12 Game-Changing Stats That Will Change Your Mortgage Business

What sets the doing-just-fine producers from the folks that build sustainable and profitable businesses? In short, it’s research and planning.

Flying by the seat of your pants can be fun for date night, but it’s not an approach to take when talking about your mortgage business.

We’re big (and I mean HUGE) fans of research, stats, and a good strategy plan. And while each plan is unique to a market, its audience and goals, you can generally rely on national data to help guide you towards the right path.

So we found some of the juiciest and most insightful stats out there about homebuyers, marketing, sales, technology, and more to inspire you to tackle your next big strategy session.

By 2024, over 80% of the world’s internet traffic will be video

If there’s a stat that could convince you to tackle video soon, this would be it. Consumers are bombarded with content all day every day. And the majority of it tends to be templated, stock images and music that pushes a hard sell call to action.

Leveraging video the right way allows you to create an authentic brand voice and humanize your brand with your target audience, rather than throwing spaghetti at a wall.

If your audience spends time online - especially on the platforms that prioritize videos - you should seriously consider investing your time and energy into video production.

Thankfully, with the quality of smartphones, you likely already have a powerful camera right in your pocket.

Almost 70% of all online experiences begin with a search engine

We would put money on the fact that you probably couldn’t count the number of times you’ve Googled something in the past 7 days. If I had to count mine, I’m sure it would be in the 40+ range.

From finding the nearest coffee shop to researching our next home purchase, Google serves as the liaison between our (the consumers’) first inkling of a problem to the solution (a business).

There’s a reason we have an entire industry devoted to figuring out the Google algorithm. SEOs (also known as search engine optimizers) are the people who manage the content, technical, and strategy aspects of websites to make sure they show up in the right searches.

In the pursuit of a viable brand presence online, businesses should pay close attention to the volume and type of traffic Google can bring them.

Video content is 50X more likely to drive organic traffic than plain text

Another vote for the video! This is a great stat that helps illustrate just how valuable a video can be to a consumer’s experience. It’s not just about that first touchpoint with a brand. It’s also about just how much validity and authenticity a video can give to your brand and product, making it much more likely for a consumer to convert.

We suggest layering video in a variety of touchpoints throughout your consumer journey. Video is flexible and can be used throughout the lead lifecycle, from the very first time they hear from you to the yearly followup you’ll send after a transaction. Mediums like Facebook or Instagram don’t have that same versatility.

That’s why we recommend incorporating video into your business plans strategically, making sure the effort comes back to you tenfold.

Customer testimonials on landing pages can increase conversion rates by 30%

When’s the last time you read the reviews on a product or service?

***me, raising my hand*** - probably within the last 24 hours.

Customer testimonials play a huge role in online strategy and they should also have a huge hold on your business measurement and success.

Gathering reviews is a critical part of getting feedback from your clients, creating ongoing and evergreen content for your business, as well as measuring just how well you’re doing.

If you don’t have a set plan on measuring and improving all areas of your business, we always point new Pink Note members to our Crafting OKRs for Success Workbook. This will walk you through the entire process of building the metrics that matter to your business.

It also lends validity and transparaency to your website. By showing real people’s comments and feedback on your site, you’re allowing new customer sto have a real look into what working with you might be like.

Inserting reviews into your site is a simple and valuable way to add credibility to your online presence.

Mobile devices account for approximately 57% of people’s online time

Here’s why you should always test your entire consumer experience from your phone! We cannot count th enumber of times a landing page, email, or ad was built solely for the desktop and is a complete mess on a mobile experience.

The vast majority of traffic websites get for consumers at the top of the funnel is mobile. That means most of your very first impressions will be people looking at your website thorugh the teeny lense of a phone!

Always do a QA check on your a website, assets, and any other digital experience someone might have with you through a mobile phone.

The average social media user spends 2.4 hours online every day

As you probably know, social media is a massive source of information, community, and leads for the financial services industry. Taking advantage of these platforms does require strategy, but most important it requires personality. To make a real connection on social media, you have to give a peek into your life and your day-to-day doings.

Making social media a default part of your day is natural for some and pure torture for others. And it’s not meant for everyone! But if you do happen to like engaging on the internet, we suggest doing your research on the best platforms, types of posts, types of audiences there are online, and make a

It takes an average of 18 calls to connect with a buyer

Most sales people will begrudingly agree with this stat. If you’re taking the cold call route, most customers will require several attempts to get in touch, and likely more to make real moves into the funnel.

While phone calls do make sense in the right time and place, we always recommend diversifying your means of communication. Make sure you strike a healthy balance between phone, text, email, in-person, and social media channels to develop leads.

35-50% of sales will go to the provider that responds first

With the vast library of content available at our fingertips online, it’s hard to blame a consumer for converting with the first human being that gets back to them.

You have to put yourself in a consumer’s shoes: if you had hundreds (even thousands) of options to help you solve a problem, why would you wait around for one? Why not put feelers out to a few or even a dozen? And when someone finally does get back to you, you jump!

This is why the concept of “speed to lead” is so important to financial services professionals. While you do not have to be online 24/7, it is smart to create an automated system that can reply to consumers instantly and nurture them until you can make contact via phone or email.

Email is nearly 40X more effective than Facebook or Twitter for customer acquisition

If that fact isn’t sobering, we don’t know what is! Email continues to be a powerhouse of marketing, especially in the industries that require long, research-heavy sales funnels like mortgage and real estate.

Email is something every financial services professional should be investing in, from building campaigns for future leads to mining your existing database. We suggest starting on building your CRM now to start reaping the benefits as soon as you can!

Only 13% of leads feel that salespeople comprehend their wants

This one is huge!! While this stat should be meaningful for any salesperson, the folks in the financial services industry should be floored by this one. Understanding what your client wants, what’s best for them, and being able to communicate the difference between the two is a huge skill finserv sales people need.

Learn how to ask the right questions and build conversations that are impactful and profitable for you and clients with our guide to The Pink Method.

95% of customers complete a purchase with a business that provides them with relevant resources to help them at each stage of the purchase process

Here’s one that will put you into content-making mode fast! If you can’t provide strategic, valuable content to your leads, then what’s the point for them?

Clients need to feel like you have their back in every way. A simple way to do that is to curate a library of content to share with them and always keep it ready to use. We always suggest including an overview of your process, a guide to your services, and a team roster as the bare minimum financial service teams need to support their clients’ journeys.