RICA LACENTRA
THE XX FACTOR
Viral Marketing Lessons Learned
Covid wrenched many marketing plans. What can marketers take away – and regain – after more than a year of ducking and dodging? BY ERICA LACENTRA | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL
W
ith the end (or at least control?) of COVID hopefully in sight, it’s a good time to talk about what marketers have learned over the past year. Mainly, what techniques and campaigns should be here to stay permanently as part of your marketing strategy, and what we can leave behind with COVID once and for all (I’m looking at you fully-virtual conferences).
DON’T NEGLECT THE CUSTOMERS YOU ALREADY HAVE One of the biggest things that COVID taught companies was the importance of communicating with your customers. Particularly in the mortgage
industry, when many hard money lenders and non-QM lenders had to put a pause on origination, customers wanted answers. Many took the approach of communicating openly and often, others stayed silent, hoping for the worst to pass without having to provide an explanation, and some even chose to sugar coat communications with their clients hoping that things would return to normal before their cover was blown. When the dust settled, the companies that communicated clearly found they were able to bounce back quickly. Why? Because in tough times, when you look out for your customers, they are more likely to show loyalty and thank you in one way or another when they can, and that came in the form of returning business. Do you need to provide weekly updates about the state of your business? Probably not, but you should be communicating with your customers about any program or product updates, company milestones, or other information that could affect the way they do
business with you. Never discount the power of staying in contact with your customers and rewarding them for their ongoing loyalty as being able to capture repeat business is often low-hanging fruit.
HAVE A STRONG ONLINE PRESENCE The mortgage industry has always seemed to lag behind other industries when it came to digital marketing, but COVID made it necessary for companies to pivot to a marketing plan that relied more heavily on a successful digital strategy. Over the last year there was a renewed focus on updating company websites, and developing better email marketing, social media marketing, and pay-per click campaigns. With people staying at home more during the pandemic, they had more time to read those marketing email blasts or felt more compelled to scroll through their various social media feeds to kill time. Companies saw many of their efforts pay off because of this uptick in interaction with digital media, but having a strong digital footprint
In tough times, when you look out for your customers, they are more likely to show loyalty and thank you in one way or another when they can
