I have often said that any mortgage sales professional looking to grow his or her business should be actively marketing themselves to do so.  Marketing creates name recognition and visibility, and those things create opportunities for new business relationships and new mortgage loans.  I also believe that a good benchmark to use when it comes to marketing investments is the 5% rule. 

Simply put, you should invest 5% of every dollar you make back into your business for marketing, advertising, and business-generating activities.  For example, if you are now earning about $5,000 a month, you should invest $250 a month in marketing.Many mortgage salespeople I talk with around the country do this.  Some find their investments really pay off.  Others do not.  It’s not enough just to spend money to make money, it is equally important that you are spending your money in the right places.

Having been involved in this business for over 21 years, having run the marketing departments of two major mortgage companies, and talking with hundreds of mortgage salespeople every year, I have discovered what seems to work and what does not.  From my experience:

What works:

• Letters to your database
• Homes & Land magazine ads
• Local newspaper ads
• Homebuyer seminars
• Client appreciation events
• Targeted apartment letters
• Real estate cable TV channel ads
• Client newsletters and post cards
• Money saving coupons
• Affinity alignment with local companies and associations
• Promotional item campaigns
  

What does not work:

• Trade publication ads
• Blast faxes
• Blast emails
• Rate sheets
• City magazines
• Event sponsorship money (fun runs, Realtor awards banquets, etc.)
• Cold call telemarketing
• Radio ads
• Ads in local “sensational” free area newspapers
• Ads in your main newspapers
• Banner ads on websites

There are certainly exceptions, but as a general rule two decades of marketing and advertising experience has taught me what usually works and what does not.

The objective of investing time and money in marketing is R.O.I.  If the activity is not returning more than what you are investing, it is not worth it.  As examples:

Example 1: An ad in your area’s main newspaper costs $3,000.  You know that on average you earn about $1,000 a loan.  You must generate at least four transactions to make your return on investment profitable.

Example 2: A real estate office hits you up to help sponsor their golf outing to the tune of $500.  If you do not feel you will generate at least one more loan from this event, pass!

Example 3:  You spend all morning making up rate sheets and traveling around town stuffing them in the mailboxes of 50 agents.  If you aren’t getting at least two deals from this (the value of four hours of your time) stop doing it!

Marketing works, but only when it works to make you money.  Make sure your marketing dollars and time are being invested wisely.

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