Mortgage Marketing 101Doug McGeehan IIlists, marketing, leads, Most marketing campaigns start with "What do I want to sell?" In the mortgage industry, we
usually begin with "Who do I want to sell to?" Large and small brokerages have to first
determine their target. In the world of mortgage marketing, this key concept is more important
than ever.
Whether focusing on the conforming or nonconforming customer, in order to be successful,
today's mortgage professional must be able to target a specific segment of the population. In the
past, brokers would use either a title company or obtain court bouse records. Not a bad idea if
you are using a shotgun to hunt a squirrel. This approach is more expense than a profiled lead,
and far less effective. Sure, some brokers swear by this, but in order to grow your business, you
must expand this view a bit.
Short -sighted marketing campaigns don't look into the cost of un-profiled leads being mailed or
called, resulting in dollars down the drain. Too many companies simply take a look at the cost of
a lead and go to the cheapest form of contact instead of looking at the overall cost and Return On
Investment (ROI). For example, 20,000 three and a half cent leads equals $700.00 for the leads,
and 33 cents for postage at a cost of $6,600. Records of this sort will yield you a correct contact
for the specific program (B/C Debt Consolidation for example) of about 40% at best. That's not
to say that would be your response rate, at least not on this side of Oz, just that those would be
the proper credit/debt load candidates for your campaign. So you just paid $7,300 for 8,000
contacts or about 91 cents for each contact. By the way, telemarketing is even more expensive.
The high tech approach to mortgage marketing is called Data Modeling. Determining the proper
"fundable" candidates prior to a campaign and only sending mail to or calling statistically
possible candidates. Let's say for example you were to market to the above B/C Debt
Consolidation profile this way: you could buy the proper leads for 20 to 30 cents and follow this
example: 20,000 leads at 20 cents equals $4,000. The same direct mail cost of $6,600 applies for
a grand total of $10,600. However, the actual mail getting to the proper profiled candidate is up
around 80% from a good data house or list compiler, making the number of actual contacts closer
to 16,000. The actual direct mail cost per contact is 66.25 cents, which results in a savings of
27%. Working with the right list company promotes maximum growth, while at the same time,
curtailing unnecessary costs.
In short, as in any science, testing is imperative. Most database/list services are brokers. They
buy and re-sell without any real work or ability to do so. A compiler takes data from may sources
and creates a custom list based on criteria that you and your consultant come up with. This
process could be compared to a doctors visit, with a diagnosis, course of treatment, and follow-up to either determine a more specific treatment or to continue with the current one. If your
relationship with a database/list service isn't a partnership where you and your list advisor can
openly brainstorm success will be limited.
Doug McGeehan II is the National Sales Coordinator for Liberty Diversified Inc., a list compiler
in Woodland Hills, California. He can be reached at (888) 550-5478 or (818) 225-2900.
