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Social media is key to the modern mortgage broker

by: Richard Adams
  • 23/04/2013
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Social media is key to the modern mortgage broker
Advancements in technology over the past few decades have made life easier for us all, in both a personal and professional capacity.

We almost take inventions like mobile phones and email for granted now they are so ingrained in our daily ritual, but it didn’t use to be so easy to stay in touch on the move.

Similarly, much of the mortgage and house-buying process is now conducted via electronic means when not so long ago documents had to be posted or delivered by hand, before borrowers’ property-owing aspirations were dependent on the whims of temperamental fax machines.

In terms of the way mortgage companies establish a profile and market themselves, websites have been a great way that firms can reach out to potential clients and partners. Social media is becoming a natural extension of this, with forward-thinking companies capitalising on another way they can get their message out there and forge links with relevant stakeholders.

Mortgage brokers should seriously consider how they can utilise social media to engage with their target audience. It is a given that first-time buyers are the lifeblood of any adviser’s business and these borrowers are of an age where social media is likely to play a significant role in their day-to-day lives.

Whereas once we would have sourced our online news in one place, communicated with friends in another, listened to music on a third site and researched our mortgage via a search engine, today’s web-savvy borrowers are conducting an increasing percentage of their online activity in the one place – their preferred social media site.

If their local broker doesn’t have a social media presence, they may slip down the pecking order of the borrower and be replaced by an intermediary who has.

Like any new development in hardware or software, there will always be early adopters as there will be those who remain unconvinced of the benefits to their business and remain on the sidelines for too long.

Displaying some caution is not always a bad thing and intermediaries can’t be expected to embrace every last invention that comes along, but it’s probably fair to say we are reaching the tipping point where clients are starting to expect a social media presence rather than just viewing it as a bonus.

Stand still for too long and firms that don’t embrace the social media revolution may just be left behind.

Richard Adams is managing director of Stonebridge Group

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