Episode 23 - Content that Works Well to Promote Mortgage Products

Podcast Episode 23: When it comes to creating content around Mortgage products and services, there are a few opportunities for your credit union or bank to capitalize on. Content such as a home buying checklist, a quick ebook, or a how to blog on finding a real estate agent.

The FI GROW team discusses the best types of content your financial institution can leverage depending on where the customer is in their buying journey.

Transcription:

Have you ever been talking about something that's really useful and thought, "That's a great idea. Let's hit record so we can share this with everyone?" If you're looking for best practices for your bank or credit union, join us while we talk all things sales, marketing, and strategy for financial institutions. Let's make it happen with FI GROW Solutions.

Meredith Olmstead:

Hi there. I'm Meredith Olmstead, Founder and CEO at FI GROW Solutions. We are a marketing and sales, digital marketing and sales agency. And we work exclusively with credit unions and community banks. And I am here with Penne Vanderbush, our Chief of Strategy. Say, "Hi," Penne.

Penne Vanderbush:

Hey there.

Meredith Olmstead:

So we were just having an awesome conversation about what kinds of content work well to promote mortgage products and services. And it's that time of year, so we were chatting about different content campaigns and things that we've tried for other clients. And we thought, "You know what? Let's hit record. Let's talk a little bit more about this and share it with everybody out there on the podcast."

Meredith Olmstead:

So there's lots of different, great different kinds of content, obviously, that financial brands and services can create. Specifically to mortgage, though, there's a few opportunities out there for your credit union or your bank to maybe capitalize on when it comes to promoting those kind of more complicated products and services.

Meredith Olmstead:

So the first one we were talking about is early stage buying journey kinds of content. It's not salesy content. It's not actually trying to promote your products or services, as much as it is helping people that are really early on in their mortgage buying journey. And that usually is around buying a house, so maybe a home buying checklist or a quick ebook or a how to blog on finding a real estate agent or picking the right neighborhood for your family, so something that's not really selling anything that you have, but is really more informative and educational. You can sometimes download that content. So it would be really, really good for building trust with people when they're early on in their buying journey.

Penne Vanderbush:

Yeah. And I think one thing that we'll hear often is this crossover that early stage content is for first time home buyers. And it certainly can be, but it doesn't have to be. So sometimes, that early stage content is someone who might be considering downsizing, getting ready for retirement, empty nesters. So we want to make sure that as we develop content strategies, that early stage is for one consumer journey, but first time home buyer is really a different content strategy. And you want to make sure that early stage content really breaks down things like the lingo, the acronyms, the stuff that we talk about day in and day out that has become old hat, if you will. But to these first time home buyers, they really need that 101 description of what everything means and what steps to go in and what steps follow each other.

Penne Vanderbush:

And so I think it's just key when you're talking about early stage content. Try to have two different strategies in the mortgage arena, one strategy top to bottom, early stage, all the way through to completion for a first time home buyers and a different strategy for those who are looking for second homes, vacation homes, downsizing, whatever that may be. Just make sure you're not blurring the lines between those two different audiences.

Meredith Olmstead:

Yeah. And the nice thing about first time home buying content is it really does appeal to, typically appeals at least, to younger potential new customers, which is great, because a lot of credit unions and community banks have an older membership base or older customer base and they're trying to work into some of those younger audiences. So that kind of content appeals to them organically really naturally.

Penne Vanderbush:

Yeah.

Meredith Olmstead:

The other thing that we like to see people use is testimonials. And specifically, when you're getting testimonials from happy customers or happy members, try to encourage them to share something about the process being easier or being made easier by working with your financial institution. Mortgages, the whole mortgage process even, home equity loans, or any of that kind of thing can be really, really lengthy. There's a lot of steps to it. It can feel like a lot. It can be very intimidating.

Meredith Olmstead:

And so if there's a way to highlight that your team is more supportive or holds somebody's hand through the process or makes things easier or more seamless, those are amazing stories to share as much as you can. And you share that wherever you share your other content, via email, social media, on your website, that kind of thing.

Penne Vanderbush:

Yeah. Those testimonials are also great to include in that early stage content that we just discussed, because as people are going through that checklist or ebook or whatever that guide may be, seeing those testimonials that talk about your institution making the process easier is fantastic. That's a great opportunity for those testimonials.

Penne Vanderbush:

And then when we look at late stage content, as we move into people, first time home buyers or not, but people who are closer to making that purchase and needing the mortgage product from you, make sure you have content for that as well. A lot of times, it could just be having your rates table easily available on your website on your mortgage page. One of the things that we love is calculators, and we really love calculators that capture leads. So right on your product page, near that rate table, you could have a calculator where someone can calculate their payment. But then give them the option to email that information to themselves, because when that happens, you then are capturing their email address and their name in your CRM so that your mortgage team can reach out, introduce themselves, say, "Hey, I see you were using the calculator or calculating payments on our website. How can we help?"

Penne Vanderbush:

So it makes that connection really easy. And it gives you a hot lead who's already calculating payments and is a little bit further along in their buyer journey.

Meredith Olmstead:

Yeah, absolutely. The other thing that we had mentioned was that, a lot of times with mortgages and working with a mortgage broker or a mortgage lender at a larger institution, a lot of new customers come via word of mouth. And that often can come with established relationships with other home buying professionals like a real estate agent or somebody at a title company. Even appraisers sometimes have interactions with potential new lend or new borrowers.

Meredith Olmstead:

And so we have a number of clients who actually have over time built a list of real estate agents that their mortgage lenders have developed relationships with over the years. And they actually email those real estate agents once a month with additional content, with blogs that they might find useful, with maybe some rate information or updates on what's happening in the market. It's not so much that it has to be a huge list, but that you're just staying top of mind with some of those agents that are working with home buying families and people who are out there looking right now in the market and can provide a really value word of mouth recommendation if it comes up or if the opportunity presents itself.

Meredith Olmstead:

So definitely cultivating those kinds of relationships with real estate agents or other home buying professionals is great.

Penne Vanderbush:

Absolutely. Great idea. And with that, it's one of the best places for that type of connection is social media. And so sometimes, we hear from people they don't think that their loan officers can be on social media. And that's not true. You can. You just need a little bit of social media training and you work with your compliance department, but it's definitely possible. And that's another great avenue to be sharing those same blog posts or show off their expertise.

Penne Vanderbush:

And it allows them to comment on ... So if you see a real estate agent who's posting a property for sale, you can jump in and comment, "That's a great neighborhood," or, "Oh, that's within walking distance to the park," or ... You're not jumping in comments trying to sell your mortgage product. You're just being part of the conversation in an organic, natural way. And doing that through social media, other people will see your comment. They can click and go back to that Facebook page for that loan officer. And if they see a lot of blog posts and guides and content being shared and that that person's active, they're more likely to reach out and participate in that conversation with that loan officer as well. So I think that's a great avenue to consider.

Meredith Olmstead:

Absolutely. Awesome. Well, I think we went through a lot of great content ideas for promoting mortgage products and services. Really, the key is being educational and helpful first, and then selling only later down the buying journey.

Penne Vanderbush:

Absolutely.

Meredith Olmstead:

So that's really, really important. But thank you so much, Penne.

Penne Vanderbush:

Yeah.

Meredith Olmstead:

So we have a lot more resources on our website. Feel free to visit us at FIGROW.com. We also have the academy there where you can do some training, as well as other podcasts that we've made. So let's get out there and make it happen.