Facebook ads for mortgage brokers: top tips for success

Curious about how Facebook ads for mortgage brokers could boost your business? Get set for reach, revenue and return on investment.

You work in an industry with ever-present demand. People aren’t going to stop needing mortgages anytime soon. The key to your business being a tearaway success is making sure enough of the demand finds its way to you. And that’s not always easy in a mega-competitive market like mortgages.

That’s where financial services lead generation comes in. Facebook ads for mortgage brokers can have a transformative impact – helping you to expand your reach and market to new customers interested in your mortgage expertise. So let’s take a look at how to get results.

Before we start…

DTI. LTV. AIP. As a mortgage expert, you are an initialism-spouting machine. But when it comes to making the effort to grow your business, the only initialism that counts is ROI. We are a paid media expert – and we specialise in financial services lead generation. We drive transformative, consistent revenue for our clients. Ask for a free proposal and we will show you how we could do the same for you.

“Adbetter handled everything from creative strategy to a full funnel media buying plan across Facebook & Google Ads. They were able to design & build a full digital marketing campaign including all ads, copy & landing pages that has been delivering a consistent stream of new customers at a significantly cheaper cost than in previous testing.”

Aqib Hassan, CCO, CPIC | Gwadar Click

Can mortgage brokers advertise on Facebook?

In a word, yes. Facebook ads can be lucrative for mortgage brokers. And you can begin getting results without prior experience of the ads platform. But to unlock the really big returns, you need to know how to get the best from Facebook ads  – without getting caught up in the red tape that restricts the way your market your services.

Finding your audience

One of the reasons Facebook can be so effective as a marketing platform is the audience profiling tools. You can target users – all three billion of them – across a dizzyingly huge range of variables including location, age, relationship status, occupation, hobbies, interests, income level, parental status and an awful lot more. 

Pull the right levers and you can be confident that your ads are served to people who have a high likelihood of converting.

Facebook ads v Google Ads: which is best for mortgage brokers?

Well, firstly: relax. It doesn’t have to be either/or. You can use a blend of both Facebook and Google Ads to drive big returns for your business. However, cost is a big consideration. 

Keywords related to the mortgage industry can be expensive to bid for via Google. The payoff is that Google puts your business in front of people at the precise moment they are searching for services that you provide. There’s so much value in that.

But here’s the thing.

You can target users on Facebook based on the profile of your previous customers. Utilise lookalike audiences correctly and Facebook will serve your ads to users who share similar hobbies, interests, behavioural patterns, demographics, psychographics and more. It analyses a huge number of data points to find people who are likely to be interested in your services. 

Facebook’s audience targeting tools are powerful. And the really good news? Across Meta’s family of apps (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger), ad impressions increased by more than a third in 2023, while the average price per ad dropped by 6%. So if you’re torn between the two platforms, there are compelling reasons for leaning towards Facebook over Google.

Pitching your mortgage services

Having a targeted audience to reach out to is one thing. But what’s the best way to pitch your services?

Find your niche

Narrow your focus. Instead of marketing your services generally, zero in on the niche(s) that you cover. Do you specialise in helping first time buyers? Or people who want to live on a houseboat? Or the serial doer-uppers who somehow taught themselves everything there is to know about domestic plumbing while raising three kids? 

When you focus on a specific area of your service – and the audience you provide that service for – it’s easier to create ads that resonate.

Location, location, location

Kirstie Allsopp doesn’t seem like the sort of person you’d like to enter a copyright dispute with. Nevertheless, location matters enough to say it three times. 

If you have a bricks-and-mortar office from which you dispense your mortgage wisdom, you can use Facebook ads to display only to people within a fixed radius of your desk. Add an incentive for people to come and see you – such as a free initial consultation – and you could find yourself with some new customers faster than you anticipated.

Make sure your creative matches your campaign

Remember what we said about finding your niche? Make sure the visual elements of your ad are in line. For example, the images that you use for ads targeting BTL investors will likely be different from those targeting first time buyers.

Softly, softly – but with clear proposition

Never go for the hard sell. People don’t go to Facebook to be sold to. Instead adopt a softly, softly approach. Think about the audience you are targeting and picture yourself having a one-to-one conversation – as you would with someone who had come to your office for advice. Educate. Demystify. Show how you can resolve the problems that your reader has, and how you can help them get what they want. A decent property, with a mortgage that won’t induce panic attacks.

Include FCA details

Facebook is strict with ads related to financial services. In fact mortgages sit within a Special Ad Category. Including your company number and FCA registration details in your ad creative is likely to help make sure your ad gets approved.

Where should you place your ads?

There’s plenty of ad real estate on Facebook. But the most cost-effective placement for mortgage services tends to be in-feed. If in doubt, use Facebook’s Advantage+ tool. 

Feed it the right assets and it will place your ad everywhere that’s relevant for your campaign.

Remember that with in-feed ads, Facebook will cut off your ad text after 125 characters. So choose your words carefully. The first part of your message should inspire your reader to expand and read more.

Test, test, test

Your ads will be made up of visual assets, headlines and descriptions – and Facebook gives you the option to submit multiple variants of each. It’s an opportunity you should embrace. 

Facebook will test the different combinations to see which gives you the best results – meaning your ad spend gets used as effectively and efficiently as possible. Another benefit of testing multiple variants is that your campaign will fatigue less quickly. People begin to get blind to ads they’ve seen on more than a few occasions.

You may also wish to experiment with both video and still images to see if either one gives you better results. Just make sure you include audio. Video ads with audio have a 35% higher clickthrough rate than those without.

Avoid talking about interest rates

Okay, talking about rates can drive action. Especially when they provide good value to your customer. But the thing with mortgage rates is that they fluctuate. And you are bound by regulation to make sure any rates you mention in your ads are accurate.

That means when rates change, your ads need to change too – which requires setting up a new campaign. When you are constantly starting and stopping campaigns, your ads won’t be running long enough for you to gather any meaningful performance data, or for Facebook to learn which of your ad variants perform best.

Rules and regulations with Facebook ads for mortgage brokers

Between the FCA, the Advertising Standards Authority and Facebook’s own set of rules, you could be forgiven if you feel that marketing your mortgage services is like running a gauntlet. In truth the rules are not as restrictive or intimidating as they may seem. And when you get the details right, your campaigns can get busy driving returns for your business – without getting caught up in red tape.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of things to consider:

Fair, clear and not misleading

The FCA is big – huge – on clarity of language. “Fair, clear and not misleading” is a phrase that appears in their guidance time and again. You cannot, for example, create any false expectations around the availability of credit.

Thankfully we live in an advertising era that’s mostly moved on from attempting to cajole audiences with snake oil tactics. But with financial services especially, anything but absolute clarity of language and respect for the financial welfare of your audience risks falling foul of the FCA. 

Restrictions on mortgage lingo

Just to hammer home that language matters to the FCA, there are restrictions on the way certain concepts related to mortgages are described. For instance, don’t bother trying to find a more creative way to say “lifetime mortgage”. If you are talking about lifetime mortgages, you must say lifetime mortgages.

Be clear about the risks

As with many financial products, there are risks involved with mortgages – such as defaulting and having your home repossessed. The FCA encourage you to be clear about the risks involved when mentioning specific products. 

You can avoid this to some extent by promoting your brokerage services in general, rather than a specific mortgage product.

Further reading

The FCA has published a handbook for promoting mortgages here. And you can take a look at their guidance for advertising on social media here.

Facebook ads for mortgage brokers: going beyond the click

Someone’s engaged with your ad? That’s great! But it’s just the start of the journey. The success or failure of your campaign rests on what happens next…

Gathering customer data: in-app forms vs landing pages

Ultimately, pay per click campaigns are about generating leads: finding people who are interested in your services and encouraging them to part with their contact data so you can nurture them towards becoming a customer.

With your Facebook campaign there are two main ways to do that: 

1. Getting your lead to complete a popup form within Facebook
2. Getting your lead to click through to a landing page on your website.

In a moment we will talk about the pros and cons of each strategy. But first…

Have a hook

You can incentivise people to part with their data by having something to give away. And that’s usually knowledge.

For instance, you might offer your customers:

• A free telephone or in-person consultation
• An ebook explaining what to look for in a mortgage
• A series of emails that demystifies the technical language associated with mortgages

…or anything else you can think of! The point is to provide something that your lead is likely to find genuinely useful.

Facebook form or landing page?

Giving your audience the opportunity to submit their details within Facebook has obvious benefits: it’s easy. Your lead doesn’t have to leave Facebook or disrupt their browsing experience. And the form fields will be prepopulated with the data Facebook already holds on them. This seamlessness can encourage people to part with their data.  

With a landing page there’s a higher barrier to conversion: your lead has to leave Facebook and disrupt their browsing experience. This enhanced cost can mean fewer leads. However, because they have made the effort to come to your website, there’s a stronger chance these leads will be highly interested in your services compared to people who gave you their data within Facebook.

It may seem like a minor consideration. But if you want big results with Facebook ads for mortgage brokers, you have to sweat the small stuff.

Every detail matters. So consider whether you want fewer leads with high intent, or more leads with low intent.

(Quick interlude: if you are really serious about lead quality – and why wouldn’t you be? – take a look at Nerchr. It’s the software we built to manage our campaigns here at Adbetter. And it allows you to see which campaigns, creatives and keywords are driving the best results and generating actual customers. There’s currently a 30-day free trial available. Take a look.)

Landing page best practice

If you are driving traffic from Facebook to your website, you should have a specific landing page for each of your campaigns. Landing pages are a science all of their own. But here’s a quickfire guide to best practice.

• Design and copywriting. Your landing page should feel like a continuation of your ad. That means using similar images and colours, making sure your logo is prominent and so on. Optimise for mobile devices and provide a compelling proposition above the fold.
• Create a closed journey. Single-mindedness is a strength when it comes to landing pages. Limit navigation options and stay focused on one clear call to action.
• Utilise social proof and trust signals. Customer testimonials are a great way to build credibility. Ideally, take your customer reviews from a verifiable source such as Trustpilot or Google Reviews. If applicable, utilise trust signals such as industry accreditations, qualifications or awards.
• Gather data. The main aim of a landing page is to gather information on your lead. Create a form that allows you to start the marketing conversation. (Nerchr can help with that too – allowing you to build fully branded, multi-step, interactive forms without any coding.)
• Remember your GDPR obligations. For your forms that means having a tick box that forces people to actively opt in to your comms, the name of the business that will be contacting them and the method that they will be contacted by. Include a link to your privacy policy too.

Facebook ads for mortgage brokers: nurturing and retargeting

Some people may see your ad and get in touch to make an appointment straight away. The rest of your leads are likely to need a little nurturing. Your job here is to reach out with well-targeted, genuinely helpful content. 

Make sure your marketing is precision-cut for the distinct audience(s) you targeted with your original ad campaigns. For example, if your lead is a first-time buyer under 30, you might consider reaching out with content that demystifies the mortgage approval process from start to finish. Show that you can provide the answer to a problem, rather than bombarding your leads with bombastic sales pitches.

You can reutilise Facebook ads for this nurturing phase too.

The first step is to remove your new leads from your cold lead generation activities. This will prevent you wasting money serving ads to people who have already registered their interest in your services, and will make sure you don’t annoy your new leads by pushing the same marketing messages to them.

Instead, create a new audience from the people who clicked one of your campaigns – and serve new ads, gently reminding them about your services, promoting consultation availability or providing a heads up on any new emails they can expect in their inbox. It’s called retargeting – and it can be a really effective way to build a relationship with your leads and make sure your mortgage services stay front of mind.

Measure correctly, measure obsessively

The most important part of your campaign is your data. Take the time to interpret it correctly and it will reveal the strategies that are giving you the most success. Then you can double down on the headlines, images or descriptions that are getting results, and ditch the stuff that isn’t working.

In many ways, success with PPC is about having the time, patience and tenacity to test, measure and optimise. Again and again. And again. But to do that you need to…

Get your tracking set up correctly

For proper, valuable, actionable insight, you must be able to track all points in your user journey, from the first click to the moment your lead makes an appointment with you. It’s not just about what happens with your Facebook ads, but every touchpoint after that too. On your landing pages, across email communications, everywhere.

And that’s where many businesses tap out. Setting up this level of tracking is time-consuming and technical. (Unless you use Nerchr – the software we built for running our own campaigns.) But doing the hard yards here can help you leverage a huge competitive advantage – while giving you the insight you need to continually optimise your marketing campaigns for ROI.

Let us make you a promise…

Too busy? Let us help. We manage paid media for clients day in, day out. And we get BIG results. In fact, we will only agree to work with you when we know we can drive returns on your ad spend. Ask us for a free proposal and we will outline a three-month paid media strategy for your brand. That’s yours to keep. Then it’s your choice to work with us, take a DIY approach with Nerchr or walk away. Let’s get started.

You should also read:

>> Lead generation for mortgages: 8 tips for success
>> Google ads for mortgage brokers: a complete guide to success