Complete Guide to Generating Mortgage Leads

Do you know what the steadily rising mortgage debt and high mortgage interest rates mean for credit companies, brokers, and loan officers? Here’s the answer: larger profit margins. Mortgage leads have become highly profitable, with thousands of them looking for reasonable loan offers.

As a mortgage professional, you can tap into the stream of mortgage leads and convert them at scale. You only need effective mortgage lead generation strategies to add to your marketing efforts.

But don’t worry – we’ve got you covered on that.

Below is your complete guide on mortgage lead generation, divided into two parts:

• Part 1. Mortgage lead generation through earned media
• Part 2. Buying mortgage leads from third-party sellers

Read on to learn everything you need to know about mortgage lead generation, both paid and free.

Who Are Mortgage Leads, and What Services Do They Need?

Around 65% of homeowners in Great Britain paid for their homes through a mortgage, and for a good reason. The average house cost in the UK rose by 50% over the past decade, leaving mortgage loans as the only feasible alternative for most would-be homeowners.

➥ Mortgage leads are prospective customers and borrowers looking for a mortgage loan to buy a property, refinance their existing mortgage, do home remodelling, etc. The reason for obtaining a mortgage might be different, but all mortgage leads have one similarity: they need a financially compelling mortgage offer.

As a lender, you can bring in an abundance of mortgage leads if you present a superior value proposition and make the most of your traffic sources.

Part 1. Generate Free Mortgage Leads Using Earned Media

Before we go in-depth about mortgage lead generation, a quick note that it’s not always necessary to generate leads on your own; you can also purchase mortgage leads from publishers or an affiliate network. But again, that’s where the strength of organic and paid mortgage leads truly provides the highest ROI.

Before we begin, note: Even if your internet presence is insignificant, you should use it to the fullest. There will always be some borrowers seeking quality content and a distinctive value proposition, which you can perhaps offer.

Step 1. Your Ideal Mortgage Lead

First things first: create a picture of your ideal mortgage lead. You may not be able to get it right the first time, but having a definition of your target customer is crucially important; if you don’t, a vague marketing focus will leave you with a life-changing bill.

Here are the two sets of factors that identify your ideal mortgage loan applicant:

• Demographics: It consists of typical characteristics of a customer base, like age, gender, location, educational level, earnings, marital status, and others that can be utilised to customise your offering.
• Psychographics: It is composed of psychological characteristics of a customer group, including interests, motivations, purchasing behaviour, values, beliefs, and cultural attributes.

Manual unlocking of demographics and psychographics – and manual processing of mortgage leads and any other leads, for that matter – is extremely inefficient when done manually. You need to use automated software in order to speed the process along and minimise the margin for error, not to mention you will know your buyers better and have a bigger sample size for lead analysis.

What software do you need to process mortgage leads?

You essentially need an all-in-one platform pre-built for lead generators and brands. Here are some of the Phonexa products you will need:

Lead management software	Revealing the customer path is a prerequisite to understanding what drives and inhibits conversions. An integrated lead management, lead tracking, distribution, and analytics platform like LMS Sync will let you see the overall picture and not the discrete, hard-to-interpret puzzle pieces of separate interactions.
Call management software	As phone calls represent the final outcome of the process of many mortgage leads, it’s important to gather as much call data as possible and direct the caller to the right loan officer. Call management tools like Call Logic can do both, capturing real-time caller data and using it to route the call optimally or even settle the call in real-time for simpler requests.
Email marketing software	Email marketing solutions like E-Delivery can deliver the right email at the right time to the right mortgage lead and possibly blow their minds with more advanced technology like AMP.
User behaviour analytics and recording software	Screening and visualising mortgage lead’s on-site behaviour with tools like HitMetrix will help you see how visitors interact with pages and components, what drives conversions, and what drives unnecessary friction.

Build your plan now, or take a product tour to discover how Phonexa’s platform can help you close the loop between leads, calls, clicks, and revenue.

It’s also worth noting that mortgage lead generation can be harsh to those who ignore its intricacies. If you’re up for the challenge, be prepared to survive regulatory stranglehold and to be in a position to explain to your leads why they’ll need to make the unordinary commitment that most borrowers must make when they choose to apply for a mortgage.

Here are the challenges you might have to face while generating mortgage leads:

Regulatory Environment	You must abide by the regulations that govern your activity, making your mortgage leads aware of anything they should know.
High Stakes	Taking out a mortgage is a multi-faceted option that necessitates confidence on the part of the broker. Rising mortgage interest rates do nothing to make mortgage leads’ lives easier. During the second quarter of 2024, the weighted average interest rate was 4.8 percent, nearly three times the Interest rate during the fourth quarter of 2021.
Complex Products	It should not be surprising that few mortgage internet leads know how a mortgage loan functions. You must explain the lingo in plain language so applicants can understand and avoid unnecessary mistakes.

Step 2. Create a Jaw-Dropping Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is your greatest advertising asset. You ought to craft something that will glue mortgage leads to the screen the second they’ve landed on your blog, website, or social media page.

However, remember you have to first identify your target customer.

Here are some of the most in-demand groups of mortgage loan leads to target with your USP:

First-Time Homebuyers	Buyers who are first-time home purchasers value explanations and plain language. They may also need pre-approval services or referral to lawyers, financial professionals, etc.
Refinance Mortgage Leads	Mortgage refinance leads – those adjusting their mortgage terms or replacing it with a better loan – usually look for current mortgage interest rates, estimates of potential savings, and information about consolidating debt.
Home Equity Leads	Home equity leads – people utilising the part of the home that they’ve already paid for – are typically seeking to figure out their equity and financial services that can help them leverage their equity as collateral (e.g., home equity loans, home equity line of credit, cash-out refinancing, etc.).
Downsizing and Upsizing Real Estate Mortgage Leads	Downsizing and upsizing residential mortgage leads – those moving to a house smaller or larger – necessitate an awareness of the money-saving benefits of downsizing or a larger loan. In order to generate mortgage leads that downsize or upsize, one must be aware of their change in lifestyle and how that affects their financial condition.
Reverse Mortgage Leads	Reverse mortgage leads – homeowners aged 66 or more who want to convert some of the equity in their home into cash, mostly for financing their golden years – tend to be most interested in the qualifications for eligibility, risk considerations, and sometimes how a reverse mortgage will affect their non-borrowing spouse as well.
Government Loan Leads	Government-backed mortgage loans – those that are leveraging their special status (e.g., veterans or low-credit borrowers) into a better mortgage loan – are looking for a good way to take advantage of their situation and information regarding government loan programs like Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, Forces Help to Buy, or the Rural Housing Enabler programs.

The above is not an exhaustive list; there are jumbo loan leads, construction loan leads, non-resident leads, self-employed borrowers, bad credit leads, bridge loan leads, and mortgage protection leads, and other categories of mortgage seekers. If the buyer you prefer is not in our shortlist, do perform your own due diligence on him before you work on your USP.

Discussing which, below are some examples of a USP for different types of mortgage leads:

• First-time homebuyers: “Join 20,000 satisfied homeowners with a 99% satisfaction rate. Receive an unprecedentedly low 3.5% first-time home buyer loan and save up to £3,000 on closing costs.”
• Mortgage refinance leads: “Save as much as 30% on your mortgage payment with our Refinance Saving Analyser. Reduce your mortgage interest rate to an affordable 2.9% and get a personal refinance manager for a smooth refinance experience.”
• Property investment leads: “Double your rental returns and capitalise on pre-market investment deals to be one of the 6,000 satisfied commercial property investors.”

Make sure your USP explicitly states why a particular mortgage lead should choose you above other lenders. In the process, however, finding your dream buyer will not necessarily cost you other clients – it simply allows you to specialise and play to your strengths.

Step 3. Create an Appealing Website With Focused Landing Pages

To generate mortgage leads online, you need to have a home base where you describe everything your potential customers will want to learn and have all they will ever require, all while showcasing your USP.

Your website needs to resonate with your target buyer, be well-designed and appealing, and you can do it with purposeful landing pages.

Step 4. Hit Them With Catchy Emails

With a mere 20% of mortgage leads opening incoming emails and a forecasted CTR of about 3%, good ol’ email marketing is your number one lead gen priority. That said, mortgage lead email campaigns will be slightly different from the standard due to the complexity of mortgage products and high financial commitment.

Here are the nuances to consider for your email marketing campaigns for mortgage leads:

• Concentrate on educational content
• Regulatory requirement compliance
• Long-term nurturing amid a long sales cycle

It’s even more preferable if you’ve got other channels of marketing like webinars, offline marketing, and social media combined with email campaigns.

With that, we will not go further into more specifics of email marketing because we have covered most of its specifics in our blog.

One more thing that is noteworthy here, before we move ahead, is the AMP technology behind enabling an interactive experience in the email. With AMP emails, you can display the current mortgage interest rates and allow customers to buy directly from you in the email without needing to redirect them to your website.

Step 5. Leverage Social Media

Promotion on social media, together with synchronising it with email marketing, is among the safest ways to generate mortgage leads. You only need to learn what social media platforms depict which audiences and what advertising tools you have at hand to reach them.

Here’s the distribution of mortgage leads on social media:

	Popularity Among Mortgage Leads	Buyer Persona	Types of Advertising
Facebook	High	Homeowners of every age group and varied interests	Targeted ads, display sponsored posts
LinkedIn	Moderate to High	Experts of all age groups in need of financial advice and property services	Sponsored content, message ads, display ads
Instagram	Moderate	Visual-driven aspiring homeowners aged primarily 18-34	Sponsored posts, stories & IGTV ads, influencer advertising
X (former Twitter)	Moderate	News-focused homeowners of every age bracket and wide-ranging interests	Promoted tweets, targeted ads, and event targeting
YouTube	Moderate	Video-focused home owners of all age groups and interests	Video ads, display ads, sponsored & influencer content
TikTok	Low to Moderate	Trend-conscious homeowners aged 18-24	In-feed ads, influencer content, and branded hashtag challenges

The safest platforms to concentrate on when generating mortgage leads are Facebook (has the widest coverage), LinkedIn (massive potential for generating financial advisor leads), YouTube (video content is spreading like wildfire), and Instagram (pictures are all available). But again, that depends on your core offering and the instruments at your command.

The following are some instances of generating mortgage leads on social media:

Example 1 – Generating Mortgage Leads with Engaging Financial Content on TikTok:

@mortgagewithmrazek 👀 #SephoraConcealers #DrPepperTuitionContest #mortgage #mortgagewithmrazek ♬ CARELESS WHISPER X PONY BY ALTEGOMUSIC – ALTÉGO

Example 2 – Using Storytelling on YouTube for Generating Financial Leads:

Example 3 – Creating Mortgage Leads on Facebook:

Example 4 – Mortgage Lead Generation via Influencer Content on Instagram:

 

Step 6. Implement a Referral Program

B2B referral programs have always proven successful, as referral leads convert at 30% higher rates than leads generated from any other channel of marketing.

The significant advantage of a referral program for mortgage leads is the networking that it enables. Since the mortgage industry is so closely entwined with high-ticket niches like banking, insurance, and real estate, you can get all these customers for free and partner with professionals to optimise your referral traffic.

To generate mortgage leads through a referral program, ensure that:

• You provide flexible rewards. Instead of offering one lump cash reward to everyone, include the full scope of rewards: discounts, gift cards, tiered rewards, special membership, etc. Have all your referrers find an appealing option to select.
• Follow the rules. Make the referring process as simple as possible and follow the rules in respect of fees and kickbacks – for example, the UK’s Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs).
• Track your referrers. Make sure the attribution is correct, and your referrers can redeem rewards without having to jump through hoops.

Evidence that referral programs work is that we also have one, a four-step referral program with a 10% revenue share every month for the first 12 months of each new referral’s contract and a 2% revenue share after the 12 months have passed.

Here is our referral program in summary:

Step 7. Consider a Local Approach

Keep in mind that the mortgage industry functions better at a local level. People tend to gravitate towards mortgage companies in their neighbourhood, so you have plenty of avenues for local advertising.

The following are the three strategies for generating local mortgage leads:

Strategy 1. Establish a Google My Business Listing

Google My Business – Google’s free business profile building tool – allows you to provide useful business information to your prospective customers and Google as well. A fully fleshed-out GMB profile will not only make it simpler for mortgage leads to find out more about you and find your local offices, but it will also boost your local search ranking.

Strategy 2. Optimise for Local SEO

You can aim for popular search requests with tools like Google Search Console and Ahrefs. For example, if you’re providing loans for individuals with poor credit history, you might want to rank for “high-cost mortgage loans,” – the keyword offers high traffic and low competition, an attractive combination to take advantage of.

But it would be even preferable if you are able to find the same inquiry but for mortgage leads in your city, i.e., like “high-priced mortgage loans London.” If you were ranking highly enough, this kind of keyword (this keyword doesn’t exist, but hopefully you get the concept) would assure you of some high-intent mortgage leads.

Strategy 3. Set Up Local Workshops

Local workshops are where the age-old rule of quality over quantity comes in. Even though the offline is smaller than, say, with webinars or any other online event, workshops generate high-quality mortgage leads at a fantastically high rate and allow you to capitalise on network opportunities.

Part 2. The Right Way to Purchase Mortgage Leads and Get What You’ve Paid For

By no means is generating mortgage leads simple when it comes to earned media, but there’s a path of lesser resistance for loan officers and aspiring mortgage brokers: buying mortgage leads.

Now, to purchase mortgage leads online, you have to follow two steps:

1. Know the type of mortgage leads you need
2. Discover the optimal place to buy mortgage leads

 

We will lead you through these steps so that you can purchase mortgage leads confidently and risk-free.

Step 1. Know the Type of Mortgage Leads You Need

The perfect mortgage leads to buy should be a fit for your buyer persona and should be within a cost-effective budget. But for that matter, high-quality leads are not always better than low-quality leads; cheap mortgage leads – e.g., old mortgage leads – might get you a greater ROI as you can buy them in large volumes.

The following are the most popular types of leads for mortgage loans according to different criteria:

Mortgage Leads by Exclusivity

Exclusive Mortgage Leads	Exclusive mortgage leads are only available to one merchant and – theoretically – haven’t yet made contact with a mortgage lender. Exclusive mortgage leads vary in price anywhere from £80 to £500, depending on how the lead was generated. Exclusive mortgage leads created via offline seminars, for example, are pricier.
Shared Mortgage Leads	Shared mortgage leads are non-exclusive leads offered to any potential buyers available, and thus, they are much cheaper and harder to convert. Shared mortgage leads are priced starting from around £20 and can go up to around £100.

Mortgage Leads by Acquisition Method

Organic Mortgage Leads	Organic mortgage leads are leads that are a result of your own marketing: SMM, SEO, etc. In the case of organic mortgage leads, you can monitor and analyse their data at every stage of the customer experience using tools like LMS Sync or HitMetrix.
Paid Mortgage Leads	Paid mortgage leads are acquired through paid advertising or from buying mortgage leads from companies specialising in generating mortgage leads. A paid lead costs anywhere from several dozen to hundreds of dollars, depending on quality, intent, source of traffic, and seller.
Live Transfer Mortgage Leads	Live transfer mortgage leads are qualified leads that are tied to a loan officer in real time after the intent to buy. Live transfer mortgage leads are among the most expensive and highest-converting.

Mortgage Leads by Qualification

Unqualified Mortgage Leads	Unqualified mortgage leads are potential borrowers who have indicated some degree of interest in obtaining a mortgage but have not been evaluated according to your marketing or sales criteria. The intent and quality of unqualified mortgage leads are not understood until qualified by your sales or marketing department.
Pre-Qualified Mortgage Leads	Pre-qualified mortgage leads are potential borrowers who have already established their creditworthiness but have not been fully qualified by your sales or marketing team.
Marketing-Qualified Mortgage Leads	Marketing-qualified mortgage leads (MQL) have engaged with your marketing material but have not been qualified by the sales team.
Pre-Approved Mortgage Leads	Pre-approved mortgage leads are quantified and qualified leads for a mortgage loan of a set amount based on their credit history, income, and other financial data.

The following is the step-by-step qualification process for mortgage leads: 

Step 2. Determine the Best Place to Buy Mortgage Leads

Here’s where to buy mortgage leads for real estate agents, brokers, and loan officers:

• Lead generation companies: LeadPoint, Bankrate, Lending Tree, etc.
• Digital marketing companies like LowerMyBills
• Lead marketplaces like LeadsMarket.com

Whichever is the source of mortgage leads must have a spotless history, offer you the quality of leads you desire at a reasonable price, and comply with lead generation practices like the GDPR and Truth in Lending Act (TILA).

Pro Tip: When you buy mortgage leads, diversify your traffic sources so that you are not solely reliant on a single supplier. Three to four separate lead generators will suffice.

Run Your Own Affiliate Program

Last but not least, you can launch your own affiliate program, with increased reach and visibility in niche markets such as banking, real estate, credit, finance, securities, construction, etc.

Here’s the way you can generate commercial mortgage leads using an affiliate program:

1. Set definite terms and payment structure (pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, pay-per-sale, etc.)
2. Make sure that you are in compliance and have a proper affiliate tracking system set up
3. Offer two-way communication and round-the-clock assistance to your affiliates.

 

Build your plan today, or book a demo to see how Phonexa can help you optimise for growth and generate more high-quality mortgage leads.

Not sure where to obtain mortgage leads – from an affiliate marketing program or your own affiliate program? Here’s a detailed look at what you will need.

Convert and Generate More Mortgage Leads With Phonexa

Regardless of whether you’re generating or buying mortgage leads, you have to decipher their interactions among touchpoints into effective strategies in marketing and sales. And you’ll be a great deal more comfortable doing so from one place without having to struggle with numerous systems.

This is what Phonexa offers – an all-in-one platform pre-built for lead generators and brands.

 

Get Phonexa’s eight solutions at a single price (online price calculator):

Build your plan now, or book a demo to learn how Phonexa can help you convert and generate more mortgage leads.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I obtain mortgage leads online?

Here is how to obtain mortgage leads online:

1. Select whether you want to obtain online mortgage leads from earned media, purchase mortgage leads, or obtain a mix of organic and paid lead capture.
2. Use the lead acquisition algorithms for the selected approach, all of which are detailed above in the article.

Most frequently, generating AND purchasing mortgage leads brings the optimal outcome.

Where do I buy mortgage leads?

You may acquire mortgage leads on lead generation websites or by using an affiliate network.

Buying mortgage leads from multiple lead providers will reduce your dependence on a single source of traffic. It might even be in your best interest to seek out businesses that deal with the type of mortgage leads that you need, especially if you’re searching for specific leads like real-time mortgage leads, live mortgage leads, telemarketing mortgage leads, etc.

How costly are mortgage leads?

It will cost between £20 and £500 per mortgage lead, depending on the lead quality, intent, and source. For example, pre-approved and exclusive mortgage leads are 20 times costlier than shared leads.

How do you most effectively get mortgage leads?

The best way to obtain mortgage leads depends on whether you can get mortgage leads for free through earned traffic channels or if you have to buy mortgage leads. Usually, buying mortgage leads AND generating organic leads get the best outcome.

What are the most effective mortgage leads for loan officers?

Theoretically, the most effective mortgage leads for loan officers are pre-approved exclusive mortgage leads because they will be more likely to convert. Practically, however, even the cheapest shared leads or aged mortgage leads can be a smart business strategy.