How To Appeal To New Movers

In our recent blog post How to Identify Home Lending Opportunities, we discussed identifying and supporting account holders through their mortgage research process. Being there at every stage builds a foundation of trust with your FI–capitalizing on every opportunity. The next step is the big move. Targeting this audience with products such as a HELOC or credit card may be just what they need to ease financial burdens that come with a new home.

But how do you make sure your FI is sending the right messages, and targeting the right audience? What channels should you use? Simply follow the data.

Building Your Audience

A change of address should not be your only trigger to identify an account holder as a new mover, though it is certainly one way to know that someone has moved. There are also other triggers in your data to find new mover:

• Mortgage applicants and those who have recently closed mortgages at your institution.
• Account holders who have recently begun making payments to a competitive mortgage institution.
• Those who have made payments to a moving company.

The first group, mortgage applicants and those who have recently closed mortgages at your institution, should be your top priority for a new mover campaign. Also be on the lookout for account holders who both fall into the ‘Mortgage Intent’ group (discussed here) AND may have made large payments to contractors, self storage facilities, home improvement or appliance stores, for example.

Once you have built your audience, you can begin to target them with multi-channel marketing messages.

When is the right time to market to this audience?

The ideal time for a new mover campaign to begin is prior to the closing of a mortgage. This is because new movers spend an average of $10,000 on top of their closing costs1, and if you yourself have moved, you know that the expenses begin much sooner than the time you legally change your address.

Common expenses include: moving companies, new appliances, home improvements such as painting and flooring, new home furnishings like linens, kitchen smallwares, furniture, and more. The average mover also shows an increase in dining expenses and entertainment as they set up their new homes and explore their new neighborhoods.

For Financial Institutions, the prime opportunity to market credit cards and loan products is before these other big purchases are made.

What methods are available to you?
And how do you use them?

New movers should be even further segmented, because a person’s mindset changes drastically depending on where they fall in a moving timeline.

Below is an outline use case for a full new mover marketing program:

• When someone clicks onto your FI website’s mortgage information page…Equip your website with tracking to tag any website visitor, allowing you to identify their activity on your website, and then feed ads to them across the Internet.
• Within a few days of the loan application or learning they have initiated a mortgage with a competitor, send an email to the account holder congratulating them on their big move. Include a link for them to locate your nearest branch. Make sure this email has contact information for a real person. Let them know that this person will be reaching out by phone soon to see if they can be of any assistance.
• Within 2 days of that email, place a phone call directly to that account holder or lead. Make sure you have time for this call to include small talk about their move. After you have asked how the preparations for the move are going, pivot to a product you feel could help them with a problem: a zero interest credit card, a low interest rate HELOC/HELOAN, even a reduction in rate of their existing credit card or loan product.
• After you speak with them on the phone, send a follow up email with details on the products you discussed. Ensure your email has query string hyperlinks2 so you can calculate the success rate of each campaign.
• If you cannot speak to them directly, also send a follow up email with the language slightly changed: “Sorry we weren’t able to chat…” Include the offers with links to your website, so you can track if they clicked and where they visited on your website.
• Monthly Direct Mail Campaigns: If you work with Segmint, you can export your new mover audience, then also work with the USPS to purchase a list of recent movers in your area. Print letters or postcards with a friendly welcome message as well as information about your credit card and loan product offers–include language explaining that these are exclusive offers for new movers. This will make them feel understood and appreciated.
• Extra WOW Points: People have more options than ever about where to open a mortgage. Be sure to properly thank all account holders who close on a mortgage with your institution. Some gift ideas include: Home improvement store gift cards or restaurant gift cards. And always, within a week of closing, pick up the phone and call them to thank them for their business.

Partner with Segmint

Buying a home, whether it is someone’s first or fifth time, is one of the most stressful events in life. Be sure you are doing all that you can to ease your customers’ minds during this time. Find as many ways as you can to personally connect–while also automating much of the process so no opportunities are missed. You’re busy, and we understand–that’s why our clients love our solutions so much.

Partnering with Segmint to identify opportunities with your account holders and website visitors allows you to attract them to your products and services through fully automated, always-on, multi-channel campaigns. Using Segmint’s proprietary Key Lifestyle Indicators® (KLIs) you can build an audience based on behaviors, then use these audiences for your email, SMS, and direct mail campaigns. With Segmint, you have the ability to customize these communications and push them directly to the right account holders, making targeted campaigns seamless for your marketing team.