Marketing is necessary, writes Doren Aldana. But are you doing your best to maximize the results?
The purpose of testing is to develop maximum performance from every marketing effort and dollar invested. Frankly, I find it amazing how few mortgage professionals actually test and measure their marketing metrics and return on investment (ROI). If you were to ask them what their ROI is on their paid advertising campaigns, most of them wouldn’t have a clue! Most of them use what I call the S.W.A.G method – Scientific Wild Ass Guess!
They seem content to leave their destiny – and profitability -- in the hands of hunches and guesswork.
Not testing and measuring your results is a BIG mistake for three reasons…
Your opinion doesn’t count. This might seem harsh, but it really doesn’t matter what you think about a particular marketing method. At the end of the day, the only vote that counts is the one that pays the bills – the vote from your client! Nothing is good or bad except that which testing proves to be good or bad.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. How would you know something has improved if you’re not measuring it? Exactly. Furthermore, studies have shown that just by the mere act of measuring something, your results can improve by as much as 30 per cent!
If you stick your head in the sand, one thing is for sure: you’ll get your ass kicked! In this case, ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance leads to unnecessary struggle, strive and suffering. Ignorance of your numbers leads to wasted ad dollars and lost profits.
That’s why superstar mortgage professionals always track and measure their marketing metrics, especially on paid advertising. They put systems in place that allow them to test one ad concept against another, one referral system against another, one headline against another, one follow up strategy against another, one call to action against another. I could keep going but you get the idea.
My point is this: when you test one approach against another and analyze the results, you will find that one approach outperforms all others, sometimes by a significant margin. You’ll be amazed at how many more leads you can generate or how much greater your ROI can be if you’ll take the time to test, track and measure your results.
For example, let’s say you placed Ad #1 in a newspaper for $1,000 and it generated 20 leads and two closings worth $4,500 in total revenue. Your cost of acquisition per client would be $500, with a total ROI of 350 per cent. Not too shabby. Now let’s say you place Ad #2 in the exact same newspaper, in the exact same location, the only difference is a change in the headline. The cost was still $1,000 but this time you got 30 leads and three closings worth a total of $6,600 and an ROI of 560 per cent! That’s a 210 per cent increase in your ROI, all because you bothered to test a new approach and track your results!
For example, let’s say you placed Ad #1 in a newspaper for $1,000 and it generated 20 leads and two closings worth $4,500 in total revenue. Your cost of acquisition per client would be $500, with a total ROI of 350 per cent. Not too shabby. Now let’s say you place Ad #2 in the exact same newspaper, in the exact same location, the only difference is a change in the headline. The cost was still $1,000 but this time you got 30 leads and three closings worth a total of $6,600 and an ROI of 560 per cent! That’s a 210 per cent increase in your ROI, all because you bothered to test a new approach and track your results!
Don’t spend a single penny more on paid advertising without putting a tracking system in place, so you can hold each ad accountable to results. This requires more than just asking prospects, “How did you hear about us?” -- although I would certainly recommend that too. I’m talking about putting a SYSTEM in place that tracks every lead, app, closing and dollar you generate from each and every ad dollar you invest.
Here are a few cost-effective ways for tracking your marketing results:
1 Toll Free “Call Capture” Hotlines -- this is also called a “24-hour free recorded message hotline”. Instead of just asking your prospects to call your office phone line or your cellphone, you can offer a free report or a free recorded message that provides valuable information that helps your prospect make a more informed, educated buying decision. When a prospect calls the hotline to access or request this free information -- BOOM! -- you just got a hot new mortgage lead. Now you can track how many leads came directly from each specific ad you run.
2 Text Capture -- this works on the same premise as example #1, except that it invites the prospect to request the free report or free property information (if you’re working with a Realtor) by texting a code to your request-info-by text number. Again, this automates your lead generation process and allows you to easily track your results.
3 Web Forms -- this is the “online” method for lead generation. You can use this in conjunction with or in replace of the other two methods I already mentioned. If you use this method, be sure that all your prospects have a computer or smartphone with Internet access. In this case, you would invite the prospect to get access to your free offer by going to a specific website that points to a dedicated landing page. Your sole focus and goal with this page is to sell the prospect on the benefits of your free offer and to compel them to fill in their contact information and press the “submit” button.
Don’t confuse them with too many options -- a confused mind always says NO. If you’re driving paid traffic to the page, just give them one option and one option only. Most importantly, use ad tracking software, Google Analytics or a dedicated URL for each ad, so that you can measure the number of unique visitors, opt-ins, apps and closing you generate from each ad campaign.
This is a slightly amended version of an article written by Doren Aldana, leading Mortgage Marketing Coach. It has been shortened to make it suitable for web publishing.
They seem content to leave their destiny – and profitability -- in the hands of hunches and guesswork.
Not testing and measuring your results is a BIG mistake for three reasons…
Your opinion doesn’t count. This might seem harsh, but it really doesn’t matter what you think about a particular marketing method. At the end of the day, the only vote that counts is the one that pays the bills – the vote from your client! Nothing is good or bad except that which testing proves to be good or bad.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. How would you know something has improved if you’re not measuring it? Exactly. Furthermore, studies have shown that just by the mere act of measuring something, your results can improve by as much as 30 per cent!
If you stick your head in the sand, one thing is for sure: you’ll get your ass kicked! In this case, ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance leads to unnecessary struggle, strive and suffering. Ignorance of your numbers leads to wasted ad dollars and lost profits.
That’s why superstar mortgage professionals always track and measure their marketing metrics, especially on paid advertising. They put systems in place that allow them to test one ad concept against another, one referral system against another, one headline against another, one follow up strategy against another, one call to action against another. I could keep going but you get the idea.
My point is this: when you test one approach against another and analyze the results, you will find that one approach outperforms all others, sometimes by a significant margin. You’ll be amazed at how many more leads you can generate or how much greater your ROI can be if you’ll take the time to test, track and measure your results.
For example, let’s say you placed Ad #1 in a newspaper for $1,000 and it generated 20 leads and two closings worth $4,500 in total revenue. Your cost of acquisition per client would be $500, with a total ROI of 350 per cent. Not too shabby. Now let’s say you place Ad #2 in the exact same newspaper, in the exact same location, the only difference is a change in the headline. The cost was still $1,000 but this time you got 30 leads and three closings worth a total of $6,600 and an ROI of 560 per cent! That’s a 210 per cent increase in your ROI, all because you bothered to test a new approach and track your results!
For example, let’s say you placed Ad #1 in a newspaper for $1,000 and it generated 20 leads and two closings worth $4,500 in total revenue. Your cost of acquisition per client would be $500, with a total ROI of 350 per cent. Not too shabby. Now let’s say you place Ad #2 in the exact same newspaper, in the exact same location, the only difference is a change in the headline. The cost was still $1,000 but this time you got 30 leads and three closings worth a total of $6,600 and an ROI of 560 per cent! That’s a 210 per cent increase in your ROI, all because you bothered to test a new approach and track your results!
Don’t spend a single penny more on paid advertising without putting a tracking system in place, so you can hold each ad accountable to results. This requires more than just asking prospects, “How did you hear about us?” -- although I would certainly recommend that too. I’m talking about putting a SYSTEM in place that tracks every lead, app, closing and dollar you generate from each and every ad dollar you invest.
Here are a few cost-effective ways for tracking your marketing results:
1 Toll Free “Call Capture” Hotlines -- this is also called a “24-hour free recorded message hotline”. Instead of just asking your prospects to call your office phone line or your cellphone, you can offer a free report or a free recorded message that provides valuable information that helps your prospect make a more informed, educated buying decision. When a prospect calls the hotline to access or request this free information -- BOOM! -- you just got a hot new mortgage lead. Now you can track how many leads came directly from each specific ad you run.
2 Text Capture -- this works on the same premise as example #1, except that it invites the prospect to request the free report or free property information (if you’re working with a Realtor) by texting a code to your request-info-by text number. Again, this automates your lead generation process and allows you to easily track your results.
3 Web Forms -- this is the “online” method for lead generation. You can use this in conjunction with or in replace of the other two methods I already mentioned. If you use this method, be sure that all your prospects have a computer or smartphone with Internet access. In this case, you would invite the prospect to get access to your free offer by going to a specific website that points to a dedicated landing page. Your sole focus and goal with this page is to sell the prospect on the benefits of your free offer and to compel them to fill in their contact information and press the “submit” button.
Don’t confuse them with too many options -- a confused mind always says NO. If you’re driving paid traffic to the page, just give them one option and one option only. Most importantly, use ad tracking software, Google Analytics or a dedicated URL for each ad, so that you can measure the number of unique visitors, opt-ins, apps and closing you generate from each ad campaign.
This is a slightly amended version of an article written by Doren Aldana, leading Mortgage Marketing Coach. It has been shortened to make it suitable for web publishing.
