New research gives you clues how to adjust your mortgage marketing to the times
A Harris Interactive poll of 2,383 U.S. adults released last month has what looks like bad news for people who market mortgage products. But it’s only bad news if you don’t learn from it and use it to your advantage. Here’s how.
The poll ( for full results) found that:
- Roughly two thirds of respondents consider mortgage marketing and advertising to be “not credible.”
- Banks and institutions that provide mortgages have about a 27 percent approval rating – lower than (and he’s having a tough year!).
- Consumers are really souring on the concept of certain nontraditional mortgage products, like interest-only loans and even ARMs.
As someone who has to convince people to buy mortgage services, how do you cope with realities like these? Here’s how not to: by ignoring them. You may consider yourself a different kind of mortgage originator, one with no resemblance to the kind of fly-by-night outfits people are thinking of when they answer surveys. And you probably are.
But don’t count on your prospects to give you the benefit of the doubt up front. Don’t pretend the results of this poll don’t affect you because you’re different. Understand what perceptions and pre-judgments your prospects are carrying with them when they’re introduced to you.
One of those pre-judgments is skepticism. You’re selling mortgage services, and your prospect today isn’t going to be fooled by the kinds of gimmicks they’ve seen in their e-mail and heard on the phone the last few years. That means you need to establish and build credibility right away. A couple of years ago you may have had to knock their socks off with a zero-down, ultra-low rate ARM teaser. Not today.
Fixed rate mortgages have the most favorable impression of any mortgage product (by far), have the highest level of awareness among respondents and people consider themselves more knowledgeable about them than about any other product. Now is the time to emphasize what kind of fixed rate programs you have. Particularly with so many ARM payments adjusting way upward after their two, three or five year initial fixed rate periods.
Nine percent of people have a favorable opinion of interest-only loans. Four percent like balloon mortgages. Emphasizing either one in your marketing today is a guaranteed turn-off to the vast majority of your prospects. It’s important to continue to offer a full range of loans and services, but trying to sell something no one wants is a great way to fail.
Finally, if you can target your marketing according to age or ethnicity, the poll gives you some relevant data to consider. According to the poll, African American borrowers are more likely to find mortgage advertising credible than others – but are more likely to have an unfavorable opinion of the institutions that provide them. Hispanic borrowers are more knowledgeable about home equity loans and ARMs than others. The older a prospect is, regardless of race or ethnicity, the more likely he or she is familiar with the product you’re offering.
Whatever you do with market research like this, the one thing you shouldn’t do is ignore it.
