Hardly a day seems to go by without yet another piece of research hitting the headlines indicating that the mortgage market is going to be a lot tougher next year.
At the time of writing, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors had reported that house price growth had remained negative for the second month in succession and the Council of Mortgage Lenders announced that the debt servicing burden for first-time buyers was at its worst level for 16 years, and is set to worsen over the next few months.
Dispelling myths
There is no doubt, therefore, that brokers will be going into marketing mode over the coming months in order to drum up new business. Marketing does, I’m afraid, mean spending money and there is a popular myth that effective marketing is all about the size of your budget. If you have a big budget, you will succeed in getting your message across; if you haven’t, you won’t.
I’m pleased to say this is not true. Effective marketing is not simply a case of opening the corporate chequebook – if only it were that easy. For marketing to make a real difference, firms have to ensure they are promoting relevant and genuinely motivating messages to identifiable audiences, in a compelling and memorable way.
All too often, companies believe the way to promote a new product or service is to place an advert which lists the many features of the deal on offer and then sit back and wait for the enquiries to pour in. Unfortunately, businesses are often disappointed by a lack of response, which then fuels their belief that marketing is a complete waste of money and best avoided.
Motivating your customers
The challenge with any marketing campaign is to really understand what messages will motivate customers to buy your products and services and to then convey those messages in a compelling way via an integrated marketing campaign, which includes advertising, PR, direct mail, the internet, exhibitions, etc. The message should be consistent across all media.
For example, advertising can raise awareness of a new product, with direct mail and the internet providing more detail. PR provides valuable independent endorsement and exhibitions and face-to-face meetings provide opportunities for customers to buy. If the objective of an advert is simply to raise awareness of a new product and encourage customers to visit a website for more detail, don’t fill the advert with layers and layers of unnecessary and confusing detail. It only needs to contain sufficient information to get a client to click onto your website – and no more.
It’s no good, therefore, relying on one or two adverts. Think about ways in which your marketing campaigns can ‘roll out’ over a period of time with distinct phases: awareness raising (advertising and PR), information provision (direct mail, promotional literature and the internet) and selling (exhibitions, face-to-face meetings, phone conversations). The trick is to ensure that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
A matter of cost
At this stage you may well be thinking ‘this sounds expensive’, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re advertising in your local press, negotiate for a series of adverts, rather than buying just one or two. Negotiate hard; it’s amazing what deals you can do. Don’t overlook media such as radio and even regional TV. Again, there are amazing deals to be struck with radio and TV stations, who will happily sell a package consisting of airtime and production facilities. If my local Indian restaurant can run an effective radio advertising campaign, I see no reason why a firm of financial advisers can’t do likewise.
PR costs nothing, other than a bit of time and effort. Phone up your local newspaper and find out who deals with financial matters. Offer to write a small column in which you provide a round up of best buys and send in a press release announcing any new products and services you have to offer. Ask the appropriate reporter if they can spend half an hour one lunchtime to have a chat – get to know them and find out how you can get your news in print.
Direct mail can also be done in-house. Learn how to mail merge your database of clients with a promotional letter. If you’re having trouble creating your promotional message have a chat with your network principal or a lender you’re close to – they have marketing departments and I’m sure someone would be willing to spend five minutes on the phone giving you a few good ideas.
If you’re running adverts, make sure your website has a consistent image and message. It’s reassuring for clients who have seen a press advert featuring an eye-catching picture of a house or happy family, to be presented with the same image when they log onto your website. Subliminally, it creates continuity. Ensure your website is easy to navigate and that clients can get the information they need with no more than three or four clicks of the mouse.
A clear understanding
The biggest barrier to effective marketing is not cost; that is usually just an excuse. The biggest barrier is not having a clear understanding of what you’re trying to achieve and not giving a campaign sufficient commitment and drive to make it happen.
The UK mortgage market is going to be a tougher environment in which to build your business next year, but that doesn’t mean you cannot continue to move forwards. This is a time to plan carefully to ensure the money you do spend on marketing is being used as effectively as possible.
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