Social Media Project

The ad is looks good but clicking thru to the website is a big turnoff. By the time millennialsare ready to make a home purchase they will need more than just symbols. Take a look at websites that target millennials. Websites for banks & Mortgage. Examples below.

Notice the photos, with live people in it combined with limited text. Their is a big disconnect on the website. All sites have real people, of different backgrounds. Appeals to different demographics which needs to be taken into consideration. The people are all doing something in each picture. Just some ideas that come to mind that may help you.

Here is one National Name Bank.
Chase has changed the land page recently and has the visual appeals, plus take a look at the top 5 sections on the page. You can see how it shows young couples at a ATM Machine, They show a home with a women and the property bothers. Granted you are not going to use those celebrities but it gives you a idea on the layout. Here is another one Notice the smart phone spitting money out to a shopper. They are appealing and more than just a symbol.

Here is a local one that just changed in the past few months. Investors bank out of NY and NJ. - Here is a link. https://www.myinvestorsbank.com/ - Notice the https in all the home pages.

Quick look at Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans shows the a person throwing a golf ball in the air on a course with a phone in his hands.

Lets try and break down the pieces a bit here... There are MANY studies that indicate that upwards of 30% of Millenials live at home... So, your headline is null and void right off the bat. "Tired of living with your parents?" might be a start but maybe a bit cynical - maybe. But how about "Where you aware that a Mortgage payment is less then a monthly rental payment?" and I think you start heading in the right direction.

The symbolism of your image.. the hand shake... Millenials parents did and do business that way... Maybe a two hands "Pounding it out" may be more target appropriate.

So I am sure you are aware, with your experience.. there has to be a connection between the landing page and click bait. Usually the headline no? I get what you are doing with the symbols thing.. but there is MANY MORE studies indicating that symbols unto themselves are not motivating enough to create an action.

So then we get into "One Stop Home Buying" ( <-- this is corrected spelling "homebuying" is not a word - "HomebuyER" is "HomebuyING" is not ) and then "we make it easy".. ok off to the lander we go... there are 4 options; Home Hunter, Pre-Approval, Insurance, and Title. easy just bought a ticket to Disneyland and has left the building.... which one do I chose?

There are kinda only 2 of those choices to be made... have you found a home you want to buy? or need help finding your ideal home?

With no clear direction of where to start.. the landing page is going to give you zero results.. nothing is saying "Click Me" let alone "Click Me Now"

Something to "Try", keeping the current lander format... place a big fat #1, #2, #3 and #4 on each of the corresponding pieces. This will reinforce "Easy". There will be a more concise direction of what to do on the page. and we can hope a better conversion rate.

Aside from that, go with what you know to work, because when it comes right down to it, regardless of the Demographic target it terms of funnel conversion is pretty universal. A solid Ad, A solid lander with great call to action, A solid form, that mitigates friction by leaving an offer to call, or to leave the information there. ( forms with 2 options of contact out perform single focused offers. )

You can persuade the use of the form by setting limits to the phone calls. Monday through Friday 10 am to 1 pm. The option is then there to contact with that method, BUT Millenials want what they want when they want it, and will fill out the form.

Best of luck

Whether you're dealing with millenials or old codgers like me, buying a home is still a likely six-figure purchase. It's not the same as clicking a symbol to get a #6 at Mickey D's.

And unless someone is a professional flipper or investor, buying a home is likely to be a rare occurrence is someone's life. I'm 60, and I've only bought three homes.

So you still have to lead people by the hand. Savidge4's idea of adding numbers to the symbols is a good start. You might want to also add one of those question mark symbols which, when clicked, pops up a short explanation of what the viewer will find when they click.

Another thing...if you have any trust elements you can add, do it. Rocket Mortgage has credibility built in with its connection to Quicken Loans. Even something as simple as a blurb that says 'we have over xx years of combined experience in this market' will help.

We are in a hot market. Listings get offers within hours and close in days....

Hey Ron,

Good for you, taking action. (That's already more than a lot of people do these days)

I've got a little advice for you. You may (or may not) appreciate what I'm about to say, but it's sincerely meant to help you.

Now, I don't know what your numbers are (For starters... how "many" clicks have you gotten, out of 4000 impressions? How many visitors are clicking through to a secondary page on your site, compared to bouncing right away? how long is anyone staying on your site?) These questions can help give you some insights.

Also, (other than simply saying "millennials") I don't know who your target market is. (Married? Single? Income level? Education level? Are they just thinking about a home, or are they actively looking to buy one?)


But without knowing any of that, here's my first impression from what I do see (and this is the part that may sound a little harsh, but it's meant to help you) ...


For starters... There's a stone cold disconnect between your ad, and your landing page. There's no congruency. No flow from one stage to the next. (or as JohnMcCabe has said on other threads) There's no "scent trail" letting people know they're still on the same path.

Your ad looks like it's attracting a more professional type viewer. With the two men shaking hands (one of them is even wearing a suit, by the looks of it) and there's a middle class home in the background.
The ad gives a certain impression of your company, that attracts a certain type of interested audience.

But then I go to your webpage... and it looks like it was created by a totally different company. For a totally different audience.


The audience that's attracted to your ad, will not likely be attracted to your website (and vise-versa)


I'm not saying which brand story you should tell with your business, Ron. But I am recommending you "pick one" and stay consistent with it.

Congruency is critical for maintaining trust. And consumer trust is the real currency of your business.


Now, I don't want to confuse you with too many moving parts here, but here's a simple little formula you can think about, when creating the path for your visitors. (This is just a basic breakdown of the process, but hopefully it gives you some general guidance to consider)...

C = M + CV + T + I - F(A)

Conversion (or probability of conversion) = Motivation (of the visitor) + Clarity of the Value you provide + Trust + Incentive to take action - Friction (and/or Anxiety) of the process.



Right now, you're starting with Motivation from the visitor (I'm interested enough to at least click on your ad) And you have some Clarity of Value in the ad itself (i.e. helping me to easily buy a home)

But then I hit your webpage, and it's like I landed in a completely different world. Now I'm instantly confused.

As a potential home buyer, I followed a professional looking ad, but I landed on a website that looks elementary.

And I'm wondering... Is this the same company who created the ad? Did I click on the wrong ad? Something is not congruent here.

I'm getting confused, and my buying journey is being derailed.

So now we just took a step backward, and erased the "Clarity," while adding the "Friction" of confusion to the process. (trust, and incentive to take action, never even had a chance to show themselves)

GAME OVER.


I hope that all makes sense to you?

Again, Congruency is critical for gaining, and maintaining trust. Especially when you're dealing with purchases in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, range.



OK, this post is getting a bit long, so I'll finish it off with one more little piece of (wisdom?) for you...


Savidge and John already mentioned it, so I won't spend a lot of time hammering a nail that's already been sunk.

But If you do decide to keep your website, with the format it currently has, then you really need to improve (or more accurately, "include") some directions.

Your ad says "we make it easy."

Well, making it "easy" means you're either going to do it for me, or at least you're going to take me by the hand and guide me along my journey.


Right now I'm looking at your site, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do next?

I know you say that you want to stick with mostly symbols. But a couple of "action" verbs near those symbols, can go a long way towards getting some "action" from your visitors.

Never assume your visitors know (or care) about your company the same way you do.

If you make them think too hard, just to do business with you... most people will simply click away, and look for someone else who actually will make it easier for them to buy a home.



Anyway, Ron, I hope my short novel of a reply here helps give you some insight, into making your sales process flow more smoothly for your visitors.

Just remember...

From your advertisement... to your sales funnel... to your follow up marketing...

A consistent (congruent) message will help you build trust among your audience. Which ideally will bring higher conversion rates for you.


All the best,
SAR

I have to ask for help like this because I do not know anything. I did the sample ad but the client actually decided to use the house puzzle or the company logo as the ad photo, so it look different but the text on the ad is essentially the same. I originally wanted names on pieces of the house, i.e. realtor, mortgage broker, etc but that was eliminated in the final iteration.

We are in a hot market here, houses get contracts in less than a day on the market, it's kind of crazy here, so it is a large purchase but they are getting snapped up fast.

The ad performance is as follows - for a different ad: 3350 impressions 42 clicks, limited budget. Over on GA, we have 158 visits to the home page, 33 to the realtor, 10 to the insurance, 8 to the title guy, and 6 to the mortgage broker. 5 each to about and social. Behavior flow shows 120 sessions to the main page which 24 go to the real estate, 3 to about, 2 to insurance, 1 to title and 1 to social for those that land on the home page. People are coming, some proceed on, no one submits. That's a little data for everyone based on what I know, observed, and pulled up.

As people have said, there's a big disconnect between the ad and the landing page.

But what I want to mention is millennials. There are no millennials. There are millennials who would love to own but think their credit scores are too low; millennials who think they can't afford; millennials who don't have a lot of money for the down payment, etc.

Why rent when you can own might be intriguing enough to click, but you don't address any of their concerns.

They get to the landing page and then what? Where do you tell them you can help them get a mortgage even if their scores are low, that you can help them get a mortgage with a measly 3% down?

I think you should run several ads, one for each reason they have for not buying.

It's fine that you're a consortium of real estate professionals but most people who keep renting are not stopped because they don't have all the professionals required in one place. That should be the icing on the cake. The cake should be: we'll find you a house you like and a way to get it whether you have low down payment, low scores, change jobs often, had a bankruptcy 4 years ago, etc.

It is not working because you are not really solving their problem... Or, more precisely, there is no way for them to know that you can and will.

By the way, in my part of the world, what you have is what a regular real estate agents has. Or a loan officer. I mean, people around here go to a real estate agent or loan officer and they recommend the other professionals. How is what you have better (or different)?

Thank you. Our market is a bit different here being one of the hottest in the nation, so one idea is to roll up pre-approval with the realtor. In a normal market it's realtor -> pre-approval but here it's pre-approval - > Realtor. Realtors want to know buyers are pre-approved.

This is also valuable advice and I am very appreciative for your feedback.

The feedback was all well received and we are working to implement.