Today I’m going to give you 3 topics to use on social media to drive direct consumer business. A lot of marketing in the title industry has been historically focused on Realtors and Lenders – and rightfully so.
However, a brave new marketing world is upon us with millions of millennials that spend a significant amount of time on Facebook and the Internet, and have become savvy in Googling to find their next home.
In fact, 80% of home purchases start online. If millennials cannot find you in the places they expect, like Facebook, or you don’t have any star ratings as they are accustom to seeing with products and companies they do business with, they may not close with you.
Although you cannot neglect the Realtors and Lenders, as time goes on you’ll see an increase in direct consumer business from targeted social media marketing.
What I’m going to share with you today are 3 ideas you can use to market direct to consumers. I’ll even give you resources you can use to begin today.
Topic 1) Consumers don’t know what title insurance is OR why it is important
Many title companies do a good job of explaining what title insurance is on their website in an FAQ or another “about” page. What they fail to do is explain why it is important, and why the consumer should care. In other words, they are not explaining it in a way that helps the consumer understand the peace of mind it provides.
For example, a common description might say something like “title insurance protects your home from unforeseen liens caused by previous owners.” It is descriptive, yes, but it is far from engaging.
The best way to explain the importance of something is to trigger emotion.
…And the best way to trigger emotion is to illustrate something through a story such as:
“Jack and Jill spend their life savings on their dream house for their family. Three years later they discover that there was a lien on the property from the previous owner’s parking ticket. This uncovered many more issues that cost Jack and Jill thousands in legal fees and ultimately resulted in a loss of their dream home. Had Jack and Jill purchased title insurance their investment would have been protected.”
Isn’t that better than the aforementioned definition?
Topic 2) Consumers don’t know that they can pick a title agent
This is crazy to me. It is like if a car shopper thought there was only one car dealership. This is a great opportunity for a title agent to market directly to consumers and also help your real estate agents educate the home buyer on how to be smart about making the largest investment of their lives.
One great suggestion is to write an article on how to pick a title agent, and at the end of the article give them an opportunity to contact you with any questions.
People in your market that are Googling phrases like “how to buy a home” and “how to sell my home” are likely to find the article, visit your website, and call you with follow-up questions. You’ve just formed a new relationship and created a new inbound lead.
Which leads us to the next point…
Topic 3) Consumers don’t know that they can contact you about their real estate questions
Here is a quick personal story about this concept in action. Several years ago, my wife and I were considering buying life insurance but we didn’t really know much about it, what to look for, or how much to purchase.
Around that time I happened to find an article and podcast interview with a life insurance expert. He had a family, seemed very personable, and answered a lot of my questions right in the interview.
Come to think of it, they were probably the common questions of many others considering life insurance.
Since I was in the market and he had already helped me, I decided to give him a call to ask a few more questions.
He had built trust and answered most of my concerns without ever speaking to me.
Long story short, I ended up purchasing life insurance from someone I had never met, literally across the country.
Why can’t title agents market themselves in this way?
Consumers have questions about real estate and the closing process. Since most home searches today start online, many homebuyers even find the property themselves and bring it to a Realtor to to get the ball rolling.
What if they contacted you directly? Where would you refer them? Just think about it for a moment.
A title agent is a non-biased, non-threatening third-party for any of your real estate questions.
Start marketing yourself as a trusted friend, and a portion of those who find you will do business with you because they trust you.
In closing
From my time in the title business, I’ve learned that when the real estate business is slow, title agents start marketing themselves. However, when closings pick up, they don’t have extra time so marketing goes by the wayside. Use these tips in social media and your website to build your pipeline.
Want More on Helping Your Agents Educate Consumers?
Did you know ALTA members have access to tons of free resources called the Homebuyer Outreach Program (HOP) to help you educate and attract homebuyers on and offline – from printouts to blog posts to social media ads, and more.
So if you’d like to do more marketing but need an extra set of hands to help you educate, schedule a consultation and demo today to see how TitleTap can help you accomplish more with less.