Marketing to millennials

It’s a strategy many originators are currently grappling with – and one of growing importance given how much influence they have on the housing market – so here are some tips on reaching this large buying cohort

"Millennial homebuyers shop a bit differently than GenXers or other groups of the past. Social media, for whatever reason, is high in terms of getting Millennial homebuyers your message,” Adam Stein,  LoanTek CEO, told Mortgage Professional America. “I think Millennials tend to be value more social value than the financial value of the service. That’s why you see so social media as their primary form of communication amongst Millennials. They start hearing about your institution before they even start transacting with you.”

And because of that, originators need to be aware of their social media strategy – and establish one that will help them engage with these buyers in the way they most desire.

One key to standing out is to be authentic, according to Stein.

“Every loan originator and every institution has a different story to tell. I think social media is particularly relevant with Millennial homebuyers, which is growing and is the largest subsection of homebuyers that we expect to see for some time,” he said. “So really I think when it comes to social media my tips would be use original content even if you have to pay a content writer to write your content; get somebody to tell your story.

“Don’t tell someone else’s story because then you get genuine content based around your institution or your own origination practices.”

Read more: How to lose a deal in .07 seconds

Of course, there are challenges originators face in terms of standing out from the crowd.

“It’s difficult to get the key search terms that one typically wants to be associated with. Most mortgage originators think, ‘I want to be the number one for non-sponsored or refinances in my hometown.' That’s great if everybody could do that but it’s not so easy,” Stein said. “I think what’s a challenge is figuring out where their message can rise to the top – whether that’s on LinkedIn or whether it’s on Facebook or Twitter.”

There are a lot of many marketing options available to choose from, with leads being the main focus for many originators.

These are some of the best methods originators can employ, according to Stein.

“You could put leads into a couple different camps. You’ve got SEO: I’m going to originate leads by how well my website is built to come up with search rankings. Social media is obviously a part of that.
“You have SEM where you’re going to pay for placement. You’re going to get clicks and bring consumers directly to my website or I’m going to acquire leads simply because I’m going to pay for someone who is a master at reaching that consumer to bring that consumer … into my company as a lead,” Stein said.

“Most lenders or originators do the latter. Once you figure out how much money you have to give to a third party to bring that consumer directly to you. I think you actually get a higher conversion if you spend the time to research where to get a high quality consumer that will come to your page and a page that will then convert them.”