Blog, Finance, Marketing, Mortgage Broker Partners, Search Engine Optimisation, WordPress, Yabber

The Partner Website Plugin and Partner Landing Pages

Our partner programs are ridiculously effective, and they return more genuine 'formalised' partners than any of the fluffy 'programs' floating around the market. Overlapping with our Saturn and media programs, the initial contact we have with potential partners and introducers is virtually 100% effective - it's only after that initial contact that the effectiveness tends to drop off (this is where a broker is required to carry a meeting though to a formal relationship). What we'll introduce in this quick article is some of the basic technology support we provide brokers in order to cement their relationship with potential partners.

Towards the end of the article we'll introduce the partner article module we've trialed for three months with tremendous success. The system permits you to send your own article content, and that article content which we provide, to participating partner websites.

In a previous article we introduced the very basic partner pages on our mortgage broker website. In that article we introduced the basic partner funnel and discuss why your digital presence is paramount in attracting and converting potential introducers to your business. Discussed only in brief, the article reinforces the basic attributes necessary for a business in order to ratify a true bilateral relationship. In summary, you should have a formal business partner program that is supported by real digital assets that demonstrate your commitment to your trade, and you must introduce assets to your partners that supports their operation in a real and meaningful way.

Partner Dashboard: What we won't discuss in this article is the white-label Partner Dashboard. Currently made available to limited brokers, and only those that use SalesTrekker, the platform is something that is undergoing a serious facelift.

Partner Instructions: Every single morning we set aside up to an hour to create around 5-10 partner introductions for our clients. Some time back we recorded some of those calls (deidentified, and only recording my end of the conversation, of course) to demonstrate the ease at which that early value is assigned to the potential referrer/partner. The conversion rate for that initial meeting is almost 100%. The nature of the program is introduced in an article titled "Planting the Referral Relationship Seed". You don't need us for this program; what we demonstrate in the recording is something you can do right now with the same results.

Case Studies: In an upcoming article we introduce some of the results achieved by a few of our early test brokers. One broker spent 20-years attracting 17 partners that returned next to nothing in yearly volume; in the three months she's run our systems she's attracted nearly 100 partners (albeit with significant support from us)... and in this case our broker wrote more in 4-weeks than she'd written in the previous 12-months. In another example a broker discusses how he received cold partner enquires for the first time in his career.

Facebook Advertising: A lot of brokers come to us for the highest-performing Facebook experience in the industry. However, we advocate that no source of lead generation should be ignored.., and partner connections are at the top of this list alongside sound referral programs and post-settlement referral programs. We advocate for holistic marketing.

Just one of the tools we use to elevate the authority and value of our brokers is by way of a partner plugin - a tool used to introduce your digital presence onto the website of those that support your operation. This article introduces why we built the plugin, how it's used, the massive benefits derived from usage, and what results you might expect.

Partner Connections: Belief represents financial planners, accountants and real-estate groups - it's our model to support them alongside brokers. As a result of these connections we've formalised internal programs that would deliver our Platinum clients (a program we've semi-retired) with up to 100 leads (each) a month by way of our introduction. The technology we're introducing in this article was initially introduced in 2009 to support these corporate-style programs (and it was used in our own award-winning brokerage) but the revised functionality represents the most significant change since it was first introduced.

A Partner Program is not a gimmick,and it will only return results on the basis of a structured program that assigns continued value and incentives to those you partner with.

Note: The partner module and associated support is a big topic. Information shared in this article is intended to provide a broad overview.

Digital Leads are Easy

If we haven't reinforced the principle enough in the past, creating pathways that deliver digital conversions really is easy. Our proprietary funnel technology on your website and the periphery returns more conversions than any competing product in the market for a fraction of the cost. The challenge with broker businesses is no longer associated with lead generation: the challenge faced by intelligent brokerages now is more focused on implementing the necessary framework to support the invariable growth and introducing appropriate technology to streamline their processes and compliance framework.

As the only digital company to provide a holistic digital funnel in the mortgage industry we can categorically state that our marketing systems are more effective than any competing solution... although this digital pipeline doesn't mean we ignore the massive opportunity derived from organic or 'traditional' sources. In fact, a well-maintained partner program coupled with a sound Search Engine Optimisation program, post-settlement follow-up routine - all paired with the vast array of digital tools made available within Yabber - will always return higher-quality candidates than an interruption-style program (such as Facebook).

What is The Partner Plugin?

The partner website plugin is part of our Socium program. The plugin is installed on selected partner websites allowing you to place your digital content on selected areas of their website. You may then globally alter all occurrences of media on all partner websites with the click of a button. This enables you to alter subscription forms, lead magnets, landing page assets, videos, text, interest rate blocks, or other content in a way that isn't entirely dissimilar to the tools we provide aggregation and franchise groups. This gives you a digital footprint, SEO authority, and digital omnipresence that assigns massive value to your business that will return more conversions.

Simple shortcodes are created on the partner website that connects that code to your digital media (shortcodes are a style of 'find-and-replace' text in WordPress). Previously a landing page only feature - in that Yabber simply provided a mechanism to send landing pages to partner websites - we determined very quickly in advanced testing that partners were extremely willing to incorporate fresh and dynamic content into their website. We still support landing pages on partner websites, of course, but the method used has changed since the tool was first introduced.

Partner Plugin Features

The partner plugin is similar in nature to our Core plugin so all the tools in that plugin are made available by default, and they're available to your partner to use at any time. These 'basic' features include graphing tools, shor.tt URL integration, QR Codes, RBA rate data, and general graphing tools (all of which supports the partner article module, in that graphing can easily be introduced to partner websites). Additional tools specific to the partner plugin are similar to those provided to brokers and include live interest rate data, videos, text blocks, a fact find report (sending the client a PDF report upon completion), and various other content blocks.

Are partners willing to install the plugin? Not always, but those that recognise the massive value you're delivering to their business will engage with the program (they're usually very willing to have you send them articles). The features we provide on your partner websites is worth in the hundreds yet you're providing the value to them at no cost (and it's a default inclusion in Yabber so it also doesn't cost you anything).

The more ubiquitous your presence online (or the more partners with your plugin installed) the more funnels are created, and the more likely you'll attract clients or see derivative SEO benefits. Having the necessary technology to support your partners, and showcasing the benefits on your website's partner module, clearly establishes your value.

Partner Management in Yabber

Partners in Yabber, and their associated website(s) are created via simple forms within the Partner module. Once the plugin is installed, you simply confirm connectivity and your content will be assigned to their website (replacing the shortcodes that are placed in relevant locations).

Pictured: Shown are the panels used to create partners, and then associate websites with those partners (a partner may have more than one website connected). Once website is added to Yabber confirmation of connectivity is achieved via the 'Active' panel - this enables features.

Creating partner content is achieved by creating a 'tag' that is replaced in partner websites with your content. The shortcode takes on the following appearance: [partner_plugin id="some_slug"], where 'some_slug' resolves to content that you have defined on Yabber.

Pictured: Creating a content shortcode in Yabber. In this case we're creating a block that we'd like associated with a First Home Buyer YouTube video. The pictured example will return a shortcode of [partner_plugin id="first_home_buyer"]. In reality you may create a number of generic blocks for videos that may show active promotions or more 'up-to-date' content you've created to address current consumer sentiment. Some blocks, such as interest rate data are created once and then largely ignored. While it might sound a little confusing it's actually extremely simple... although any complexity would be justified by the results.

Any lead submitted via any form on a partner asset, or any inbound link that lands on your website via a partner, is all identified and tracked. If Partner Dashboard is used that partner is assigned to the dashboard as an external lead and all relevant notifications are made.

Your Own Article Distribution System

Some of the most important content you can share is that which is included in your partner's blog. It has a tremendous impact on SEO, on-site conversions, and it is of enormous value to your partner. However, this system is under test and won't be formally released into Yabber for a few weeks.

Pictured: The partner article distribution system is currently made available to limited brokers - generally those with more than 20 formalised relationships. The same system currently in test will be made available to general clients soon. You might expect to pay hundreds, or even thousands, for the kind of value this service delivers to your brokers, however it is all included in the standard Yabber subscription. The 'best interest duty' of marketing agencies means that we must provide you with the tools necessary to convert new business when we categorically know that those tools work.

The system allows you to create a single website blog article and then send it to all your partner websites. We're also testing a feature that permits the same articles sent to our client websites to make their way onto those partners you define in the system.

A partner might choose to subscribe to your article program, or just your social media or content program... or all of them. Either way, you're giving them value that is unmatched by those competing for their partner business.

When the system is out of testing you'll find information on the module in an article titled "Your Own Partner Article Distribution System". Those clients that are subscribed to our services before the system goes live will have default access; we're unsure how to handle other groups since we've seen significant fees applied to comparable systems.

Partner Social Media

Depending upon the level of trust in a formalised relationship you might consider a bilateral arrangement with regard to social media... and our systems permit the inclusion of partner accounts when they're directly connected to your success. Your partner may welcome short videos or other content shared to their social channels when that content provides their client with clear value, and we've seen massive success on the basis of this kind of relationship in the past.

Again, our social media framework already supports partner social accounts on the periphery, although you should generally talk to us to ensure you comply with a best practice methodology.

A Note to Clients

After the email back-and-forth we've had over the last few months with regard to features, we've completely overhauled the manner in which partner content is created and managed. The most significant change is the removal of one-click landing pages from the system as this functionality is essentially replaced by way of a Simple Panel assigned to any dedicated page. The overwhelming feedback from clients and their partners is that content shouldn't be hidden away on pages that aren't part of standard website navigation.

The inclusion of the partner article module is one that has returned brilliant results and we'll come to a decision shortly on a release date.

We've held off on the Yabber price increase on the basis of the release of this plugin, and we expect to release the stable version to clients by the end of April. While the plugin has undergone testing and is considered a stable release, you will invariably find bugs, or find reason for new features, and we ask you forward those details to us.

Conclusion

Despite providing the highest yield digital program in the industry, we don't shy away from the powerful partner programs that can introduce massive growth to your business. The partner plugin is a small component of Yabber but we've seen it have an amazing impact on existing and new relationships associated with a business.

Until recently the plugin and its functionality was protected by an NDA so we were able to protect the value of the program... although the reality is that those that share our space don't do much other than bad Facebook advertising, so we figured that there was no harm in sharing specifics.

Every business these days is a marketing agency and broadcast company whether you like it or not. The simple partner plugin essentially turns you into a publishing empire with the capacity to extend your reach and influence to massive audiences. The system provides an omnipresence that can only be achieved with Yabber.

You're in competition with every other broker in the country and it is the business that provides more value that will prevail over all others.

Featured Image: Bank of New South Wales, Warragul, Queen Street, Victoria, c1952. Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, 102 kilometres (63 miles) south-east of Melbourne. Currently occupied by Gray, Friend & Long, Barristers & Solicitors. [ View Image ]

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