Loan officers committed to growing, or even just sustaining their business, understand that their marketing strategy is of primary importance. It’s an indispensable way to connect with your audience, expand that audience, and consistently communicate your message to them. But, as we also know, there are many other things require our attention in addition to marketing, namely, our current clients. So, how can we give our marketing efforts a boost without neglecting other areas of our work or doubling the hours we spend in the office? Here are some things to consider:
Do Your Research
Hands down the most important part of any marketing strategy and often the most overlooked, especially amongst loan officers; define your target market. Who is your target audience? What are their concerns? What are they searching for online? What information would they ideally find on your website? When you dedicate time to understanding your target audience, you can better tailor your efforts to them. It’s also important to review and understand data on your current marketing. What’s working for you? What’s not? From there, you can make any necessary adjustments. This might mean staying current on new marketing techniques or checking out a relevant podcast. It could also mean taking your content in a different direction by doing more of what people are responding to and doing less of the things that aren’t getting attention and engagement. It’s too often I see this part overlooked in our industry. Loan officers are quick to list off all of the types of people they can work with, but rarely sit down and define who they want to work with. When your market is the defined properly, the pieces in the rest of this article become much easier.
Define Your Brand
Your brand, if it’s strong enough, can do a significant portion of your marketing work for you. This requires it to be easily recognizable, that it delivers a clear message, and that it’s visible across multiple platforms. Whether you have a long-established brand or you’re in the process of building one, it’s a smart idea to assess the foundation. What messages are you trying to send? What do you want to highlight? Who are you? From there, look at every other element of your brand, including colors, font, graphics, and tone, to ensure that everything works to reinforce your message. The reason your brand requires that much attention to detail, is that it speaks for you when you’re not there. You’re not going to connect personally with everyone who visits your website or Facebook page, but when you have a strong brand, they’ll leave with a real sense of who you are and what you’re about. In our office we coach loan officers to focus on their service values to their target market when defining their brand.
Start Blocking-Off Time
Loan officers often have fully packed schedules. The only way we can strengthen our marketing strategy is by making time for it. Start small—block off a few short windows of time throughout your week where you can do things like create and post content and reply to comments. Consistency is important to maximize impact, and when you have regular windows in your schedule dedicated to marketing, you can ensure that it’s getting the attention it needs.
Provide Value
From an LO’s viewpoint, marketing is often about how they can attract more clients. If we really want to be successful, we need to reframe this perspective. Rather than thinking about our marketing endeavors as a way to gain business, we need to think of them as a way to share value. When our marketing isn’t just ads and solicitation but is actually useful information, it becomes significantly more effective. Content marketing is the best way to achieve this. When you share your expertise with your audience, you show you’re an industry expert who is ready and willing to help. Another thing to consider when providing value is strategic partnerships. Could you partner with an organization aligned with your target market to provide more value? There are many ways to provide value, be creative.
Your marketing strategy fuels new business, so it deserves more of your attention. It’s not necessary to set aside entire days for marketing efforts each week. Start small and adjust. If your market and brand is defined the rest will fall into place and your results will be supercharged.
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