Why Loan Officers Need a Strong Online Presence to Succeed with Millennials

Most loan officers these days recognize the value of having an online presence, and if you’re working to grow your millennial client base, it’s a must. Your online presence includes all the representations of you and your business that appear online. It’s your website, your Facebook page, your LinkedIn profile, any other social-media sites you use, and all the content you share across these platforms. It also includes the material you may not control, such as the reviews past clients share on different websites. All of this information together works to give your audience a sense of who you are and why you’re the best loan officer for the job. Let’s dive into why this is so important when it comes to earning the business of millennial borrowers:

Visibility

Your online presence is an opportunity to get in front of valuable prospects. With so many millennials starting their search for a loan officer online, your online presence is a tool to reach prospects you otherwise might miss. If a millennial starts their search for a loan officer, think about which candidate is more appealing: someone with a simple website, or someone with an active website who’s sharing content and engaging on multiple platforms? Of course, the more information about you online, the better a prospect can learn about you and your business. It’s important for loan officers to remember that many millennials are starting a general search online, not looking for them by name. The more content you have and the stronger your SEO, the more likely you are to appear at the top of their search results.

Convenience

A great online presence makes it easy for millennials to get in touch. Maybe they’re not ready to reach out with a phone call, but by giving them options for how to connect, you encourage them to start the relationship. Whether it’s with a contact form on your website or through Facebook messenger, offering multiple ways to reach out can help motivate millennials to take that next step. A modern online presence also shows millennials that you’re tech savvy and up to date. That helps to give the impression that the lending process will also be streamlined and convenient.

Trust

As a loan officer, relationships are at the center of our work. It’s our relationships with prospects and clients that help us grow thriving businesses. And the foundation for those relationships is trust. When you have a strong online presence, you’re able to start building that trust even before you meet these potential clients. When a borrower can get a sense of who you are, what type of services you provide, what it would be like to work with you, and what you specialize in, they start to develop a level of trust that can support a future relationship.

Standout

Millennial borrowers have options. So, how can loan officers standout from the crowd? Their online presence is one key tool for this. It allows you to set yourself up as an industry expert. It allows you to strengthen and refine your brand. It allows you to create the message these potential clients will receive. The better your online presence, the easier it is to rise above the noise and set yourself up as the clear choice.

Do you believe that your online presence is important when it comes to working with millennials? Is it something you actively invest in developing? Next week, we’ll dive into some specific strategies loan officers can use to take their online presence to the next level. Stay tuned!