Most of my social media calls start the same.
Client: “Hi, I’m wondering what you can do to help my social media efforts.”
Me: “Sure thing! Why don’t we start by you telling me what you’re doing now.”
Client: “Well, I have a Facebook, a Twitter, a Pinterest (but I’ve never logged in), and I have a blog (but I don’t know the address).”
Me: “It’s great you have the accounts. Tell me, what are you actually doing with these accounts and are you having any success?”
Client: “…”
This illustrates a classic problem with mortgage social media today. Many professionals are on social media because they know they need to be on social media. They haven’t stopped to think about how social media fits into their business and what they want it to do for them. It’s no wonder they have yet to experience real success!
It is possible to effectively harness the power of social media for your mortgage business. The best way to accomplish this is to understand the three main factors that contribute to this success. They are:
- The Value You Offer
- The Goals You Want to Accomplish
- The Amount of Your Participation
The Value You Offer
It doesn’t matter how awesome a social media plan you create, or how many people on your staff are dedicated to social media, if you aren’t offering anything of real value to your fans and followers, you’re sunk. As I stated in my previous post, you need to prove your value to your potential clients before you can expect to earn their trust and their business.
So, what value do you bring to the table? Do you know more about construction loans than anyone else? Are you a 203(k) loan wizard? Do you spend extra time working with the apprehensive first-time home buyer? You have to offer value in a real way. If you do, it’s actually pretty easy to see success on social media, because people want you to help them. They just need you to prove it first.
The Goals You Want to Accomplish
In order to succeed on social media, you have to start with the end in mind; you have to know what your goals are before you can measure them and determine their success. If you don’t know where you want to go, how can you possibly know when you’ve gotten there?
Your goal could be brand awareness by getting more page likes on Facebook, strengthening relationships by participating in your clients and referral partners successes, or supporting other marketing efforts by getting social media users to become email subscribers or website visitors. Once your goals are set, you will be able to set quantifiable numbers for each goal, then measure your goals against your actual result to determine if you’ve succeeded.
The Amount of Your Participation
The last, and probably hardest to digest, factor that affects the overall success of your mortgage social media efforts is the amount of your participation. The bottom line is this: social media is just that—social. It requires you to participate. You’re the only person who can be you. You’re the only person who knows who you know. You can’t send someone else to a cocktail party with your nametag on and expect everyone to pretend it’s you.
That being said, there is one saving grace to this factor. You’re likely already doing many of the things that require your participation. You’re already studying and learning the ins and outs of new mortgage guidelines. You’re already meeting with clients and attending their closings. You’re already participating in charity events and serving on non-profit committees. You just need to effectively leverage these activities and put them to work for you on social media.
Success on social media is not a difficult recipe, but it does take all three ingredients to be effective. Just like you can’t bake a good cake without flour and eggs, you can’t succeed on social media without knowing your value, setting goals, and participating in your efforts. However, use these three ingredients, and you’re well on your way to experiencing true social media success for your mortgage business.
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