Lenders, like other business types, need a steady flow of customers
in order to grow and thrive. A popular form or marketing for lenders
involves buying leads from mortgage lead vendors and then calling or
emailing these individuals to present their offer. But where do these
leads come from?
Mortgage lead vendors use a variety of techniques to generate leads
which they then sell to lenders. For example, if you’ve ever been to a
home show and have been enticed to enter a contest to win a fabulous
prize by filling out a card with your name, phone number, and home
ownership details, you’ve likely experienced one common form of mortgage lead generation
firsthand. While someone will be the lucky winner, the remaining
entries will become leads. Their contact information will be entered
into a database and sold to marketers such as lenders.
The Internet has modernized mortgage lead generation, making the old
contest routine seem quaint in comparison. Today, many vendors use
banner advertisements targeting would-be borrowers. Interested borrowers
then click these ads and are taken to a website where they can view
current interest rates, use online mortgage calculators, and learn more
about their lending and refinancing options. From there, they’ll be
prompted to get a quote or compare rates from competitive lenders. In
order to do this, they must first enter their contact information such
as name, phone number, property type, location, loan type, desired loan
pricing, and so on. (Source: Loan Pricing By NYLX)
By entering their contact information and mortgage requirements data,
these would-be borrowers have registered themselves into a mortgage
lead database. Their information will then be sold to lenders, often in
real time. An advantage of this type of mortgage lead generation over
contests is that these leads are genuinely interested in finding out
more about mortgages whereas contest-generated leads are primarily
interested in winning a prize. (Source: http://www.nylx.com)