How to market your bridging loan company online

By Tony Sanchez 21st August 2020

There are few constants in the world, but one thing that is relatively certain is that far too many businesses don’t make enough use of the possibility of digital marketing to build brand awareness, educate prospective clients, and get more customers.

If you want to get better exposure for your business, attract prospects to your website, and build trust in your brand, this guide to marketing your bridging loan company will help you get started.

Challenges

The bridging industry has grown massively over the past two decades, accelerated by the 2008 credit crunch putting pressure on conventional mortgages, and the rise of the buy to let market.

As we enter another recession it looks likely interest in obtaining short term finance will continue to grow. But despite the possibilities, there are a number of factors facing the industry:

A rapidly shifting market as the effects of the pandemic continue to be felt.
The complexity of the industry, in particular the perceived complexity from the point of view of consumers, especially if they don’t have a business or finance background.
A widespread shift towards digital marketing in a rapidly digitalising world (those who move quickly will gain the most advantage).

The importance of your website

Despite the fact that the internet has been around for decades, many companies consider having an attractive, speedy and easy to use website an additional extra, rather than an essential component of their marketing strategy. This is no less true for the bridging sector.

It’s vital that visitors to your website understand exactly what you do in the first few seconds of viewing your homepage.

Websites need…

To load quickly. Google found that 53% of mobile users abandon a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load, and that 50% of people expect sites to load in under 2 seconds.

To look nice. Your site needs to be visually appealing, uncluttered, and easy to read, directing the user around the page in a logical, flowing, way.

Look at the home page for Pegasus finance:

It is well structured, there is plenty of space between the different components of the site; the logo, the tagline (which uses simple, accessible copy), and the banner image.

A ‘hero shot’ adds a personal touch and additional context to the site’s value proposition. It shows you who the business is for, and gives a glimpse into how it’s loans are helping people.

This is much more powerful than rambling filler copy.

Tell your story with content and copy

When it comes to writing copy and web content, explaining what you do is a superpower.

Avoid using cliched, meaningless phrases that everyone else uses and doesn’t convey anything specific, phrases like ‘bespoke’ , ‘market leading’, or ‘best in class’. These are all attempts to make your bridging loan company sound impressive, but they are so generic they border on the meaningless.

Instead use phrases that convey genuine value. Look at this copy from Octopus Real Estate:

They don’t use any buzzwords like ‘first rate’ or ‘solutions’.

They clearly explain who they help; ‘landlords, property developers and property investors’, and what they do; ‘get the loans they want’.

They use simple words to describe the added value they bring; making getting a bridging loan ‘as quick and pain-free as possible’.

With that phrase they convey their value, whilst also using realistic language (‘as possible’) to manage expectations.

Social media marketing for bridging loans companines

Most Fortune 500 financial service organisations make active use of social media, and 92% of finance advisors have found that social media has helped them gain new clients.

Assets gained via social media have also increased in size over the last few years, and the average age of prospects has risen as social media uptake grows amongst older (and often more profitable) prospects.

Just look at how popular financial services are on social media, according to research by Hootsuite:

Average social media followers of Fortune 500 finance brands

Facebook: 1.69 million fans

Instagram: 38,595 followers

Twitter: 168,936 followers

LinkedIn: 1,850,734 followers

YouTube: 22,896 subscribers

Your bridging loan company can use social media to:

Build awareness of your brand, this helps build trust and confidence with your audience, which is essential if people are going to be entrusting their financial security to you.
Understand the market; find out what your competitors, and your customers, are talking about. This can help you identify pain points and opportunities.
Build relationships with potential customers by answering their questions, curating social media conversations, and more.

Make the most of search engine traffic

Search engine optimisation (SEO) can be an excellent way to get more potential customers visiting your website.

According to Google Keyword Planner there are between 10-100k searches for the phrases ‘bridging loans’ and ‘bridging finance’ every month, and up to 10k searches for ‘bridging loans uk’ and ‘bridging finance’. And this doesn’t count multiple other related phrases that can all add up to lots more site traffic.

You can optimise your web pages by including relevant keywords like these in the copy you write, and publishing content like blog posts and finance guides.

This will attract potential clients to your site. A well structured website would be able to convert a percentage of those visitors into clients.

Email marketing is essential for finance firms

40% of financial service customers say they rarely if ever receive relevant marketing communications from finance brands, according to research by Yes Marketing.

Not enough bridging loan companies are sending emails that are relevant to their target audience. Email content needs to be tailored to the needs of your audience, not a crude sales technique.

If you publish guides and blog posts on your website, email selections to your email list with a few words of copy to add context.

Make it easy for your customers and prospects to sign up to your email list, with lead capture forms strategically placed on your site.

Advertising

The world of online marketing has become much more complex than old fashioned advertising.

But that’s not a reason to stop advertising, it just means the conventional paid ads are just one element of your overall digital marketing strategy.

There are many options for paid advertising, from paid social media posts to search engine ads, and getting your bridging loan company featured in relevant directories.

When you advertise with the Bridging Loan Directory we can also provide a range of additional marketing services to get your business in front of the right people and make the most of the possibilities of digital marketing.