Lenders finding marketing tech increasingly vital

Lenders are planning greater investments into marketing and sales technology, according to a new study

Lenders who rely more on purchase volume and consumer-direct channels are making greater investments in marketing and sales technology, according to a new study.

A recent survey conducted by mortgage technology company Velocify found that lenders who relied more heavily on consumer-direct channels made greater investments in marketing and sales technology, and were more likely to experience high growth. Those who relied on retail channels and were less likely to invest in marketing and sales tech, on the other hand, were less likely to see high growth.

“We found the results to be a wake-up call for retail lenders,” said Chris Backe, Velocify financial services director. “Putting all of your eggs into the loan officer basket and referral strategy is not a sound approach without marketing support and state-of-the-art technology.”

But retail lenders may be preparing to catch up when it comes to marketing tech. Survey respondents with substantial retail channels and high purchase volume said they planned to increase their technology investments. And that investment plan is focused mainly on tech that will drive growth, improve processes and increase customer retention, according to Velocify. Those three drivers beat even compliance as priority tech investments.

“We have seen how sales and marketing technology has helped with growth in our consumer-direct channel and are planning to invest in technology to help drive growth in our retail channel as the purchase market continues to heat up,” said Tony Pietrocola, senior vice president of online mortgage company vLoan.