How Mortgage Choice brokers leverage marketing

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Robust marketing support makes all the difference as the lending market braces for new dynamics in a rising interest rate environment

MAKING SURE his pipeline had enough new business coming into it always used to worry Mortgage Choice franchise owner George Boustani. Messing around with Facebook or LinkedIn, sourcing appropriate content without copyright issues, and planning marketing campaigns do generate leads, but finding the time for this after dealing with regular client-related work is difficult. Which is why people are sometimes surprised the Penshurst-based franchisee has such a robust social media presence. The marketing tools and support provided by Mortgage Choice are the secret sauce in Boustani’s success.

For 30 years Mortgage Choice has been at the forefront of Australia’s mortgage broking industry, and under new ownership as part of REA Group, a leading global digital business specialising in property, this doesn’t change. As a network of close to 1,000 brokers and more than 750 franchises nationally, Mortgage Choice remains one of Australia’s most trusted and recognised brands, with over 95% brand confidence among consumers. Mortgage Choice is passionate about helping people afford the things that are important to them, whether that’s buying a home, buying a new car or starting a business.

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“This marketing support is crucial to my business as it saves me a tremendous amount of time and money”

George Boustani, Mortgage Choice

“This marketing support is crucial to my business as it saves me a tremendous amount of time and money not having to personally prepare marketing and social media content,” he says. “Even though I'm servicing my existing clients, we still need to look for and nurture new business.” He says Mortgage Choice’s social media marketing platform, offered as part of the franchiser’s suite of marketing tools, allows him to plan all Facebook and Instagram content in advance. The Mortgage Choice franchise marketing team regularly updates the platform, as well as the marketing toolbox, giving franchisees access to already-approved content and photos they can post.

Boustani says his social media tasks can be done in as little as 15 minutes a week. “I save on employing a marketing staff member for my franchise, because the existing franchise team can use the content provided by head office.” He also sends a monthly property market update email to his database of clients and prospects. “This content is supplied by the Mortgage Choice franchise marketing team and keeps me top-of-mind for all my clients,

as they regularly receive news and updates about important topics such as interest rates and market direction,” Boustani says. He adds that the marketing support gives him confidence that he’s continually filling the top of his lead funnel as well as servicing his existing clients. Mortgage Choice Merimbula and Bega franchise owner Jen Hughes also takes advantage of the social media platform and recommends it even for novice social media users. “If you’re new to marketing and have no idea, the support Mortgage Choice provides means you can quickly build local brand awareness, and that is key for me as a regional broker,” she says. Her routine is to work on her social media before the office is open and the phone starts ringing. She says the best way to market to an existing book is by email. “Email allows you to connect directly with the customers you want to reach, and you can segment who you are talking to,” she says. “The Mortgage Choice head office team are pros and can guide you with this.”

All part of a deliberate plan CEO Financial Services & CEO Mortgage Choice at REA Group Anthony Waldron says giving franchisees more time to check in with clients is a key strategy for the business. “We’re very focused on building our marketing automation capability, which is designed to improve efficiency and give franchisees more time back in their businesses. [This] enables them to build their local brand and drive local leads.” The aggregator’s social media platform is just one example of a wider set of broker marketing tools that make up the Mortgage Choice toolbox. An easy-to-use mix of powerful marketing products allows franchisees to supercharge things like their own broker minisites, by maximising search engine optimisation (SEO). It also supports them to create their own local marketing assets without the need for a graphic designer (although they offer that too). Mortgage Choice’s dedicated franchise marketing team also offers personalised support for any local marketing requests. Mortgage Choice franchisees will soon be able to take advantage of the brand’s relationship with the wider REA Group. Waldron says that having the support of a global leader in digital property creates a whole new opportunity set. “We will be able to exclusively connect with the realestate.com.au audience and complete the homebuying journey of finding and financing property in one place.”

“We think now is a really important time to be investing in brand, as well as proactively checking in with our customers”

Anthony Waldron, Mortgage Choice

The ability to speak directly to REA Group’s property data and insights is another advantage. One example is the launch of the PropTrack Home Price Index, which allows the Mortgage Choice network of almost 1,000 brokers to share timely insights on property prices and market trends with customers – exactly the information borrowers love to have at their fingertips. Marketing push as economy moves to new phase With interest rates set for further rises and cross-signals in the property market creating some hesitancy, people are less sure of how to approach borrowing than in the easy credit market of recent years. “In a rising interest rate environment, more and more people are going to need an expert in their corner,” says Waldron. This makes marketing even more important as the economy shifts, supporting Mortgage Choice’s recent move to increased investment in national brand marketing. “We think now is a really important time to be investing in brand, as well as proactively checking in with our customers.” Each franchise and area has its own characteristics. What might make marketing sense in Kirribilli could seem strange or even counterproductive in Kalgoorlie. Mortgage Choice understands this reality, and the franchise marketing team helps brokers tailor promotional activity to suit their local market. “Our expert support, both at the one-to-one level from our franchise marketing team and at the national level, is dedicated to growing our brand and generating more quality leads for our brokers,” says Waldron.

attention to because we consider our data to be very important and not to be compromised,” she says. “We’re also going to be challenged as the nonprofit sector continues to grow. We see that the [commercial] insurance industry has generally been inconsistent in its willingness to provide the sort of coverage that nonprofits need and at the price that they can afford. So, I think our challenge is going to be to be there for the groups of nonprofits that will lead us to take up the coverage when others might fail them.” To that end, NIA has made a concerted effort to reach out to brokers to help them determine the right coverage for their nonprofit clients.

Upward trend in mortgage brokers’ market share

New borrower-accepted loan commitments by sector – Apr 2022*

Apr 2022

$31.0bn

Month-on-month change

-6.4%

Year-on-year change

0.3%

Housing

Apr 2022

$19.9bn

Month-on-month change

-7.3%

Year-on-year change

-12.8%

Owner-occupier

Apr 2022

$11.1bn

Month-on-month change

-4.8%

Year-on-year change

37.1%

Investor

Source: ABS April 2022 Lending indicators

* Seasonally adjusted

Oct–Dec 2019

55.3%

Oct–Dec 2020

59.4%

Oct–Dec 2021

66.5%

Source: MFAA quarterly survey, Dec 2021

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Marketing push as economy moves to new phase With interest rates set for further rises and cross-signals in the property market creating some hesitancy, people are less sure of how to approach borrowing than in the easy credit market of recent years. “In a rising interest rate environment, more and more people are going to need an expert in their corner,” says Waldron. This makes marketing even more important as the economy shifts, supporting Mortgage Choice’s recent move to increased investment in national brand marketing.

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MORTGAGE INDUSTRY

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