Vanessa Blount, head of paaleads.com, said the announcement of the Base Rate rise had caused the jump in figures, which prior to the announcement were 25 per cent above the previous January. While January and February are traditionally months of high lead volumes, Blount added such an increase was unprecedented and records were being broken almost daily.
Blount commented: “I believe mortgage intermediaries should not consider any other form of advertising except leads for the first quarter of the year, because it’s so busy. We have a surplus of leads and it’s important for brokers to realise they determine the price of leads and, as there are so many, the price is half what it was a few weeks ago.
“The increase in volumes proves the internet is a customer’s first source of seeking information when choosing a financial product as it is so convenient and that customers are acutely aware of the impact of a Bank of England Base Rate change,” Blount added.
Nick Hanson, director of Hanson Financial Management, said: “Using the internet for leads and general profiling of a company is a better way to spend an advertising budget and it’s worth investing in leads or Google advertising. For small brokers, the buying of leads is proving important and the advantage is that you can quite easily build a client list from it.”
