announced his selection for Vice President. Text messaging is a great way to connect and communicate with the next generation if that is your target audience/market. But any way you slice it, you’re going to be required to carry some form of PDA technology. Electronic social networks In recent years, we have witnessed an explosion of electronic social networks, such as Facebook, MySpace, and more recently, Twitter. These tools are fast replacing, at least for the new generation, direct snail-mail or e-mail marketing campaigns for staying in contact with your established network of past customers. It is important that you know if your customer uses one of the social networks, and if so, which one is the more dominant … that is if you only choose to use one. When it comes to more professional networking, I use them all, but have found LinkedIn to be the most effective. For market updates and quick messaging, Twitter is the more preferred method for those who are “following” you. The fact that someone is taking the time to “follow” you, gives a greater probability that they will see your quick message posts. Again, it all comes down to knowing which service your target customer prefers using. It doesn’t take too much to make that determination once you become familiar with the various social networks.
Old tools still work I wouldn’t forget too quickly about some of the old marketing tools that have worked for years. Most notably, is direct mail. For those who have mastered direct mail as a marketing strategy can attest, response rates have returned to all-time highs. There are a number of factors that are driving this, but the fact remains that direct mail can be a valuable, viable and a reliable tool in your marketing strategy. A word of caution … if you’re not big enough to do your own direct mail marketing campaigns, it is essential that you find a vendor you can trust! This is easier said than done. Get references and call them. Do your own due diligence or call someone you trust to get advice on how to do direct mail. Amazingly enough, snail mail campaigns to your past customer base can be very effective in developing an ongoing referral marketing campaign. It is very effective. In fact, in a time where legitimate e-mails and spam e-mails flood our inboxes, receiving a written postcard or letter can be very effective. Whether you use e-mail or snail mail, it should be delivered in a non-bulk, non-mass-distribution manner to be most effective. E-mails can be effective, but if sent as spam, you run the risk of your e-mail campaign getting caught in spam filters.
In conclusion
I’ve been thinking a lot about what to share with you in this article on marketing. The truth is that I could have filled the entire magazine with the ideas, mistakes, proven campaigns and little-known yet highly-effective tactics I have learned and used over the past 25 years. Before we even go into the mistakes, I want to tell you that you are extremely lucky. Yeah, I know none of us really feels too lucky in this business, so let me explain. Take a look around … you aren’t getting too many calls at dinner anymore, are you? You’re probably not getting many e-mails or direct mailings either. Why? Simply because when business slows down and times get tough, the first thing originators stop is their marketing. This is a big mistake! Now, let’s dig in and explore the most common mistakes and reveal what does work.
Mistake number one: Stopping your marketing You must never, ever stop marketing. When you take a step back and think about … we really aren’t originators, are we? In reality, we are marketers of our services, and no marketing equals no business. I mentioned earlier how lucky we are, so let me explain. Now that others have stopped marketing, there is less clutter and less competition for your prospect’s attention. That’s why I believe this is a great time to kick up your efforts. I know! You are afraid! Or, you simply don’t have a lot left for a marketing budget. Hang in there, because I will share a few no cost ways to generate business. Plus, I will give you the “magic formula” for your marketing dollars.
Mistake number two: Doing what everyone else does Let’s be honest for a minute with each other … tell me if this describes your marketing campaigns … You want to get your name out there so people will think of you when they are looking for a mortgage. That’s what I
thought when I first started. It’s what I see most other “marketing gurus” teaching. Worst of all, it’s what I see most other originators doing when they are marketing. None of us has the advertising budget of a Coke or Pepsi. This type of advertising is known as “brand advertising” and most simply cannot afford the cost or the time it takes to finally penetrate the market and get them to know who you are … or even care who you are! You see, everyone is tuned in to station W-I-F-M … What’s In it For Me … and as brutal as this may sound, no one cares that you do mortgages and provide good service. All they care about is what you can do for them. My business started changing when I discovered Emotional Direct Response Marketing. It allows you to target your prospect, give them a message they want, and most importantly, gives you the ability to track every penny you spent and makes you accountable. More on that subject in our next marketing mistake … Before we leave this mistake, I want you to read the mistake again. One of the problems with all of us telling people how great our service is and how many programs we have is that we all look the same. When that happens, the only way a prospect can choose is based on price. You never want that to happen because you will never have the best price!
Mistake number three: Not being able to track every penny you spent This goes back to the last mistake, but let’s get a little deeper. I go crazy when I hear people tell me they got a two percent or five percent response to a marketing piece. Who cares! This is a big money trap and it’s what all of the marketing companies and sales reps tell you when they try to sell you ads. All you need to care about is your ROI or “return on investment.” I don’t care if 100 people responded to my marketing piece ... all I care about (and all you should care about) is that I spent $1,000 hard earned dollars and I earned “X” in closed loans (not applications). continued on page 32
O OCTOBER 2009
David Lykken is president, mortgage strategies and managing partner with Mortgage Banking Solutions. David has more than 34 years of industry experience and has garnered a national reputation. David has become a frequent guest on FOX Business News with Neil Cavuto, Stuart Varney, Liz Claman and Dave Asman with additional guest appearances on the CBS Evening News, Bloomberg TV and radio. He may be reached by phone at (512) 977-9900, ext. 101 or e-mail dlykken@mortgagebankingsolutions.com.
By Brian Sacks
OREGON MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE
I hope this article provides you direction or provides some new ideas as you plan your marketing campaign. One of the joys I receive from writing this column each month is the feedback that I receive from you the readers. I value and welcome your feedback via e-mail. If so inclined, please write to me at dlykken@mortgagebankingsolutions.com and share your thoughts on this or previous articles. Also, I welcome suggestions on topics for future articles. Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I wish you all the success as you develop your marketing strategy.
The Biggest Marketing Mistakes to Avoid and What to Do to Correct Them
www.NationalMortgageProfessional.com O
Tele and video conferencing Depending on your market and the products you offer, you may find that teleconferencing and video consummate conferencing very effectively. For more of a group or mass marketing approach, GoToMeeting or GoToWebinar should be considered as an option. Our company has used both to effectively reach out and quickly bring together audiences of all sizes on specific topics of interest. It is a very fast and cost-effective way of marketing your products and services. It can be very interactive and personal, especially if you employ the video conferencing component. VoIP technologies such as Skype provide easy-to-use voice and video communications that can make all the difference in the world when communicating with customers and prospects. Something that I have started using in the last six months is Internet radio via BlogTalkRadio. To learn more about this exciting new way of marketing, go to www.BlogTalkRadio.com, enter “Lykken on Lending” in the search box/window and you will be directed to my weekly radio program. You can listen to past programs that are archived there. As you listen to my program, “Lykken on Lending,” you will learn how I use this valuable tool to communicate to the industry, updates on interest rates, pending legislation and other “hot topics” related to our industry.
While we are using this as a public service tool to the mortgage industry, you could use this as a tool to market your company, your products and services.
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