As a mortgage broker, you’re probably aware that Facebook is a powerful channel for advertising and lead generation since they have many home owners, buyers, and renters on Facebook. The best way to market any business is to go where the prospects are to let them know what you’re offering, and in today’s world, everyone is using Facebook.
We are a Facebook advertising agency that helps run sucessful Facebook marketing for Mortgage Brokers.
If you invest money on different online marketing channels. You should put a pause and look into Facebook Ads.
As of March 2018, a new Pew Research Center http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/ survey shows that 68% of adults in America use Facebook. In fact, nearly two thirds of those users (74%) login to Facebook on a daily basis and half (51%) say they login several times per day. By contrast, only 35% of US adults use Instagram, the second most popular social media site on the internet today.
Facebook represents a unique opportunity to speak to your potential customers directly and follow up with prospects who are actively interested in your mortgage services.
There are literally millions of Facebook users in the US and most of them have provided all kinds of personal information through their use of the site.
It’s more than just where they live or how old they are – Facebook users demonstrate their personal interests everyday with the pages they like and the links they click, and it all goes into a massive database that is perfect for targeting your ads so only people who are most likely to have an interest see them. Facebook’s paid advertising options are the most valuable business resources provided by this social media giant.
As a mortgage broker, you’re not looking for people to click through to your site and make a purchase like a regular retail web site. What you really want are leads, that is people who will give you their contact information so you can follow up with them to talk to them about their needs and the solutions you provide.
Yes, “likes” and comments and “shares” are all great, but they won’t do you a whole lot of good if people simply move on after reading your post and don’t reach out to connect with you directly. They might even bookmark your site because of a post they saw, but if you can’t contact them directly it is highly unlikely that they will actually enter your sales funnel and give you their business.
I know, you’re a mortgage broker, not a marketing professional, but if you want to keep a steady stream of Facebook leads flowing your way, you’ll have to keep these factors in mind when you advertise your business:
1. Keep your goals at the forefront of your mind when creating your Facebook advertising.
When you click to Create an Ad on Facebook, the first thing they want to know is, what is your goal with this ad. As a mortgage broker, you don’t necessarily need people to like your business page or even bookmark your web site as much as you want to follow up and talk to them directly about their current need for a mortgage, and really that’s it. For you, the best way to advertise on Facebook is with a Lead Generation ad. This type of ad creates a simple lead generating form through Facebook for your prospects to fill out along with their request for contact.
This may cost a little more than a “boosted post,” which you have probably heard about, but the quality of the leads is far superior. A boosted post is the most common type of Facebook ad.
The way it works is this: you post something on your business page and it seems to be generating interest, so you “boost” it – for a small fee, you tell Facebook to start showing your post to other people besides those who already like your page. This is a limited type of ad designed to be as simple as possible for non-savvy users. You can target who sees your boosted post, but the options for the type of interaction you get are limited.
2. Target your Facebook ads to reach truly viable prospects.
Ad targeting is probably the single best feature about advertising on Facebook. Facebook’s advertising tools make it possible to speak directly to people who have demonstrated an interest in your service through their regular activity.
For example: You might target your ad to reach certain age groups, income brackets, or geographical locations. You can target college grads, for example. You can even target viewers by interest in particular web sites such as Realtor.com and Zillow.
3. Create your Facebook ads with your prospect, your goals and the advertising platform in mind.
Your ad copy is the key to good response, keep it simple and direct. Don’t forget to include a call to action. Be sure to use power words such as “you”, “new”, “proven”, “save”, “now”, etc. in your headline, ad text and call to action to compel your prospect to fill out the form so you can follow up.
4. Use images for Facebook Marketing
Studies show that ads with images are 10 times more likely to be clicked, but what kind of image should you use? You want photos that stand out and evoke a positive emotional reaction. With Facebook, you can upload more than one photo and choose to run a split test to see which garners more of a response.
5. Use Facebook Desktop placement for better conversions.
When creating your ad, you will see options for mobile and desktop placement. While mobile placement can be great to increase brand awareness, people are more likely to take action from a desktop computer when they are focused on practical matters rather than when they are on the go.
6. Frequency rules can keep prospects from being overwhelmed by your ad.
If you’ve ever been plagued by the same ad again and again on Facebook, you’ll understand the importance of limiting your prospect’s exposure to your ad so they don’t become annoyed. The good news is, you can control how many time a person sees your ad.
- Set your condition to “Frequency” and select “is greater than X.”
- Set your action to “Turn off ad sets.”
7. Monitor your Facebook ad performance.
You haven’t really finished with your ad campaign until you’ve checked the results. Facebook offers a range of tools to gauge your results and there is a lot to be learned about how effective your ad is, especially after you’ve run a few ads for comparison. Don’t just spend, spend wisely.
8. Test, Test, Test!
Don’t run just one ad and take that as your final result. Advertising is an art and you won’t know how performance can vary until you’re tried several different ads. Be sure to test everything, from your headline, copy and CTA to the photos that you use. You will never know what works best until you test.
As a mortgage broker, you might feel like you didn’t sign up to learn about marketing when you opened your office, but advertising is a big part of the job if you want to have a successful business.
Once you get out there and try a few ads, you might even think it’s fun, particularly if you can set up a steady stream of leads. Of all the social media and advertising platforms on the web, you will find that Facebook is a great place to start with all of the tools and options they provide.
Still not sure how to get started with Facebook ads for your mortgage business? Call us today. Let our Facebook advertising agency show you how to get more mortgage leads for your brokerage.