Blog | Tobe Agency

Why Most Mortgage Companies Fail at Building an Online Brand

Written by Andrew Hong | Apr 25, 2018 4:00:00 PM

Slower to adopt technology, full of paperwork, and less likely to hop on the digital marketing bandwagon, the mortgage industry has always been stereotyped as being an old-fashioned one. But many mortgage companies are looking to buck this stereotype.

Unfortunately, they’re coming up against some serious hurdles in the process. Time, money, resources, and just a lack of strategic know-how are holding them back, and it’s lessening the impact their marketing and branding changes can have.

Want to rebrand and leverage the web to reach more customers for your mortgage company? Here are the biggest challenges you’ll face – and how to overcome them.

 

Challenge 1: A Lack of Resources

Revamping a website takes a lot of time, money, and effort – especially if you want it to resonate with today’s tech-savvy home buyers. You have to devote resources to graphics, UI design, back-end development, copywriting, and more, and if you cut corners anywhere, you can bet potential customers will notice.

In most cases, outsourcing the work of a redesign is your best option – particularly to one-stop shops that can handle the entire project for a single, flat fee. Using a mix of in-house staff and freelancers can work, too, though that can mean a lot of expenses to keep track of, and often, all those disparate resources make it hard to keep your redesign moving forward.

 

Challenge 2: A Shot-in-the-Dark Strategy

Deciding to re-brand your online presence is a great idea – but why are you doing it? What’s your goal? What do you want your new brand to portray to the world and say about your services, your products, and your approach? Who is the new audience you’re re-branding for?

Before you start making big changes to your website or branding suite, start by nailing down a specific trajectory and strategy for your project – one that’s targeted to the exact customers you’re serving and the exact challenges they face. This is where buyer personas can come in handy! After you have a handle on your buyer personas, we listed 4 must-have tools to turn that target audience into leads.

 

Challenge 3: Inconsistent Content Production

Content is going to be one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle when it comes to your re-brand – both now, during the project, and for years beyond its finish.

Having your in-house marketing team write your new website copy is fine at the moment, but what about after the site has launched? Will they be able to handle weekly blog posts, articles, ebooks, PDF guides, social posts, and other content you need to stay relevant and top of mind?

In digital marketing, consistent content production is vital to success, but it’s also where most organizations fall short. They just don’t have the talent or resources to churn out quality content on a regular basis, and as a result, their digital presence – and the leads it’s able to bring in – suffers.

If you don’t think your in-house team can handle the burden of regular content production, consider bringing in a few freelance writers to help. Remember, you’ll need someone to guide your overall content strategy, manage the content calendar, come up with ideas/topics, write the copy, post it, and, finally, monitor your content metrics.

You’ll need more resources than you think!

Again, hiring a one-stop-shop agency can help here, too, taking the burden of content strategy off your shoulders, so you can focus on what you do best – serving your customers.

Need help re-branding your mortgage company for today’s digitally savvy home buyers? Tobe Agency can help. Get in touch with us and learn how we can help you better position your brand online.