Business outcomes - Brokers a-twitter

With the federal government’s first home owner grant encouraging unprecedented numbers of young people into the housing market, the ‘youth’ segment of the market is now coming to prominence.

According to the latest Genworth Financial Mortgage Trends Report, fifty-nine per cent of Generation Y borrowers will approach a broker for a future loan.

For brokers, that means thinking strategically about how to tap into this segment of the market. And as many are discovering, it means getting on-line.

As of May 2009, more than 679,000 Australians were using Twitter, a free, real-time social networking and short messaging service that allows users to send and read messages known as ‘tweets’.

Recognising the potential to reach a whole new audience, franchise group Australian Mortgage Brokers is using Twitter to both raise awareness of its brand and connect with a new generation of borrowers.

“There is a saying in the mortgage broking industry: you will never lose a loan from dressing well,” says Australian Mortgage Brokers’ CEO Paul Gollan. “We see Twitter as an extension of this. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting involved.”

Mr Gollan says Twitter also helps Australian Mortgage Brokers differentiate itself from its competitors.

“Today potential clients will Google you before using your services,” Mr Gollan says. “Our affiliation with Twitter improves our chances of being found on Google which might just strike the right chord with a potential client.”

Josh Bernard, director of marketing consultancy Market Force Digital, says the ability of brokers to develop relationships and make new connections via social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook is the reason they are a valuable marketing tool.

“Successful marketing strategies are no longer about showing potential clients pretty pictures and ramming testimonials down their throat, then asking for their money,” says Mr Bernard, who describes this style of marketing as “hollow”.

“Clients want to be subtly informed about a company’s benefits and Twitter is the perfect tool to achieve this,” he says.

Leela Cosgrove, managing director of Business Writers Anonymous, a business growth blogging site, agrees, but says companies should take care to avoid putting a dollar value on social networking sites. She says brokers need to take the same approach to building relationships as they would with any other marketing initiative.

“[Using social networking sites] is not about making money. It’s about developing relationships,” Ms Cosgrove says. “Yes, those relationships will make you money, but only if you focus on building them.”

Mr Gollan says the only downside to using social networking sites as a marketing tool is the investment of time and effort required. This is something brokers need to consider before making the leap. But for him, the choice is obvious.

“Brokers need to ask themselves whether they want to have a one-on-one conversation with entire enclaves of their ideal target market, or do they want to sink into oblivion?”