When loan officers are trying to grow their business, things like more efficient prospecting and sales funnel improvement may be on the top of their list. What’s often underestimated is the power of focusing on their marketing efforts. Marketing may not come as naturally to some loan officers, but those that actively market themselves will attract more business and be more successful. Here are some ways to start marketing yourself more effectively to attract the business you need to grow:

Make connections

One foundational aspect of your marketing can be maintained through networking. Making new connections, even if you’ve only met briefly, can be a powerful way to gain valuable referrals. Most Americans today look for recommendations from their network of friends and family when deciding which businesses to work with. This means that, when it comes to marketing themselves, LOs should never underestimate the power of networking. LOs should also reach out to other industry professionals to expand their network of referrals. These professionals include accountants and CPA firms for referrals from their clients; appraisers, for a great source of local information; real estate attorneys and relocation specialists, for the proposals they can direct your way; and real estate appraisers and listing agents, to help market each other’s services.

Strengthen your online presence

Your website is a great place to start. Make sure you invest in a professional site that includes all relevant information for prospects, including the services you offer, helpful resources, and testimonials from satisfied past clients. You should also use your social-media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to effectively market your services. By connecting with prospects and clients on these platforms you can promote your services and offer testimonials as evidence. You can even arrange to add a digital ad to on the websites of real estate agents so that potential homebuyers will come across your name and be able to contact you.

Harness the power of visual content

In today’s world, marketing is largely focused on visual media. Email marketing should still be an important part of your marketing strategy, but move from text-only content to something more eye catching and engaging. Photos and videos make your emails more interesting and help to build an engaged following. You should also share visual content on your social-media pages. If you create your own videos as an LO, share them. If you find other interesting relevant videos, you should share those as well. Infographics are liked and shared more often than other content, so share any that your prospects and professional network might find interesting. You can even experiment with sharing a live video through Facebook Live where you can broadcast your video in real time for your audience.

Create and maintain a quality database

While you’re searching for ways to improve your marketing efforts, you’ll probably check in with your database of contacts; but your database needs to be up to date and accurate in order to be useful to you. Start cleaning it up regularly so that you stay organized. Check in on the prospects included. Are they still active? Have you stayed in contact or has the connection fallen off? Start eliminating the information that’s wasting space in your database. With clear and organized data, you can use your time more efficiently and reach out to the worthwhile contacts, while letting go of the ones that aren’t interested or responsive.

Loan officers are often on top of their straightforward job duties: They make sure to choose the best mortgage loan program for their clients, and they understand that the details like credit scores, types of properties, and loan amounts add up to the excellent customer experience they want for their clients. In order to keep their sales funnel working, it’s necessary to market and attract new business as well. Using deliberate marketing strategies can help draw in more clients and increase your business by multitudes.