|
If you market to everyone, “your client will be no one." This is an old saying that is as true today as it was when it was first spoken. Mortgage professionals waste an immense amount of their marketing dollars on ineffective advertising that blasts their general message to the entire marketplace. This is commonly referred to as "spraying and praying" in the marketing world.
The Solution: Niche Marketing
Niche mortgage marketing on the other hand, allocates a smaller portion of your marketing budget on building a list of likely prospects and then investing the rest on converting those prospects into clients. The result is a more effective use of your precious marketing dollars and a much higher prospect to client conversion rate -- not to mention a significant increase in referrals.
By definition, niche marketing is narrowing your marketing efforts to a group(s) of prospects that have a high likelihood of being interested in purchasing your product or service.
There is literally no limit to the number of niches you can go after. Here are just a few examples...
1. First Time Home Buyers
2. Subprime
3. Business Owners (No Income Verification)
4. Seniors (Reverse Mortgages)
5. Debt Consolidation (Home Owners with Debt)
6. Jumbo mortgages
7. FSBOs
8. New Immigrants
You get the picture. The bottome line is once you come to intimately know the hot buttons of the niches you've selected to market to, your ability to convert prospects into clients becomes infinitely easier.
Your 6 Step Niche Marketing Program
Setting up your own mortgage niche marketing program is simple using the following six step process. Each step in the process is important to the ultimate success of your niche marketing program. There are no shortcuts to niche marketing success.
Step 1 - Choose a Niche
When choosing a profitable niche to market to make sure that it's one that you can easily contact by mail. A good choice would be a niche in which mailing lists are readily available. If at all possible, your niche should be one that communicates amongst itself through community groups or events. It helps if your niche suffers from problems that a mortgage professional can solve. Lastly, ensure that your niche has the money to purchase a home.
Perhaps the easiest method of choosing a niche is to review your client list and look for groups of people in the same occupation or subculture groups. The beauty of this method is that the niche you choose has already proven that they want a mortgage.
Potential niches that you might consider are self employed business owners, first-time home buyers or people with damaged credit. Each specific niche has a unique set of problems and aggravations that they have to deal with when trying to get a mortgage.
Step 2 - Develop your Brilliant Marketing Message
Once you've chosen your niche, your next step is to develop the mortgage marketing message that you will deliver to your prospects. To develop your message you'll need to know: What problems or issues they are facing? What results are they looking for? And what is it about your service or approach that is going to interest them and make them remember you?
Materials you should expect to develop are a lead generation special report or financing guide. The guide can be 3-10 pages in length and should provide valuable information that will help your prospect become more informed and make wiser financing decisions. This financing guide can be in written form or better yet, a CD or video.
You'll also need to create promotion tools. The purpose of the promotion tool is to promote your free guide. An example is a 3 card campaign of Mortgage Marketing Postcards. Your postcards should focus on the hot buttons of your target audience and should position the free guide as a solution to their unique problems and frustrations (as they relate to getting a mortgage).
You should also create a "What People Are Saying…" testimonial book that contains endorsements from clients in your niche with accompanying pictures of them standing next to their newly purchased home.
Lastly, you'll need a brochure. But not a standard mortgage brochure -- one that is custom developed for your niche. So if you chose to market to renters and general contractors, you should develop two different brochures that include messages specifically targeted to the needs of each unique niche. The brochure doesn't have to be glossy and expensive. But it does need to talk directly to your niche and address their unique problems.
Step 3 - Obtain or Generate a List of Prospects
Your list of prospects is the most valuable element of your niche marketing program. First, look for existing lists of niche prospects. For example, if you're targeting business owners you might buy a membership list from your local Chamber of Commerce.
If you chose renters you could purchase a list of renters from a list broker or you could simply do an unaddressed mail drop to an apartment complex. To obtain a list of niches to consider in your niche marketing program, send a blank email to nichelist@mortgagemarketingcoach.com with the subject: ”Niche List”.
Step 4 - Contact your Niche
It's time to assemble your marketing message and send it to your niche market. This will be done in two steps. First, send your postcard or promotion tool offering your free report or guide. Ask your prospects to respond by calling you to order their free financing guide. The next step is to send the guide to those who responded to your mail out and combine it with a note stating the benefits of taking the next step with an application.
WARNING: The next step is a common area where many mortgage professionals either cheat or skip altogether by just sending a one-step offer to the list. People are tired of one-step, "in your face" marketing. They want to be courted first. By sending good, non-sales type valuable information you'll be establishing a warm relationship, which will prepare your prospect for your offer.
Step 5 - Follow up
Following up with your prospects is key! 98% of all mortgage professionals rarely follow up after their first mailing yet studies have shown that a prospect needs to see you and your offer at least three times to make a decision.
To dramatically increase response to your direct mailings you should consider following up by phone, introduce yourself, ask if they received your guide, and ask if they had any further questions.
Step 6 - Develop a Niche Referral Program
Now that you've taken the effort to establish your niche marketing program you should leverage your efforts by implementing a systematic referral program. Remember when I mentioned that it was important to choose a niche that communicates amongst itself? This is why! If you've created a happy client they will begin to talk to others in your niche.
For example, if you've targeted business owners in your city, they will start to talk about you in their monthly meetings and informal get-togethers. You can multiply this by rewarding your clients in some way when they tell their friends.
Be sure to implement "mortgage referral systems" so that it is an established process in your business that gets measured and generates a steady stream of quality referrals on autopilot.
For instance, you might send out a "change of address card" to 15-30 of your client's friends notifying of them of your client's new address. On the card you can also offer a free report or a series of free recorded messages. When someone calls your mortgage call capture line - you got a hot lead!
Conclusion
There is a misconception that if you narrow your target market that there will be fewer prospects to market to; however, you'll find the opposite to be true. Once you begin to tailor your message to the specific needs of your niche and you begin to receive word-of-mouth advertising within your niche, new clients will come out of the woodwork. In fact, your client base will actually expand.
To be competitive in today’s economy you need to consider new methods and marketing techniques to reach more high quality prospects. Niche marketing is a proven way to uncover new prospects, increase closing rates, and boost referrals.
About the Author:
Doren Aldana, the nation’s leading Mortgage Marketing Coach, is dedicated to helping mortgage professionals attract more clients with less effort. Aldana is also the author of a Mortgage Marketing Audio Seminar, "21 Secrets of Superstar Mortgage Brokers and Loan Officers!" To get your free copy click here.
To access the proven mortgage marketing resources and profit producing tools discussed in this article visit our webstore or join our mortgage marketing coaching program.
Click this hyperlink for more >> FREE Mortgage Marketing Articles
|
The three steps you need to take to create a powerful high-level marketing plan in one day. 
.jpg)
