook™ ads:
Location
Demographic characteristics: level of education, income
Behaviours: newlywed, new parents, newly divorced
Interests: users who liked real estate company pages or platforms like Zillow.
You can also upload your list of subscribers and Facebook™ will identify user accounts that you can target with ads. Also, you can install the Facebook™ Pixel on your website and target visitors.
2. Before You Sell, Make Friends
People don’t like being sold something from the first contact they make with a business. When it comes to mortgage loans, they are extra careful to find a lender they can trust and that offers them fair conditions.
The whole point about being on Facebook™ is socialising, after all. Thus, your first ad campaigns should focus on awareness. Instead of getting them to sign up for a mortgage evaluation, invite them to download a link magnet teaching them what to do to maximise their chances of being approved for a loan. Once you demonstrate your professionalism and helpful nature, you can move on to the sales part.
3. Tap into Their Pain Points and Provide Relief
What do your customers want most? 5-star professional service as confirmed by X business magazine? A list of your professional capacities and markets you’ve served? Not likely. They want a mortgage loan with affordable rates and flexible conditions. They want to move into a new house as soon as possible. They want to be able to confirm that deal they’ve struck with a realtor.
This is what your ad copy a CTA should be all about: your lending conditions, your smooth approval process and the ability to work with a realtor to finalise the transaction as soon as possible. Do not forget to use power words in your copy, like: “you”, “save”, “results”, “now”.
4. Don’t Forget About the Visual Appeal
Facebook™ ads are mostly visual: the largest proportion of the ad area is reserved for the photo or video, not to text. Even if you are not promoting a specific property, you should sift through your listing of pre-approved properties for sale and feature them in your ads.
Do not forget about human interest, either. Every once in awhile, feature yourself and your team of professionals in ad photos. Attention: use your actual team photos, not stock photos. They look fake and everyone can spot them.
5. Coordinate Your Ad with Your Landing Page Design
Once people click on your ad, they should arrive on a web page that looks similar to that ad. It is the reassurance they need that they reached the page they wanted. Since landing pages are supposed to have a simple, distraction-free design, it should be quite easy to extrapolate the Facebook™ ad design to the landing page.