Looking at the calendar posted in my spaceship’s lounge pod, I see that we’re on the cusp of another holiday weekend, this one featuring the Easter holiday. Somehow, I’ve overlooked this day in my previous years here on Earth, probably because it always falls on a Sunday. You see, Sunday is my day to step away from things and have “Mort” time, which typically consists of lengthy skin hydration treatments and ingesting large quantities of Moon Pies.
Not knowing much about Easter, I researched the holiday and learned that it means a little something different to everyone who celebrates it. I also discovered that there is one consistent theme throughout Easter and many other springtime celebrations: new and reinvigorated life. Since spring is representative of the very concept of rejuvenation, this time of year is ideal for everyone. Whether you celebrate Easter, other holidays or the end of winter here in the northern hemisphere, spring is the time to break out of the shell of the cold and take a breath of fresh air.
This rejuvenation takes many forms, be it the blooming of the flowers and trees or the new birth of the wildlife that lives in the forests and woods. In a more practical sense for this blog, it’s also the start of the traditional homebuying season in the real estate and mortgage industries. While we’re always delighted to help members get mortgages year-round, this is sort of the annual rebirth of our business.
While we are no strangers to the spring homebuying season, we’re currently in somewhat uncharted territory as we deal with an ever-changing marketplace. Fortunately, we are seeing positive signs that the market is heading in the right direction, signaling to credit union mortgage lenders that it’s time to rejuvenate your efforts to get more of your members into homes.
By rejuvenate, I don’t mean simply dusting off your materials that you use year in and year out – it’s time to reinvigorate your marketing and communications efforts so that they truly speak to your members who are looking to become homeowners or want a different home. To help you get started, I’m providing some ideas that came springing to mind as I settled down to create this post.
Develop Your Plan: Being organized and prepared is the key to success, and a marketing plan is exactly what you need to achieve that. Just remember that a true comprehensive marketing plan is more than a list of tactics or things to do. It also includes setting your goals and objectives, identifying your audiences, laying out timelines, setting expectations and evaluating the plan once you’ve completed all your tactics.
Member Outreach and CRM: One of the most important pieces of your marketing plan is identifying your primary audiences, which in this case includes current members and potential borrowers. To achieve optimal outreach and success, I highly recommend integrating your marketing plan into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. Doing so helps ensure the components and tactics of your marketing plan are addressed and carried out in accordance to your timeline. Plus, it’s likely you’ll find even more cool and useful tools within the CRM system itself.
For the next few items, let’s drill down into the marketing plan itself and highlight some tried and proven tactics you can use to reach your members and potential borrowers effectively and efficiently.
Social Media: Consistently delivering valuable content is key. As I mentioned this in my last post, Using Pi (or Pie) to Tell the Story, we must have a goldfish mentality. Since a goldfish has a memory span of about 6-10 seconds, we MUST execute a marketing plan that is consistent and repetitive in its calls to action. An average consumer needs to see or read a marketing piece 5-6 times before reacting to or remembering the message. (I may repeat this in my next 3-4 posts as I embrace the goldfish!)
Advertising: Gone are the days of classifying “advertising” as printed ads in magazines or billboards lining the street. Sure, those are still available but probably wouldn’t be as effective as today’s advertising channels that are more likely to reach your members and potential borrowers. Digital ads on websites and social platforms, investing in key words on Google and SMS text messaging are just a few of the more contemporary advertising channels to consider. Digital PDFs are valuable tools as well, and printed materials in credit union branches still go a long way in reaching members.
Homebuying Seminars: While research shows that today’s homebuyers prefer the use of technology to do their research, it also indicates that they still want trusted resources whom they can approach with questions and concerns during the homebuying process. Live seminars are an optimal channel to reach various audiences and provide your knowledge and expertise in the mortgage process firsthand. Seminars are helpful for members who are new to the homebuying process and can help alleviate some of the anxiety that comes with purchasing a home.
Realtor Outreach: Now that the market is picking up, it’s a great time to rejuvenate your Realtor relationships and connections. It is vital for credit union mortgage lenders to establish and foster solid relationships with Realtors. They work on your member’s behalf and have the tools and experience to navigate even the toughest real estate market.
There is one more recommendation that I have for my credit union mortgage lenders, and that’s to invest time in rejuvenating YOU! It’s important to get yourself in a positive headspace so that you can embrace the relationships you build with various audiences – the most important being your members. When you become reinvigorated and apply the recommendations I’ve provided, you will truly embrace the credit union way of doing business.
Here’s to a happy spring filled with opportunity!