Spreading the news about your funded transactions is an easy and effective content marketing strategy.

Many private lending firms struggle to stay consistent with their marketing efforts, especially smaller operations that don’t have an in-house marketing person. There is one marketing strategy every loan originator can, and should, execute consistently: promoting closed deals.

So many lenders avoid this simple task and miss out on a free and easy way to generate more leads. You spend so much time and effort to close a loan. It takes only a few minutes to post it on social media or to add it to your next email blast.

Posting your funded deals is a good opportunity to remind the public you are actively funding loans. Real estate investors and mortgage brokers who frequently see your closed deals will keep you in mind. They may eventually contact you with a loan request, especially if one of your transactions is similar to a deal they’re working on.

Promoting your transactions gives your company credibility and shows transparency. Anyone thinking about submitting a loan request may be impressed with the many loans you’ve funded in the past, and seeing your announcements may encourage them to contact you.

In addition to origination leads, posting your closed deals may attract capital. Whether you manage a mortgage fund, sell your loans, or syndicate, your completed transactions will impress capital providers seeking reputable loan originators to do business with. For fund managers, communicating a funded loan to the fund’s investors shortly after closing would likely be appreciated, even if they can see the list of loans on the next performance report.

Common Concerns and Excuses

Although publishing news of your closed deals seems simple, many lenders get caught up in the following common excuses and concerns—and they miss potential opportunities.

Too Much Effort // “I’m too busy right now” is one of the most common excuses. Although there are varying degrees of effort you can spend to promote your deals, the simplest approaches shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. And, if marketing your closed deals helps you get more deals, it’s worth more of your time. Once you have a routine for promoting your transactions, you’ll find there isn’t much to it.

Poaching // Some lenders say the reason they don’t promote closed deals is they don’t want competitors to poach their borrower clients. There’s no need to mention the property address or borrower name. Poaching is actually more likely to occur through other means, such as from public records.

Too Many Deals // Some lenders fund so many loans every month they’d be overwhelmed with promoting them all. You don’t need to post every deal. Select a few per month, perhaps one per week.

ROI // Many lenders don’t put enough effort into this vital marketing task because it’s difficult to measure the return on investment. Many leads won’t tell a lender they made contact because they noticed a closed deal post. However, reading about a funded deal may have helped with the decision to make contact.

What to Include

At the bare minimum, here are the key pieces of information you must include when you publish your closed deals:

• Image
• Property city and state
• Loan amount
• Loan type (purchase, refinance, equity cash out, flip, LTR, construction, etc.)
• Property type (SFR, multifamily, land, office, retail, industrial, etc.)

 A piece of advice about the image: A real image of the property is essential and gives the deal credibility. Don’t use a photo of the city skyline instead; it makes a terrible impression. If you do a site visit, take a few minutes to get a good shot of the property with your smartphone. If an appraisal is done, ask the appraiser to send you a photo, or try to grab it from the PDF file. Many lenders will take a browser screenshot of Google streetview. If the streetview image is not good, switch to satellite view and grab an aerial image. For construction loans, use an architect rendering image.

The bare minimum for a post about a closed deal is commonly known as a “tombstone.” It’s an image with a few lines of text underneath. Creating a tombstone takes very little effort, and it’s easy to maintain a consistent schedule publishing tombstones once you get in the groove.

Lead Generators

If you’re willing to take 5-10 minutes of your time to write up a summary about the transaction, it will make a bigger impact and potentially generate leads for you. Many borrowers and brokers love to read about funded transactions because there is an educational benefit. Borrowers local to the property get insights about deals getting done in their backyard. Brokers get to learn about the lender and the types of deals they fund.

Here are a few tips:

Tell a story // People are more likely to remember a story than a tombstone. In addition to the numbers and property details, talk about the problem you solved. Brag about why you were chosen as the lender. Was your pricing was more competitive than other lenders? Did you close fast? Did you already have a relationship with the borrower? The relationship information is valuable. It shows the borrower had a great experience working with you in the past.

Focus on the transaction // Try to avoid stating your loan guidelines at the end of the summary. Most people reading about your closed deal will likely know about your company and your guidelines. And you can always include a link to your website.

Besides the effect a good transaction summary will have on potential leads, it’s good content that will last for years. Consider writing at least 100 words for every deal summary.

Additional details // Here is a list of additional items to include in your deal summaries to bring them to life:

• Location (If in a major metropolitan city, which neighborhood? Urban, suburban, or rural? Anything unique about the area?)
• LTV, LTC, LTARV
• Exit strategy
• Loan term (number of months or years)
• Interest rate
• Lien position
• Transaction time (How long did it take to close?)
• Were there any major challenges with closing the transaction?
• Why did the borrower use private lending instead of traditional financing?
• Appraisal (Did you require a full appraisal or did you do in-house valuation?)
• Did you do a site visit?
• Was the borrower a new client or repeat client?
• Was a mortgage broker involved?
• How much money did the broker earn?

Let’s take an even deeper dive based on the loan type used in the deal:

Purchase Loans // What was the purchase price? How much did the borrower put down? What was the source of the borrower’s down payment (cash, private investor, cross with another property, 1031 exchange)? Was it an off-market sale?

Refinance Loans // Was there an existing mortgage, or was it owned free-and-clear? What was the balance of the previous mortgage(s)? Was any cash out provided? What will the funds be used for?

Rehab Value-Add Loans // What percentage of the purchase price did you fund? How much (amount or percentage) did the borrower put down for the purchase? Did you provide the renovation/construction funds? How much did the borrower contribute to the renovation costs? Did you hold back the renovation costs? How many draws? What did the renovation project entail? Did the project go over budget? How long did it take to complete the renovations? What is the expected after-repair value? Is the borrower an experienced investor?

Ground-Up Construction Loans // Did the borrower already own the land? Did the loan include the land acquisition? How much (amount or percentage) did the borrower put down for the purchase? How much did the borrower contribute to the construction costs? What type of property will it be upon completion?

Land Loans // What type of land (infill, rural, agricultural)? What is the zoning? Is the land entitled? Is the borrower planning to develop soon? Does the borrower have approved building plans?

Where to Promote

Email Marketing // Plug some or all your closed deals into your monthly newsletters. Include all the details in the email, or link to a page on your website for more details. Dedicating an email to just one transaction isn’t recommended. Instead, include a few deals, or mix the announcement up with other content.

Social Media // Social media is the easiest way to promote your closed deals. Post an image and description on your social media platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). To maximize exposure, tag all the third parties involved in helping you close the deal (brokers, appraisers, title company, attorney, etc.).

Website // Set up a page on your website to show all your closed deals. Make this your library of deals that can be referenced at any time. Even deals you funded two years ago may be relevant to a borrower or broker.

Lender Directories // For little to no cost, you can leverage other companies to promote closed deals. For example, Scotsman Guide offers a great system for promoting deals. They send out a dedicated email to their audience to feature one deal from multiple lenders.