Loan Officer Marketing: Getting Realtors to Read Your Brochures

You invest a lot of time and money in developing a loan officer marketing brochure that will get results. But maybe your materials are starting to have the same look and feel as your competition. What can you do to solve this problem?

First, think about why it is a problem. Maybe consumers are not as focused on differentiating loan officers, but Realtors certainly are. If you focus on building a thriving business (one that relies on them), materials that make you look just like everyone else brings it to a dead stop.

Most loan officer marketing brochures have three common mistakes:

Feature Focused Messages

Most basic sales training programs focus on delivering features and benefits as a standard part of the sales process. But this is a huge mistake when developing your brochures for mortgages.

Imagine writing a brochure that focuses on: quality of service, loan rates, refinance plans, origination, points, APR, mortgage insurance, etc. Developing a list of features does not tell the reader anything. In fact, it may only confuse them.

Basically, you are in the service industry. But the service you provide is hard to quantify. To get the reader to pay attention, you need to talk about problems. And even more importantly, you need to tell the reader how you have solved those problems.

Messages with Jargon

Jargon is such a part of our everyday language that we rarely give it any thought. But many readers lack familiarity with much of the jargon used in loan officer marketing materials. To them, brochures filled with jargon come across as pretentious. If they do not understand, they certainly would not be encouraged to ask questions.

The use of jargon also makes it harder for the reader to focus on your true message. They stop or slow down to try to analyze the buzz words. Your goal is to engage the reader and encourage them to read on.

When you incorporate elements into the brochure such as pictures, graphics, charts and quotes, you make the materials come alive for the reader.

Copy Cat Messages

Have you ever seen your competitions brochure and thought you should copy the work to make your own materials more compelling? Guess what, so have a lot of other loan officers. We all do it, using someone else creativity starts us thinking about how we can incorporate their ideas into ours.

But this simple act does the one thing you want to avoid. It makes you seem just like every other guy. In this instance, it is true. You are just like everyone else or at least, the person you used for inspiration.

It may be more challenging to be unique, but that is what will set you apart in a field crowded with loan officers.

A good brochure is a lot like a favorite movie. It has a storyline that keeps the reader going. It shapes perception and makes the reader think. Just as important, it makes you memorable. It will not be long before you stand out from the crowd with your loan officer marketing brochure.