Mortgage originators are operating in a cluttered, ultra-competitive landscape when it comes to marketing and branding themselves. Every day, competing brokers and loan officers are pushing out content online to appeal to clients. And that’s in addition to all the TV and radio commercials that bigger bank and nonbank lenders regularly air.
But you don’t need millions of dollars and a 40-person marketing team to cut through all the noise. There is a way for mortgage originators with the smallest of budgets to build a following, enhance their reputation and drive business growth, all by themselves. The answer is using video on social media.
Resonating message
Everyone you are trying to reach with your messaging, whether they are a potential borrower or real estate agent partner, is human — and people love working with other people they can relate to and connect with. Here are a couple of tips to follow when creating video.
First, be yourself. People love authenticity and can sense from a mile away when you’re being fake. It doesn’t matter what the topic is, just be you. Remember that you’re probably not creating video to submit for an award, you’re creating video to attract and communicate to potential clients. So, a selfie view from the camera will be more impactful than some kind of super-produced opening scene shot with a drone.
If you’re a high-energy person, be high energy in your videos. If you’re more of a charismatic, funny person, use humor in your videos. Authentic messaging resonates with your audience, and that’s what drives people to engage with your content through likes, comments and shares.
Second, find a way to stand out. Whether it’s a personality trait or the setting in which you shoot your video, focus on things that make you different. Think about what it’s like to scroll through your news feed on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
So often you see the same kinds of things repeatedly — memes, blocks of text or videos of someone sitting at a desk talking to the camera like it’s a “talking head” scene from “The Office.” It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle that way. If you look like everything else, it doesn’t matter what you put out there. No one’s going to stop and check it out.
Countless stories
Video, if done right, is a great way to reach your target audience. But a big mistake that marketers often make is creating the video with only themselves in mind — instead of making it through the eyes of your audience. People also generally hate being “sold” to, so it’s important to tell stories through your video in a way that connects with your audience emotionally and reflects their values (not your company’s).
Stories are the basis of entertainment for us as human beings. It’s why we go to the movies and why we read books. The great thing about mortgages is that there are a countless number of stories in our business. Think about all the crazy stuff that you encounter as an originator and tell that story. Start at the beginning. Describe the scenario, including the obstacles or pain points that needed to be overcome, what you did to overcome those obstacles and save the day, then highlight the positive outcome.
One idea is to make 60-second Q&A videos. If there’s one thing you can count on working in the mortgage business, it’s that you will get asked the same questions all the time. It’s a constant. Take all those questions that you’re frequently asked and create short, minute-long “explainer” videos on each of the various topics. Then post them on your website and direct people to that specific content.
That way, not only are they getting the information how they prefer it — short, fast and easy — but, while they’re on your website, they’ll view other videos you have posted there. That might push them to give you their information and opt in because they want your help.
Live and real
Something else to consider is live video, which is as real as it gets, and is the way to win the hearts and minds of your audience. You can’t fake it. People get to see you for who you really are, and that’s what they want.
Those watching a live video also have the opportunity to interact with you without much commitment. It’s a great opportunity to position yourself as an expert — answering questions and providing on-the-spot consultation in a way that builds confidence and trust.
And this might seem counterintuitive, but give them something to read. Remember, the key is to deliver the message based on what your audience values, not what you value. The reality is that, even though video is extremely popular and effective in reaching your audience, there will always be a segment of people that prefer to read articles over watching video, or are in a situation where they can’t actually listen to your video — and you don’t want to miss out on them.
Take the time to transcribe your video and include closed captions so viewers can read along. Take it another step and provide the transcription in the form of a short article below the video, in an e-mail or on your website.
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You don’t need a huge budget or a huge team to use social media video to grow your business. All you need is your personality, your knowledge and a can-do attitude. Keep it simple. Shoot it and post it. If you’re not doing it, you’re not going to get better at it.
