Even during slow periods in the real estate market, there are always people interested in buying homes.
For example, home sales plummeted in Q1 2022, but lenders still issued $892.4 billion worth of mortgages.
As a mortgage broker or loan officer, your objective is to maintain a full pipeline of leads. Doing so puts you in a position to meet and exceed your short and long-term goals.
But remember, leads are only half of the battle.
Ready-to-Close Aged Mortgage Leads
The other half is converting leads into customers.
What are online mortgage leads?
Online mortgage leads are best defined as any lead that you generate via the internet. Common sources of these leads include content marketing, video marketing, social media, and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
Traditional leads are generated in a more traditional manner, such as via word of mouth, direct mail, or cold calling.
Regardless of how you generate mortgage leads, it’s imperative to understand your target audience and implement a strategy for reaching, engaging, and nurturing them.
How to convert online mortgage leads
Now that you understand the basics of online mortgage leads, let’s go over five strategies and tactics you can employ to turn these leads into paying clients.
1. Build trust and authority
Trust and authority are crucial when it comes to engaging prospects. People are more likely to do business with a lender they can trust. Therefore, it’s essential to establish yourself as a reliable and trustworthy professional.
Create informative blog posts, videos, and other content
For example, you can write about the latest trends in the mortgage industry or tips for first-time homebuyers. By sharing your expertise, you can position yourself as an authority in your field. Show leads that you know what you’re talking about—rather than just telling them.
Join or participate in industry-specific groups or forums
This allows you to connect with other professionals in the industry and share your knowledge. You can answer questions and offer advice, which can help establish your credibility. Reddit is a great place to practice this, as well as other popular question-and-answer forums such as Quora.
Post reviews and testimonials from satisfied clients
Positive reviews and testimonials can go a long way in building trust with potential customers. When people see that others have had a positive experience with your firm, they’re more likely to trust you.
It’s important to note that building trust and authority takes time. You won’t achieve this overnight. The more information you provide to potential customers, the more trust and authority you gain. So, it’s crucial to consistently create high-quality content and engage with your target audience.
2. Use effective communication techniques
Knowing how to communicate effectively is crucial when it comes to converting online mortgage leads. Your potential clients may come from different backgrounds and have different needs, so your communication style should cater to those differences.
Use clear and concise language that is easy to understand
One way to use clear and concise language is to avoid industry jargon that may be confusing to clients. Instead, use simple terms and explain any complex concepts in a way that is easy to understand.
Ask open-ended questions that encourage dialogue
Asking open-ended questions is a great way to encourage dialogue and show that you value the client’s opinion. Open-ended questions are questions that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” response.
These questions require the client to think deeper and provide more detailed answers. This will help you gain a better understanding of their needs and how you can help them.
Personalize your communication
Personalizing your communication is also important. Using the client’s name and addressing their unique concerns shows that you are paying attention to their individual needs. It also helps to build a stronger connection with the client, which can lead to a more successful conversion.
Overall, effective communication is key to converting online mortgage leads. With the tips above, you can build a strong rapport with potential clients and help them achieve their mortgage goals.
Ready-to-Close Aged Mortgage Leads
3. Tailor your sales approach to your target audience
There is no one-size-fits-all method for converting online mortgage leads. You must tailor your sales approach to best match the target audience demographics. For instance:
- For millennials, emphasize the convenience and speed of an online quote system and online payment platform.
- For retirees, focus on the security of fixed-term mortgages with low-interest rates.
- For first-time buyers, talk up the importance of pre-qualification and explain the buying process step by step.
Every target audience has different goals, values, and preferences. Craft custom messaging that resonates with them.
4. Streamline the sales process
Many prospects abandon the mortgage application process because it’s too complicated, too time-consuming, and/or they’re not sure they’re qualified.
Streamlining the sales process can reduce these barriers and increase conversions. Here are some simple steps you can implement in the near future:
- Make sure your website is user-friendly, with clear calls to action so that clients can easily find what they need.
- Provide a pre-qualification tool that allows them to see if they’re eligible for a mortgage before they apply.
- Automate processes as much as possible so that clients can quickly and easily provide the required documentation.
Simple and straightforward is what you’re going for. Don’t make your prospects work harder than they already have to.
5. Track, analyze, and continually tweak your performance
To consistently convert online mortgage leads, you need to track, analyze, and continually tweak your performance.
Use analytics tools to monitor your website traffic, conversions, and bounce rates to see what’s working and what isn’t.
You should also create a list of marketing KPIs to help track your performance over time.
- Return on marketing investment (ROMI): A metric that measures the efficiency of marketing spend by comparing revenue generated to the cost of marketing activities.
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC): The average amount of money spent to acquire a new customer, calculated by dividing total marketing expenses by the number of new customers acquired.
- Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors to a website who complete a desired action.
- Customer lifetime value (CLV): An estimate of the total net profit a business can expect from a single customer.
- Social media engagement rate: A measure of the level of interaction with a brand’s social media content.
This data can help you pinpoint any areas of weakness and fine-tune your approach to continually improve conversion rates.
Conclusion
Your success hinges on your ability to generate and convert online mortgage leads.
Review your current marketing plan with an eye toward the five strategies and tactics detailed above, and you’ll find yourself in a better position to reach all your sales and marketing-related goals.
And for those times when you need to fill your pipeline with high-quality affordable leads, visit our online mortgage and refinance lead store.
We make it simple to search for leads, filter the results, and make a purchase on the spot.
Final tip: Read our Complete Guide to Mortgage Lead Generation for more guidance and advice.
