Loan officers can use social media to educate followers about the mortgage market, to be a trusted resource—not just as a way to advertise their services.

To be sure, originators have expertise that consumers need and might not be able to get anywhere else, except through social media.

The key is to generate and post relevant, insightful content that makes the application process less daunting for borrowers. Deployed correctly, social media offers a cost-effective way to get in front of prospects and existing clients—with information that can help borrowers optimize their loan choices. Or to help them better understand the mortgage market.

But too often social media isn’t used correctly, so loan officers’ and followers’ time is wasted.

To avoid that, consider the following steps that are designed to maximize the use, and results, originators can achieved from social media.

• Social media requires users to spend time to understand how it works. Some originators consider social media as an opportunity to create a forum for  personal messages and ignore posts they don’t want to pay attention to. That’s a mistake. Take time to understand how each channel works, the tools they use and how they can be used to advanced your objectives, without ignoring expectations followers have for meaningful content. Examine social networks and determine which ones are best to support the origination business and borrowers.
• Link social media content back to a website the originator owns and uses for his business. This helps ensure control, ownership, over the content that’s created. That means never post to a social media site without a link. One approach that can work well is to create a blog on the site and post a few times a week to it, and then share it to LinkedIn, Twitter and other social networks. That strategy will help generate traffic to the originator’s website.
• Originators have the opportunity to share their content with followers. Before that step is taken, be sure the post—a chart, article, photo and so forth provide value to the reader; remember it reflects on the originator and his business. So, work to make every post strong and analyze, if it meets the following criterion: educational, useful and engages readers.
• Originators need to answer questions and respond to comments from followers they receive through social media channels. Too often, they’re not interactive enough, even if they do have a presence online. That doesn’t mean sitting in front of a computer. It does mean, however, that when a follower “likes” an educational video on LinkedIn, he deserves a thank you for doing so. Be available, active and engaged. Followers will notice and appreciate the effort.

Remember, with strong content that puts the needs of followers first, originators have a chance to become online influencers. To attain that objective, requires content that resonates with users, is educational, engaging and objective. Above all, over time become a trusted resource to followers.