A new strategy helped one broker achieve millions of video views
The value of social media in amplifying mortgage professionals’ message has skyrocketed in recent years – and for Andrew Russell (pictured), mortgage loan officer at RCG Mortgages, fully embracing it as a marketing tool has proven a winning approach.
Having opened the doors of his mortgage company in 2017, the executive has steadily built his brand through an in-house digital marketing division to help agents grow and scale their branding and lead generation via social media.
But he’s also adjusted his approach since last summer after realizing that his own social media accounts could be potent tools for developing brand recognition and interacting with a potential new customer base.
“All of a sudden, my team last June, July, said, ‘Andrew, you’re paying all this money – why don’t you do it yourself?’” he told Mortgage Professional America.
New approach garnered huge attention
Russell began posting educational mortgage videos on TikTok and Instagram, boosted by his own extroverted nature (“I have a little wild personality,” he told MPA) and experience from working with thousands of clients throughout his mortgage career.
The results have been spectacular. From around 600 followers last summer, Russell’s Instagram account is now approaching 17,000 – while on TikTok, over 43,600 users have signed up to follow his videos, which have reaped nearly 464,000 likes in total.
His top-viewed TikTok clips – one on mortgage affordability, the other on private mortgage insurance – have racked up a combined 6.5 million clicks on the site.
The videos are fun and light while also serving an important purpose on the business and educational side, according to Russell.
@iamandrewrussell Is it time to upgrade your home? Let's see if the math is mathing and if you can afford a $500K home on an $80K salary. #financialfreedom #rcgmortgage #financialadvice #mortgagebrokers #calculateincome #propertytaxes #homeprices #realestatemarket #newyorkmarket #zillow #smarthomebuying #mathing ♬ original sound - IamAndrewRussell
“It’s education coupled with a little wild personality to make it exciting,” he said. “You’ve got to infuse a little something. I have found in this market, the numbers say that 75% – three out of every four people – that enquire to preapprove themselves or to enquire to use us for mortgage, stalk us out on social media.
“So I could be the number-one loan officer in the area – but if they go to Google me and I’m nowhere to be found, where’s the credibility there? Where’s the brand? It’s the same thing with Google reviews. We’ve been hyper-focused on [that], and now we have over 100 five-star reviews.”
In the past, brokers may have had the tendency to view a strong social media presence as a “would-like” in their business: something they’d ideally be able to focus on more, but not necessarily a top priority against other considerations.
For Russell, social media has now gravitated to a “must-have,” an essential component of cultivating and expanding business.
“That’s what’s going to make you the top 1%,” he said. “What are the must-haves? If I get a client, I call them, I pitch them, I tell them why we’re the best, what’s unique about us, we have great rates – but that’s something we have to do as a mortgage company with the would-likes: social media education, brand, Google presence, all that stuff. That’s our hyperfocus. I feel that’s what’s going to separate us from the rest.”
Opening borrowers’ eyes to extra options in the mortgage market
That educational focus is especially important in 2024 with potential clients and mortgage shoppers becoming increasingly aware of the range of options available to them in the market – something that’s good news for brokers, Russell said.
“I think clients are becoming a little savvier now. There are some little key cool things we do or offer that clients are becoming privy to – they’re more educated now,” he explained.
“Some people fear educating clientele. I love it. The more educated our clients are, the easier the process.”
That means concepts like float downs – allowing brokers to re-lock interest rates for a borrower for free if the rate falls before closing – which may once have been inaccessible or mysterious to potential clients can now be effectively highlighted by brokers through free social media content.
“Clients [usually] don’t know how to float down in the mortgage business,” Russell said. “But now with social media content I’m doing, and education, getting out there – I’ve found clients are a little more savvy, which is cool.”
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