According to the National Association of Realtors, 93% of home buyers used online resources during the home research process. If considering only older Millennials, the numbers go to an astonishing 98%. With these numbers in mind, “Should I have my own website?” isn’t even a question. The right question is, “How do I get potential borrowers to my site, fast?” The answer? PPC advertising.
Surely, you can use channels like email marketing or organic social media to reach this goal. These channels, however, aren’t the most optimal when it comes to attracting new customers. For your business to attract completely new people your best bet will be to rely on either SEO (search engine optimization) or PPC (pay-per-click) advertising.
A well-executed SEO strategy opens up a lot of opportunities for your mortgage business, but it has a serious flaw — it takes a lot of time. If you need some leads here and now — look no further — PPC advertising is what you need. For simplicity, in this article we’ll be covering only search engine PPC advertising.
The mortgage industry is notorious for being expensive to advertise (advertisers can expect to pay up to $100 for a single click.) It’s vital to plan everything in advance, so you get the most out of your ads and don’t lose money due to mistakes. Let’s clarify some important points to make sure you get the best results with your PPC advertising.
Have a clear goal in mind.
Like with everything in the world of marketing, having a clear, singular goal is the first step to success. Decide what you’re after; most likely it will be leads for your business. The usual flow here is: a relevant search query → an ad tailored to align with that query → a landing page on your site. Don’t overcomplicate things, but don’t go too broad either. The closer the three elements above are tied, the better response you will get.
Choose the right keywords.
As we’ve mentioned before, keywords for the mortgage industry can get expensive. It’s tempting to simply pick the most popular ones. But you can get much better results if you take a more clever approach. First, pick the right keywords. Going for highly-specific niche keywords can get you much better results — they will cost less and convert better, if you’re properly aligned with that niche, of course. Second, consider your negative keywords list. A good negative keyword list can weed out lots of unwanted clicks and has the potential to save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per month.
Don’t forget about geo.
It’s hard to imagine a bigger waste of ad budget than showing your ads in cities where you don’t operate. You can target countries, states, cities, or even set a radius around a certain location. Go granular, focus on your best locations.
While we’re at it, here are more tips for your success:
- Optimize your landing page. Page optimization is a huge subject in itself, but for now make sure it’s easy to navigate, aligned with your ads, and has a clear call-to-action. If you have multiple offers, have a separate page for each one.
- Utilize remarketing. Remarketing ads are ads for people who’ve already visited your page. These are a great tool to provide a nudge for those who haven’t converted yet.
- Prioritize mobile. The majority of searches nowadays are made from mobile devices, make sure your pages look well there.
- Write compelling ads. Search engine ads are short, so every character matters. State your most important benefits, align with keywords, feature a call to action which entices people to follow to your site.
- Consider different platforms. While Google is a search engine of choice for over 87% of Americans, you shouldn’t forget about other options, like Bing and Yahoo. While these engines aren’t as popular among customers, they aren’t as popular with your competitors too. And fewer competitors mean better prices.
Search engine PPC is a powerful tool in any mortgage professional’s arsenal, and if utilized correctly, can ensure steady growth. What’s your experience with PPC advertising? Have you tried it before?
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