B2B vs. B2C: What’s the difference when it comes to mortgage marketing?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census both say that there are far more homeowners than there are financial lending professionals and, of course, you already know that.

Keeping specific to mortgage marketing rather than general concepts of marketing, we have to look at the way the consumer reacts vs. the way a business reacts to the message and the medium that you use for your marketing. On average, 8% of an LO’s sphere of influence are real estate agents and other referral partners. With B2B, time is a valuable commodity. We all appreciate information that can help us to grow our businesses, to service our clients, and all of the day-to-day operations that require our time and attention.

Since 92% of your sphere of influence is B2C you need to nurture it effectively. I’ve said this many times, “You are NOT your client!” For a proper perspective of an effective and successful mortgage marketing strategy, you can always refer to the article The Truths and Road Blocks of Mortgage Marketing. In short, when your market and message are ready, the medium needs to be one that connects with your sphere of influence.

The attention span of your sphere can be fickle. For example, if you’ve gone the email marketing route, you run the risk of infringing on their virtual recreation time. This makes it tough to build loyalty and create ambassadors out of people that should be. Email marketing programs don’t generate loans and eventually die the death of a thousand qualifications as one tries to consider why it’s not working like the salesman said it would. The reason is poor messaging and a fuzzy understanding of where the consumer’s focus is after a hard day’s work. Not everyone has a marketing degree or an MBA with a focus on marketing, so it’s understandable when this happens.

Are we not like everyone else? As we scan through our unread emails we want to read them all. But we often put them aside for later. They pile up and eventually get dragged to the trash folder. Face it, farm reports, market reports, and interest rates are only a big deal to you, not the guy who manages a Verizon franchise, gets off at 5, drives an hour in traffic, has dinner, maybe a little news, and an episode of Modern Family. When emails get read, interest rates aren’t high on the priority list. It’s recreation time! What are Facebook friends up to, what’s the funny video of the day, and how many notifications and friend requests do I have? …The statistics don’t lie.

A note on social media from the B2C perspective: B2C yields pretty dismal numbers unless you’ve got an impulse purchase and a great deal. Burgers, shoes, electronics… Loans? Well, rarely will someone pursue the loan process this way. Email, Facebook advertising, and the whole social media marketing craze aren’t what it’s built up to be. This is why we don’t offer these types of marketing strategies. Everyone’s doing and saying the same thing, trying to be “hip, slick & cool” with the latest gimmicks, attending seminars and webinars on strategies that create set-it-and-forget-it types of hands-off marketing schemes. This creates a wider gap between the LO and their sphere of influence. Basically, the marketing stinks. Couple that with a poor understanding of what people really want and the strategy fails.

Relationships aren’t created with monthly email and Facebook posts. You can share knowledge (as we do), but the relationship starts when the communication is meaningful and real. Digital and social media don’t offer that and that’s where Exodus comes in. If you talk to any of my clients, they know me, we have a relationship, and I develop relationships with all of them. We also help them to create relationships with their clients and this is the key. The only medium that allows for that while not devouring all of your available time is the newsletter!

B2B gives us the ability to move at a faster pace giving ‘results-oriented’ information. You’re reading this so it’s safe to think you want results. B2C is motivated by impulse purchases and calls to action that give quick gratification by short-term stimulation. Trust me, “Historically Low Rates!” simply isn’t stimulating enough to open the email.

The consumer likes relationships! They like to do business with those they know and trust and everyone wants to be the hero and refer a loan officer who can do a great job. This is what we focus on. Loans aren’t short-term impulse purchases as you know. People don’t get them in pairs to match their outfits. These are important life decisions. When dealing with the consumer, they need to hear from you regularly, and they need to know that you are genuine. There’s a difference between being successful and acting professional and people know the difference.

This is why we produce newsletters, real ones with real industry content but more importantly, we encourage and teach our clients to create ambassadors. While not everyone has a marketing background and doesn’t always know what to say to their sphere, we’re here to make that happen. If you are doing your marketing with us, our knowledge, experience, and expertise are included at no cost in everything we do.

Our focus is to keep you in contact with your sphere of influence so that they become ambassadors for your business. It’s a proven fact that those who share themselves, share their knowledge, and become family do infinitely better than those who don’t.