Mortgage Marketing with Direct Mail - Part 2 of 2

by Brandon Cornett

In the previous post, we looked at how to use direct mail in conjunction with a training seminar. Continuing in our two-part mortgage marketing series, here's another way for mortgage professionals to use direct mail:

Technique #2 – The Free Report

Direct mail can also support your mortgage marketing efforts through the use of free reports. In recent years, the free report – a.k.a. the "white paper" – has become an increasingly popular marketing strategy. Today, many companies use reports and white papers to educate prospects about their products and services (or about topics related to those products or services).

Make Your Report a Standout
For this to work, you have to create a "must read" that your average prospect would really want to get their hands on. Maybe it's information about a new and popular type of loan. Maybe it's "insider" mortgage information they can't get from anywhere else.

Whatever approach you take, just make sure the report is strong enough to stand on its own. Here's a technique to help with this: Imagine that the only way you can market the report is by showing the cover (with title) and a two-sentence summary of the content. Based on that glimpse, does your report stand strong? Or will it rely to heavily on your direct mail piece for support?

In other words, start with a great product before you even think of promoting it. This will directly influence your direct mail response rates. Then all you have to do is feature the report in your direct mail letter or postcard.

Best Practices

• Convey the primary benefit of your report through a strong headline: "Free Report Shows How to Review Your Credit for Costly Errors."



• Point to a website where people can learn more about the report and obtain it.



• Have a lead-capturing system in place. One easy way to do this is to use a newsletter sign-up box on the web page, and then send a link to the document via auto-responder confirmation message. The postcard points to the web page, the web page captures the lead, and the auto-responder delivers the goods!

Conclusion
Direct mail is like any other form of marketing in that you get out of it what you put in. So for the best possible return on your investment, have a clearly defined goal and strategy. The strategies listed above will get you off to a great start, but don't stop there. Try and improve on these strategies. Modify them to suit your needs. And of course, be sure to track everything so you can see what works the best.


Good luck and good marketing!

-Brandon from PostcardSmart.com

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