Following the 2023 Mortgage Industry Marketing Awards, Barcadia Media’s Andy Shields got together with three of this year’s winners – Gemma Reid of MPowered, Leah Brunskill of MFS and Savannah Dewhurst of Coreco - to discuss all things marketing for mortgage advisers in a panel debate chaired by awards sponsor and industry marketing expert, Jeff Knight.
In an hour-long discussion, the winners explored a number of topics – starting with social media (and how brokers can get the best out of it).
Starting out on social media
On the topic of social media, Knight acknowledged that advisers don’t always consider the use of social media important in their marketing plans – and that the variety of platforms available can be overwhelming to those unfamiliar with social media marketing.
‘Social media queen’ Savannah Dewhurst of Coreco, who took home the Best Social Media Campaign award, said that brokers should focus on the key aspect of social media that can make or break a strategy for small businesses – that it’s free.
“Just having a presence on social media is important,” she said. “It’s pretty much free advertising.”
Brunskill agreed, adding that time-strapped advisers didn’t necessarily need to become proficient in all platforms. She added:
“It’s thinking about what you have time for – social media’s incredibly time consuming. LinkedIn is probably the quickest because you can write some thoughts and away you go – Instagram requires a little bit more, and then TikTok – for me – seems incredibly labour-intensive. Look at the target market and […] see where you can get some quick wins versus others that are going to take some time.”
When asked how brokers with little time to become social media savvy could streamline their efforts, MPowered’s Gemma Reid added:
“There are platforms that can help with content scheduling in advance and take the heavy lifting off having to remember each week. One of the key things with social media is having consistency of posting and that you’re putting content out there on a regular basis.”
What to post – and how to measure success
For those advisers keen to get started on social media, our marketing experts were clear that spending as little as 15 minutes a week thinking about content would help ensure consistent, clear content.
“We started on Excel at the beginning,” Brunskill explained. “We wanted to talk about the business, about educational topics, we want to impart some knowledge, we wanted to talk about what’s going on in the market. So we made [a spreadsheet] and filled the boxes in with colours – orange was ‘something going on in the news’, and we’d go to Financial Reporter, find something that’s just come out and is relevant. And two days later, it’s a different colour, and that means a testimonial for the business. You can replicate that every month, then.”
Dewhirst agreed, adding that making templates for content would make it easier to have regular themes running through your profile – such as debunking mortgage jargon.
Agreeing, Knight added: “A lot is going on in the national press at the moment that’s confusing to the average consumer. With interest rates going up and down, inflation’s falling then inflation’s going up… so use social media to demonstrate your credibility.”
On measuring success, all experts agreed not to put too much stock initially in the engagement rates on posts.
Reid concluded: “It can be off-putting if someone isn’t getting as many engagements [such as comments, ‘likes’, or shares] on their posts as other people. Don’t be too discouraged by the figures […] I wouldn’t worry if it’s not reached thousands of people because quality is better than quantity.”
Our marketing experts’ advice for social media:
- Pick one platform you’re comfortable with to start
- Consider your target audience and the social networks they’re likely to be using
- Use free scheduling tools such as Hootsuite for consistent posting
- Think about content in advance and make it relevant to your audience
- Don’t get discouraged by a slow start
To see the full discussion, check it out on the Mortgage Industry Marketing Awards website.
