The month of April was a history-making month for the post office. The price of mailing a letter in the United States decreased for the first time in nearly 100 years.
Time to take action … direct mail response rates have been on the rise since late summer have returned to historically high response rates and close ratios. Finding a marketing campaign that can produce consistent results is more important than ever. In today’s fast-paced environment, there’s just no time to shop around for marketing products and services in hopes of finding one that works. Your time needs to be spent closing loans.
What’s going to consistently bring you the highest volume of calls while keeping the return-on-investment (ROI) you need to be profitable? A campaign you can track? One that provides reports that will keep you ahead of industry trends? Lead management tools that will allow you to work five to 10 times more loans at once? Direct mail incorporates all of these. This is why it has risen back to the most frequently used marketing method for today’s top mortgage brokers.
In order for mail to work effectively, it needs to be dropped consistently. Companies that only drop mail three to four times per year (or less) usually see varied results, while people who drop mail weekly or bi-weekly all year long seem to have much more consistent, scalable and profitable results. Plan your growth and marketing efforts accordingly and keep it consistent throughout the year. Starting and stopping will decrease the effectiveness of your campaigns. You need consistent results so you can effectively follow trends in the market. Just sending out mailers is not doing the trick anymore. You need to get a hold of your customers in multi-channels.
Multi-channel marketing is the use of several marketing platforms to interact with potential customers in several ways within the same marketing campaign. For example: Direct Mail + Direct Mail Voice + PURL would be a multi-channel marketing campaign. Everyone gets a letter. Some get an additional follow-up phone call, and a “PURL” is an easy-to-use, easy-to-set up guaranteed lead capture point. It offers a personal experience to your personal leads. The crucial part of an effective multi-channel marketing campaign is getting in front of them in a multitude of ways.
Each month, we like to talk with our clients and find out how their campaigns are going. Here’s what we heard from one of our mortgage pros, Hana Girgis president of Anchor Mortgage Group, (314) 739-3333.
►Marketing method: Direct mail Campaign
►Results: A 1.6 percent response rate, with four loans closed and five applications.
Highlights of the campaign that worked well …
“Very targeted campaign and clientele with the criteria you desire.”
Highlights of the campaign that may appeal to others in the industry …
“I have been working with TagQuest for eight years, and their commitment to the success of their customers still amazes me. Great customer with great follow up.”
Based in Medford, Ore., TagQuest Inc. is a full-service marketing firm offering the most up-to-date, cutting-edge marketing solutions for the ever-changing mortgage industry. Utilizing more than 12 years of marketing expertise, along with an intimate knowledge of the mortgage industry and the very best technology available, TagQuest consistently produces new customers for its mortgage clients. TagQuest knows what it takes to produce unprecedented results in today’s fast-paced mortgage environment. For more information, call (888) 717-8980 or visit TagQuest.com.
This article originally appeared in the May 2016 print edition of National Mortgage Professional Magazine.
