I wouldn’t say I liked school. I hated it. I was an extremely average student and never learned well in that environment. I don’t love this terminology either, but I’m more of a “doer.” Go-getter. Make it happen. Fail quick. Take your lumps type of learner. So, an overwhelming feeling of being stuck in a classroom came over me as I sat in the lecture hall (ballroom) at Housing Wire Annual for the Marketing Leader Success Summit. Maybe change the word “Leader” to “Innovator” – and create a cool acronym…MISS. Housing Wire MISS. Just an idea.
Class started with an introduction from Housing Wire’s Jennifer Laws and Clayton Collins. Clayton provided great insight into Housing Wire’s marketing and current demographics. Clayton is a coddamn sweetheart, and his knowledge of housing and mortgage is extremely impressive. Even more so, the Housing Wire MISS…has been rocking out since 2018. He mentioned the specialized nature of mortgage marketing, and I believe that to be 1000% true, the mortgage industry in both tech and lending needs marketing professionals than ever. According to Clayton and Harvard Business Review – Companies that have bounced back from previous recessions usually did not cut their marketing spend, and in many cases, increased it.
So, I checked out most of the sessions but was interrupted by client meetings, work, and shit. I did get to check out Tamsen Webster, who had an odd obsession with leeches and Star Wars, but it was delightful. She spoke a lot about the stuff we teach at Art Vs. Math, but she got me with one line. Honestly, that is all it takes when attending lectures. Of course, you will hear shit that you already know, but you must look for the gold. Anyway, the line is, every decision has a story. We talk much about storytelling in marketing, but this golden truth is powerful. There is a reason we purchase, get married, get divorced, buy a house, or quit a job. The understanding of the decision also having a narrative is how we can tell better stories to connect to our audiences. Good stuff.
100K Social Media Followers
The 100K Follower Social Media class was full of social media giants that boast massive Instagram audiences and have learned to make social media a part of their business development process. All did a great job providing insights into how they have achieved these followings, and all distinguished themselves, which was apparent by their audacious personalities. Doug Wilber, CEO of Denim Social, provided some practical ideas about developing a social media audience. One is to start now, be patient, and be consistent. I could tell he had been singing the same tune for many years to help mortgage professionals (or whomever). They are a tough crowd.
The Future of Marketing in the Mortgage Industry
Future of Marketing was a collection of great marketers as well. They all work in a mortgage and real estate business, but this was a challenging panel. Mainly because we have no fucking idea what the future of marketing holds for the mortgage industry. Most are still getting the best results through email marketing and conferences. There are a lot of great marketing strategies and stories to tell to infuse a dose of 2022 marketing into the mortgage space, but the audience (according to Tamsen) must be willing to consume it. This includes the delivery method. We have quite a few loan officers still licking stamps.
Scottsdale, Arizona, is beautiful, hot, and three hours behind Indianapolis. I thought it was two hours behind—a long story about my calendar. Anyway, The Housing Wire Annual MISS was a solid way to spend a Monday morning. Tomorrow there is more school, and I will make sure I put my listening ears on.