Blogging consistently and strategically can elevate your business.
They say that there are no certainties in life aside from death and taxes. If I had to add one more, though, it would be the value of a good business blog. Data from Hubspot clearly supports this, with a recent study showing how companies that blog earn three times more organic traffic[i] than those that don’t. But before you jump into blogging, it’s always wise to put a strong strategy in place to ensure you gain maximum value. Let’s look at what this entails.
1.) Decide on your blog’s goal
A successful blog starts with a clear goal. While every company is different, most businesses focus their blog on providing education and resources to their target audience. Title companies would be well advised to do the same. By delivering valuable content that educates your audiences on topics meaningful to them, you will raise your brand’s reputation. Better yet, you will be seen as a trusted resource that stakeholders can turn to in times of need.
2.) Develop your content
Next, start planning the content you will create. As a title agency, your stakeholders include realtors, attorneys, home buyers and more. This gives you a wealth of topics to draw from to create educational blogs and other resources. The importance of title insurance, industry cybersecurity concerns or agent/realtor partnerships could all serve as great topics to build content around. Whatever you write, always keep your content laser-focused on solving problems for your target audience.
3.) Make a plan with a content calendar
It is not uncommon for a business blog to get neglected in the hustle and bustle of running an agency. You can avoid this problem by deploying a simple content calendar. Content calendars assist with keeping your content development efforts on track and ensuring a consistent posting cadence. They allow businesses to easily track what type of content is going out to which audience, while facilitating internal alignment, consensus and accountability.
4.) Vary your content mixture
When building out your blogging strategy, vary the type of content assets you are creating to foster greater reach and engagement amongst your audience. You have probably heard the expression that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and that holds true with marketing. While pure text blogs are a must-have for agencies, data shows that assets like infographics and especially videos are far more effective in connecting with digital-first audiences. If creating visual content isn’t feasible, add variety with text-based formats like FAQs, listicles, and how-to guides.
5.) Optimize for SEO and readability
Remember to optimize your blog content for both search engines AND human readers. Obviously, this can be a tricky balance to strike, but it is not impossible if you adhere to the following tips:
Headlines: Your headline is one of the most important parts of your blog. Use primary keywords within the title text and keep it as clear, concise and compelling as possible to ensnare readers.
Paragraph structure: Aim for no more than four sentences and use subheadings to create a logical flow for both search engines and human readers.\
Subheadings: Further increase your SEO by utilizing secondary or tertiary keywords in subheadings, which can also break up blogs for readers by making them more scannable.
Images: Don’t forget to align your images with SEO best practices by creating optimized ALT text descriptions. And double-check that your images are of high enough quality to engage readers but not too large where they slow down a blog’s load time.
6.) Metrics are your blog’s best friend
As you begin to publish, keep a close eye on your metrics to continually refine your strategy. Most mainstream blogging platforms offer robust analytics to provide valuable insights. This data is invaluable for those wanting to know the ideal time to post, where their audience is coming from, and which articles are resonating.
It’s blogging time!
In a world where marketing trends are always changing, blogging continues to be a great tool for businesses wanting a low-cost way to connect with customers and build a positive brand reputation. However, like any marketing effort, your blog needs a solid strategy to succeed. From setting your initial goal to keeping a close eye on metrics, getting a blog up and running requires several steps. Once you implement these steps, the rewards will be well worth the effort.
This is the marketing guide you’ve been waiting for.
Marketing your title agency can sometimes feel like a beast. And if you’re trying to market while also managing your day-to-day operations, that beast can become a full-on monster—like the legendary Hydra. If you remember your Greek mythology, the hero Hercules struggled greatly when fighting that creature. Every time he cut off one head, two more would appear. Without a clear marketing strategy, it’s easy for challenges to start piling up, and campaigns may not achieve the intended results, such as a strong ROI or high client engagement.
Alliant National has created The Ultimate Marketing Checklist for Title Agencies to help you navigate these challenges efficiently. With this comprehensive guide, you’ll ensure your marketing efforts are effective and well-targeted.
1. Define your target audience:
To be effective, any marketing effort should start with a careful analysis of your target audiences by following the steps below:
☐ Identify key audiences: Determine who your primary stakeholders are, including real estate agents, homebuyers, sellers and lenders.
☐ Research pain points: Work to understand each of these audiences on a deeper level by parsing their specific needs and challenges.
☐ Build customer personas: Take this initial research and expand it into a comprehensive profile of each stakeholder group. If you need help getting started, check out our full blog on the subject.
☐ Segment messaging: The last step is to customize your messages for each audience segment.
2. Develop a strong brand identity:
Proper branding is a must for agencies seeking to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Ensure you have taken the following steps:
☐ Create a brand style guide: Establish your agency’s colors, fonts, logos, tone, and brand voice to ensure consistency across all marketing materials. This consistency helps to build recognition and trust with your audience. If you want to dig into the details of branding, review our blog here.
☐ Establish unique value propositions (UVPs): Communicate why your agency stands out. We recently authored a blog on how you can develop your UVPs by crafting a strategic messaging framework.
☐ Design professional materials: Finally, deploy your branding across collateral, including business cards, social media and email signatures. Don’t have a designer? We have tips for how you can master graphic design basics and produce high quality materials at a low cost.
3. Optimize your website:
Your website is your agency’s digital front door and is often the first impression potential clients have of your business. In the title industry, an informative, easy-to-use website is crucial for establishing trust. Follow these best practices to connect and convert visitors.
☐ Ensure mobile responsiveness: People need to be able to view your site easily across devices – including desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Use our blog to begin optimizing your content for mobile and multi-device audiences.
☐ Implement SEO basics: Add relevant keywords, page hierarchies, ALT text and meta descriptions across your website. Refer to our blog for instructions on getting started with the basics of SEO.
☐ Add lead capture forms: Use forms to capture new leads and drive additional business.
☐ Provide valuable resources: Developing title-centric FAQs, blog posts, white papers and guides can help increase your website traffic. And even if you don’t have a lot of time, you can still try things like micro-blogging!
☐ Integrate analytics tools: Verify whether you have analytics set up to track traffic and user behavior.
4. Build your social media presence:
Social media is vital for growing brand awareness and engagement. Take the following actions to get the best results:
☐ Choose platforms: Select platforms where your audience is, which probably includes some mix of LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
☐ Develop a content strategy: Post educational, promotional and interactive content. This could encompass everything from industry insights, to case studies, to client testimonials. Use a content calendar to stay focused, and find further guidance on developing a content strategy on our blog.
☐ Get social: Remember – social media is not meant to be a bullhorn. Engage with followers by liking their posts and resharing their content. That’s the best way to build mutually beneficial relationships.
5. Establish content and email marketing programs:
Through the power of content and email marketing, you can increase your website traffic and achieve better marketing ROI. Here is how to get started.
☐ Create valuable and educational content: Write blogs and other educational content assets that your audience will find interesting, including title insurance best practices, trends and closing optimization tips.
☐ Track with a content calendar: As with social media, carefully track the development, creation and dissemination of each asset. Include dates, deadlines and communication channels.
☐ Use visuals: Make your content more visual to get higher engagement. Infographics and videos are just two examples of how to do this. For tips on building great video content, refer to our blog.
☐ Optimize for SEO: Don’t skimp out on SEO for your assets hosted on your website. That’s the best way to ensure that people who are not on your email list can find your content.
☐ Send a regular newsletter: A newsletter is a fantastic way to build long-lasting connections with your audience. Our blog can help get you started.
☐ Segment and personalize emails: Set up your email marketing software and start building out your lists. Segment your contacts to make your mailings personalized and relevant. Also, never spam people. We’ve prepared an article on why gaining consent for your email marketing is always a good idea.
6. Take advantage of events:
Industry events are an exceptional way to network, showcase your services and form valuable connections with customers or other stakeholders. Here’s how to approach events strategically.
☐ Find industry events: ALTA and state-specific title associations often host events. Industry calendars and social media groups are other great resources.
☐ Prepare marketing collateral: Bring branded materials to help fully highlight your agency. Bring along business cards, brochures, newsletter sign-up sheets and more.
☐ Create a promotional plan: Take steps to promote how you are participating in an event. Read our blog for a step-by-step guide.
7. Nurture your customer relationships:
Marketing to clients you have is just as important as marketing to those you’re trying to win. Don’t miss these opportunities by taking advantage of these steps.
☐ Establish a client communication plan: Develop a mechanism to ensure a consistentstream of client communications. These touch points can be added to your content calendar as well.
☐ Celebrate milestones: Sendingpersonalized communications aroundanniversaries, birthdays or transactions is a wonderful way to reinforce relationships.
☐ Seek feedback: Offer clients the chance to share their feedback through a digital channel like an online survey.
8. Monitor and track your performance:
Finally, tracking metrics is the only way to determine marketing ROI and refine future campaigns. Here’s how to do that.
☐ Track website metrics: Become familiar with Google Analytics. Some top metrics to track include traffic, bounce rates and conversions.
☐ Assess social media engagement: Just as important as your website are your social media metrics. Here are some tips to help you learn about the most important analytics to monitor.
☐ Review email campaign data: Track every email campaign as well by looking at numbers like email open rates, click-throughs and bounce percentages.
☐ Adjust based on results: Lastly, carve out time to discuss the performance of your various marketing campaigns and adjust accordingly.
Slay the marketing monster once and for all
We hope you find this checklist helpful as you build stronger, more strategic marketing campaigns. By following these steps and referencing our blog, you’ll be well-equipped to slay the marketing monster once and for all. With the right strategy, you can take your marketing to the next level and drive real growth for your agency.
Your agency won’t always stay the same, and neither should your messaging.
Last month, we talked about how you can use tools like a SWOT analysis to build a strategic messaging framework for your business. Taking this step can be enormously important for your agency, as it allows you to unify your communications and build lasting relationships with your customer base. But what happens to that messaging framework when something about your business changes? After all, the contours of your agency won’t stay exactly the same over time, and neither should how you communicate your business’s value, services and brand. Let’s examine how you can adapt your messaging framework over time so you can ensure that it remains as current and effective as possible.
Why adapt your messaging framework?
There are many reasons why you would want to update your strategic messaging framework. New business goals, adapting to market trends, or aligning with evolving customer needs and preferences are just a few examples.
Essentially, any change in the internal or external circumstances of your organization may merit a reevaluation or full-scale rewrite of the messaging you’ve developed around your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).
First thing’s first
Once you recognize a significant change in your business and prospects, start shifting your communications by developing a clear understanding of that change. The specifics of what this entails depend on the unique circumstances you are facing.
For instance, if something has changed with your business’s goals and objectives, you should meet with key stakeholders to understand the potential implications. Documenting these changes can help ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Of course, if the change is broader or more systemic, such as a shift in the market or in consumer behavior, you would obviously need to take a different approach. Conducting market analysis, reviewing industry reports, and assessing competitor messaging are critical to understanding shifts in your industry’s landscape.
Conduct a content audit
After you fully understand the change your business or industry is grappling with, you can begin aligning your messaging with your company’s new reality. The first thing to do here is to conduct a content audit. Review the platforms you use to communicate your products and services. Catalog which messages need updates and determine if new messages should be created.
Refine your value propositions
The next step is to revisit the different messages you created when you were building your initial strategic framework. If you remember from our previous blog on the subject, that means reviewing each of the messages you created from your company’s SWOT analysis. Rewrite anything that no longer fits with your business’s circumstances, while adhering to the same formula. Always emphasize your strengths and reframe your weaknesses. And be sure to show how you are prepared to seize opportunities and overcome threats.
Test and test again
As with your original messaging, don’t simply write out your messaging framework and leave it at that. Instead, test out your messages with stakeholders that you respect and trust. Consider also running A/B testing to determine which messages resonate best. By taking those steps, you will gain valuable insights into whether your new messaging is ready to go and whether it speaks effectively to the changes that have occurred within your business environment.
Finalize and deploy
Armed with your newly vetted messaging, the last step is to deploy it across your various distribution channels. This is where that initial content audit will come in handy, as you will know exactly where you need to upload your new content and where you don’t. While you don’t want to rush this process, remember that time is, to some degree, of the essence. The last thing you want is to have public-facing content that is no longer accurate to your business’s current reality. Taking these steps, though, will help you move through this process with speed and efficiency. This will set you up for success and ensure your messaging remains as powerful and positive as ever.
Have some of your leads gone cold? Reconnect using these tips!
Nobody likes to see their email leads go cold, but sometimes it happens despite our best efforts. The trick is not to give up hope, especially when there is no reason to do so. There are many strategies to reignite your dormant prospects. We’ll dig into a few of them here.
Why leads go silent
It’s important to note that leads are not static. At the end of the day, leads simply represent people, and people are always changing. Seen through this lens, it becomes clear why a lead that was once active could suddenly go dark. Agencies must continually assess their leads and adjust their approach to avoid this.
Leads can go dormant for reasons that either have to do with the business or with the customer. We will begin on the business side. When putting together your outreach campaigns, problems can arise if:
Your content is no longer relevant to your audience.
The message’s quality is perceived as poor and includes:
Grammatical or spelling mistakes
Delivery or presentation problems
Timing issues
Larger structural issues like lack of brand trust or awareness.
Then there is the customer side of things, which may include:
Budgetary constraints
Changing goals
Staff turnover
Inaccurate data
A competitor offering a more compelling value proposition
Reconnect with your leads
To begin rebuilding a connection with your leads, take a strategic approach by reviewing your marketing lists and segmentation strategies. As mentioned, leads often disengage if your content is no longer relevant to their needs, goals and pain points. Determine if your buyer personas are still accurate and that you are actually sending the right content to the right people at the right time.
After that, review your email marketing programs and ask hard questions about whether you are incorporating all the latest best practices. You may want to consider developing personalized content for future messages. Ensure you emphasize value for the reader. And don’t forget to double check that your copy is optimized for mobile!
Reengagement campaigns
Agencies can also go one step further by creating a reengagement campaign. These campaigns involve sending a series of emails or phone calls (or both) that de-emphasize hard sells and prioritize educational and helpful content. Over time, reengagement campaigns show cold leads that your agency is a trusted, go-to resource that is equally committed to solving their problems as it is to making money.
Keep the momentum!
Once you start to see engagement again, it’s important not to stop. Stay consistent with your messaging. Consider using a content calendar if it’s helpful. Whatever you do, keep a watchful eye on your email analytics. Staying vigilant is the best strategy for adjusting in real time and ensuring your audience stays engaged and happy.
Final thoughts
Sometimes in marketing, it can feel like you are taking one step forward and two steps back, especially when a lead goes quiet. Yet marketing is often a pendulum rather than a straight line. Anytime leads go cold, it can feel like a major setback. But with some thoughtful course correction, your results can soon start swinging in the right direction.
On June 29, 2007, the first iPhone was released, and the rest, as they say, is history. Flash forward over 15 years, and mobile devices have become one of the top ways in which we receive information and make buying decisions. This has naturally had huge implications for businesses. To keep up with this changing customer behavior, it is essential to optimize content for smart devices regardless of the channel you’re using. Here, we will look at how you can ensure your content is picture-perfect for audiences who are more connected, agile and mobile than ever before.
Your digital front door
An organization’s website is one of its most important digital assets – acting, in a sense, as its digital front door. Logically, this makes it a natural place to start your mobile optimization efforts. The good news is that, unless your website is a digital dinosaur, it likely is already functioning properly for mobile. For nearly 15 years, “responsive design” has been a standard practice for web developers, but it is still worth reviewing how your website’s content is rendered across a wide variety of devices. Some important things to keep in mind include:
Review your website’s layout changes depending on the device on which it is being displayed.
When viewing your website on a mobile phone or tablet, make sure the main navigation switches from every main tab are visible in a simplified format, typically consisting of three lines stacked upon one another.
Be sure pictures and videos are displayed correctly and are not cut off horizontally.
Note whether forms are rendered appropriately and displayed in a simple and straightforward fashion.
Determine whether website pages load quickly and efficiently.
These are all standard website functions that modern buyers expect to see, so if you find issues with one or more of these elements, consult your web developer to make the necessary updates.
Go channel-by-channel
After you’re positive that your website is in tip-top shape, it’s time to move on to your other digital assets and take it channel-by-channel. Start with your email marketing software. Even in 2024, email remains one of the most popular marketing channels, making it a valuable place to begin. As with your website, most of today’s email marketing software implemented responsive design practices long ago. Still, it never hurts to verify that you are providing your audiences with the best possible user experience.
Keep the following in mind as you do:
Double-check to see if you are building and sending emails with mobile-friendly templates.
Be careful with the fonts you use and keep your email content short, snackable and to the point.
Reduce the size of any imagery to ensure that your emails load quickly and cleanly.
Conduct ample testing to confirm whether your emails are displaying correctly across devices and email applications.
Keep your overall design simple by avoiding things like columns or code-heavy features.
Once your website and email are ready to go, give some consideration to remaining channels like social media. As with email, most major social media sites have the infrastructure in place to ensure users’ content will be mobile optimized. Agencies would still be well-advised to take the following actions to reduce the possibility of something problematic turning up in their audiences’ feeds:
Review your profile to ensure that each element will appear on your audiences’ screens in the best possible light. That includes using a logo and banner image whose details can still be seen even on a very small screen.
Take particular care regarding your call to action (CTA) element. As the most important part of any given post, it is essential that your CTA is visible and legible.
Be aware of where you are linking your social posts. While your social media profiles will typically render well across devices, you cannot extend that guarantee to other areas of the internet where you are trying to direct traffic.
Final thoughts
The advent of the smartphone changed the marketing game forever, with increasing emphasis being placed on delivering a crisp, clear and powerful digital experience across any device. Thankfully, many marketing platforms are designed to facilitate responsive design and do not require additional technical skills to execute. That doesn’t mean you should just set and forget your marketing campaigns, though. It’s worth taking the time to double- and triple-check your materials to provide an ideal viewer experience. That’s the way you’ll win in today’s marketing environment.
