As with countless industries across the board, Facebook advertising can offer unparalleled opportunities for mortgage brokers to expand customer reach and increase potential leads. In Q4 of 2021 alone, Facebook reported an average of 1.93 billion active daily users, with the typical user spending 33 minutes per day scrolling through their feed. Based on these statistics alone, the power of Facebook advertising for mortgage brokers is evident.
With such a sizeable available audience, much of the success of mortgage Facebook ads is due to a broker’s ability to develop and implement a refined target audience. By leveraging customer demographics, such as age and location, Facebook ads for mortgage brokers help pinpoint a preferred customer type, create personalized advertisements, and generate hyper-specific leads. Keep reading to learn the basics of Facebook mortgage ads and the top tips for getting started.
What Are Facebook Ads?
Facebook ads consist of paid images, videos, collections, and carousel content that brands create to advertise across the Facebook platform. Such ads are built through Facebook Ads Manager and are served on relevant users’ desktop, or mobile Facebook feeds based on targeting parameters.
Also, Facebook advertisements operate much like other types of pay-per-click (PPC) ads, such as Google Adwords (Google search ads). As the name might suggest, a mortgage broker who runs a PPC Facebook ad campaign will pay a certain amount each time the ad is clicked. The cost-per-click (CPC) is determined by how many users are reached by the ad and how competitive the audience is.
To learn how much a particular ad set may cost on Facebook, first establish your target audience. Consider the general demographics of your customers, such as location and broad interests (in your case, mortgage services), to craft the audience for your Facebook mortgage ads. These details will ensure your advertisements appear on the Facebook feeds of those desired users.
From here, you can either purchase your ad set via Auction (the default method for Facebook advertising) or Reach and Frequency. When you purchase via Auction, elements such as response rates for your mortgage business influence the price you pay per click, which means the reach of your ads depends on the performance of your campaign. If you purchase via Reach and Frequency, the budget you set will influence how many Facebook users see (and interact with) your ad.
Can Lenders Advertise on Facebook?
Mortgage lenders can advertise on Facebook to boost brand awareness, generate new leads, and several other business objectives. However, Facebook ads have undergone several changes in recent years to protect user privacy better and ultimately restrict the level of granular targeting on Facebook Ads Manager. In particular, the three primary recent changes include:
- Lenders can no longer target by age; the default option is now set to “18-65+.”
- Lenders can no longer target mortgage broker ads by gender
- Lenders’ target locations must now be set to a minimum 15-mile radius
Aside from these advertising restrictions, Facebook also requires specific details in real estate-related advertisements. If posting details of a particular home, brokers must provide specific components, including but not limited to an image, address, neighborhood, price, and website URL.
Benefits of Facebook Advertising for Mortgage Brokers
While the science behind mortgage Facebook ads may be intimidating, the benefits loan officers can reap from a successful ad campaign are quite plentiful. By creating a well-targeted audience and setting up your ads for success, mortgage loan officers can experience:
- The ability to create ads targeting a specific objective
- Better ROI by monitoring and modifying ads based off provided ad analytics
- Increased customer communications through the use of a Call-to-Action button
- Opportunities for enhanced customer reach using ongoing customer data pulled from your CRM
Altogether, Facebook advertising for mortgage brokers offers unrivaled opportunities for new customer reach compared to other social media platforms or marketing avenues. But to create mortgage ads that work, there are a few elements that must be considered when developing an ad.
Basic Elements of a Facebook Ad
When it comes to successful Facebook advertising for mortgage brokers, certain elements must be addressed to create an ad with adequate reach and frequency — in other words, to be sure that the ad is shown to the right (and the right amount) of people. Take a look at the shared elements of the best mortgage ads to properly convey your message and connect with the most qualified leads.
Creative
Creative refers to the imagery, videos, audio, and copy included in an advertisement. To determine which creative elements you’ll need for your Facebook mortgage ads, first decide on the type of ad you will use — such as an image, video, or carousel (several images or videos) ad.
With a specific type of media in mind, develop accompanying ad copy that addresses your business goals, such as gaining new leads. Quality ad copy should include a relevant caption, an attention-grabbing headline, and a simple call-to-action (CTA) button that echoes the goal of the post, such as Learn More or Sign Up.
Placement
Placement on a user’s newsfeed can make or break the success of a mortgage Facebook ad. To increase reach, the Facebook Ads Manager platform will recommend that your ad be placed across all options, including the Facebook and Instagram newsfeed, video feed, and Facebook marketplace.
Likewise, the platform may specify if you’d like your ad to appear on the sidebar of a desktop newsfeed or within the feed itself. However, with a specific focus on the loan officer industry, placements like marketplace and messenger are likely not worthy of your ad dollars.
Campaign Parameters
Campaign parameters for Facebook mortgage ads determine which users see your ad, for how long, and when. Key parameters for mortgage ads that work are demographics and psychographics, targeting users based on their shared interests, such as first-time homebuyers or those researching mortgage loans. Facebook ads also provide retargeting capabilities that include users who have previously interacted with your ads but did not complete your CTA.
Once those details are decided, the final step for Facebook ads for mortgage brokers is to determine their ad duration and budget. The ad duration refers to how long you want your ad to run, such as two weeks or two months. The longer the period, the longer you should expect to pay — that’s where establishing your budget comes in. Inputting your desired budget creates limits that Facebook uses to display your ads until enough users interact with it and deplete your budget.
Facebook Ads Tips for Mortgage Brokers
Facebook advertising for mortgage brokers doesn’t have to be rocket science. By understanding the fundamental elements your ads must include for optimal results, you can quickly succeed with mortgage broker ads. Consider these tips when navigating the ad campaign process:
- Start with a campaign objective of lead generation to develop a potential pool of customers. These ads are preferred because users do not need to leave Facebook to submit a lead, as information such as name and email address will auto-populate from their profile.
- Lead users to a relevant page on your loan mortgage officer website that demonstrates proof of legitimacy, customer testimonials, past experience, and general contact information. If you need help constructing a quality landing page, consider using a website creation tool for mortgage professionals.
- Once you’ve gained a few potential leads, be sure to follow up with prospective customers using email marketing solutions. If you’re new to email marketing, there are readily available solutions that can help guide and streamline this process to increase response rates.
Facebook Ads are Only One Part of Your Digital Marketing Strategy
When constructing the digital marketing strategy for your mortgage loan officer business, it’s crucial to understand that Facebook mortgage ads are just one piece of the puzzle. Facebook is just one component of social media strategy, let alone a complete marketing strategy, that should also encompass email marketing, video marketing, and of course, website marketing.
If you’re unsure how to get started with a digital marketing plan, don’t forget to download the free Jungo resource, “The Art of Social Media for Loan Officers” mortgage eBook today.
