BLOG VIEW: As per the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s latest outlook, with the current market conditions, purchase originations and refinance volume are now expected to both drop in 2023. By the end of 2023, purchase originations are forecast to decrease 3% to $1.53 trillion, while refinance volume is expected to decline by 24% to $513 billion.
Mortgage lenders and title companies are having to constantly reinvent themselves in order to maintain profitable operations. Meeting revenue goals is going to be tough, but the least that they can do is to manage their costs well.
Advanced mortgage technology and automation solutions provide a silver lining in today’s stormy mortgage market. If a mortgage or title company can streamline operations leveraging technology or provide some very innovative and swanky tech interfaces to clients, then they have a better chance to retain their customers and even grow their base.
Nonetheless, even though new tech solutions transform the mortgage process, lenders are often plagued by whether to invest or not as they continue to face headwinds. Given that technology requires high initial investments, many lenders are re-evaluating their technology roadmaps for 2023 as mortgage rates and thereby volumes fluctuate.
What does this mean for mortgage and title tech companies? If you are a mortgage tech company, how do you feature in the purchase list of lenders and title companies as they plan tech investments for 2023?
What follows are a few ideas that could help mortgage tech firms drive efforts and create more demand for products:
Position Products as ‘Must Have’ Rather Than ‘Good to Have’
Since the start of the pandemic, technology has played a pivotal role in ensuring business continuity in every sector. Mortgage is no exception. Advanced tech is providing the mortgage industry with the power to propel forward during these uncertain times. However, if a tech firm needs buy-in from mortgage lenders and title companies for its product, it first need to extol its benefits well to them.
It needs to convey that, at a time when consumers expect a completely digital experience, these products can help the lender offer it. As speed has become a non-negotiable factor in customer satisfaction across verticals, the products will prove to be pivotal in better engaging with borrowers. Tech firms need to influence lenders and title companies to believe that their tech solutions are truly ‘must-have’ and not just ‘nice-to-have.’ This will help tech firms to stay competitive and profitable in the coming years.
Ensure Your Message is Clear for Your Audience
It’s a known fact that the mortgage industry is data-intensive and requires many repetitive tasks, like document handling and verifying application forms. Advanced tech like AI and ML have proved to be extremely effective at analyzing large amounts of data and is useful in training systems to perform cognitive tasks.
While these benefits are known, you still need to send out a loud and clear message about the tremendous opportunities in mortgage and in using data to generate insights and make accurate and reliable decisions in seconds.
Also, your messaging needs to be uniform across all your channels. Don’t keep changing your core messaging to suit your campaign objectives, else you will create too much confusion. Drive home the same message across channels.
Maintain Social Media Presence, But Don’t Always Sell
A very effective way to send out the right message is by maintaining a robust presence on social media. A variety of social media platforms are fruitful to communicate with lender and title companies including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. The key, however, is to ensure the messaging is sustainable and effective.
It’s not enough to simply post on social media occasionally. A tech firm needs to generate content regularly that is compelling to create engagement with its audience.
It also makes a big difference to genuinely engage with potential customers by identifying their pain points, without always trying to sell a product. Tech firms should find value in their social posts rather than having to always see simple sales pitches. Their social media presence should help them understand how their products can benefit them and add value to their efforts.
Rank for SEO Keywords Related to Your Business
One of the most important ingredients in establishing an online presence is SEO or Search Engine Optimization. When it comes to emerging trends in online search and consumer behavior, SEO is becoming increasingly essential for the growth of the businesses. In the case of the mortgage tech companies, local SEO strategies and targeting commercial intent keywords prove to be an effective way to improve online presence and website visits.
With a strong SEO strategy, a tech firm will be able to reach more mortgage and title companies at the exact time that they are searching for tech products online. Through a combination of the most up-to-date on-page and off-page SEO strategies, one can produce the best results for one’s business.
Try Out Google Ads to Capture Existing Demand
Google Ads are also a great way for mortgage tech companies to reach potential clients. When potential clients search for mortgage-related terms on Google, the ad could appear at the top of the search results. However, for this, the ad needs to be well-written and relevant to the searcher’s needs.
It’s important to give proper thought while creating the ad copy. One must identify the benefits one will highlight in one’s ads to create a value proposition for one’s business. Once one starts seeing some results, one expand the campaign gradually. Additionally, one also needs to set realistic bids and select a comfortable daily budget to give one’s campaign a chance to succeed.
Communicate Via Email, But Don’t be Intrusive
Another effective way to reach out to clients is by sending emails regularly. Pitches and follow up emails are good because potential customers want to know that their tech provider cares about them and their needs. However, the important thing to remember is to not focus on selling the product with every single email.
At some point, following up too much will annoy one’s prospects and customers. In fact, it could even prove to be a waste of precious time that could have otherwise been spent on buyers who are actually interested. Once a tech provider has a clear sense of what lenders and title companies wish they could do better, faster, or more efficiently, then they can talk about the tech that actually solves those problems in their communication.
Parting Thoughts
Like most other industries, the mortgage industry has been experiencing a significant digital transformation. If a mortgage tech firm wants to get the attention of mortgage originators and title companies, it needs to play the right cards and get them excited about new technologies. The aim should be to convey how the right tech can help them engage better with borrowers and retain them for life.
Atul Dhakappa is the founder and CEO at Xenia Consulting, a professional digital marketing agency. Atul has spent over 10 years closely working with the mortgage industry and helping businesses efficiently market their products and services to mortgage and title companies.
