In the battle for attention, here’s how your agency can stand out.
Our current media moment is defined by paradox. On one hand, there have never been more channels you can use to promote your agency. But on the other, it has never been harder to separate yourself from the crowd and gain media attention. There are multiple reasons for this, including information overload and a changing media landscape. This doesn鈥檛 even account for how algorithms prioritize content, preventing many important stories from gaining the coverage they deserve. Yet amidst these challenges, an effective use of earned media can break through the clutter and increase public awareness for your agency. Join us as we explore the details of what this looks like!
Earned media: what is it and why is it important?
As we鈥檝e talked about before, there are many different types of media that you can use to promote your business 鈥� each with its own pros, cons and tradeoffs.
First, there is owned media, which is any type of media that you control. This could include things like your website, your social media feeds or your email newsletter. Owned media offers advantages like creative control and cost-effectiveness but also requires continuous effort and delivers slow results.
Second, we have paid media 鈥� basically media you put an ad spend behind, like search, social and display ads. Paid media also carries significant advantages for business. For one thing, it can deliver quick and easy wins for a company, but if you鈥檙e not careful, those results can come with a sizable cost that harms overall ROI.
Lastly, we have earned media 鈥� publicity you gain from sources you neither control nor pay for. Guest blogging, podcast appearances and press release placements are all examples of earned media in action. Earned media is especially valuable because it often appears more trustworthy and less self-serving than other types of media. It can also deliver tangible benefits like improved SEO and greater reach. It has drawbacks as well, with lack of control and dependence on third parties being among them.
Create more earned media opportunities
With an understanding of the three main types of media, we can look at the top opportunities for generating more earned media coverage for your agency.
Human-interest stories: If you鈥檝e ever watched the news, you鈥檒l know how effective human-interest stories are at generating coverage. The reason is simple: People are emotional beings who respond to stories of human triumph and resilience. By tapping into this need, agencies can grow awareness for their businesses.
Novelty: Stories that introduce something novel can be just as effective as human-interest pieces. Pitching about new hires, products or business expansions all naturally lend themselves to potential pick-up in the media, as does staking out a position that runs contrary to the dominant perspective in your field. With the latter point, however, never try to gin up controversy just for the sake of it. People can detect disingenuousness a mile away, which will wind up hurting rather than helping you in the long run.
News jacking: As we鈥檝e discussed, there are more communication channels today than ever before. While this can be overwhelming, it also implies that there is no shortage of news stories in which a title agency could insert itself to offer its unique perspective and expertise. This is known as 鈥渘ews jacking,鈥� a straightforward process where you strategically align your brand with a trending news topic and position yourself as a subject matter expert. When done correctly, news jacking can increase your agency鈥檚 credibility, leading to more customers seeing you as a knowledgeable thought leader.
None of these techniques are easy to pull off, but each can help you overcome some of the barriers to entry that exist in the modern media landscape. No matter how many algorithms or communication channels we create, tailoring our stories to cater to human psychological needs will always be a powerful tool for achieving publicity. Similarly, news jacking can help you turn the deluge of daily news we all experience to your advantage, enabling you to hop onto an existing story or news cycle for maximum impact.
Spread the word far and wide about your business
The media environment today is challenging and ever-changing, with contours that are far more complex and fast-moving than they were even a few years ago. For many, this can feel like an impossible burden for gaining the recognition they need to succeed in an already difficult business environment. Even so, a well-planned earned media strategy that leverages human psychology and timely news opportunities can elevate your agency’s visibility, building the buzz necessary for both short- and long-term success.
The U.S. economy is expected to fare well in 2025, according to economists from across the spectrum, with few headwinds anticipated. However, forecasters are predicting only small gains in the real estate market, as interest rates remain stubbornly in +6% territory and inventory continues to show only modest improvement.
Investment firms Goldman Sachs and Charles Schwab are particularly optimistic about the potential for growth and expansion in the economy in the coming year. predicts GDP growth will reach 2.5% for 2025. 鈥淭he US economy is in a good place,鈥� said David Mericle, chief U.S. economist in GSR. 鈥淩ecession fears have diminished, inflation is trending back toward 2%, and the labor market has rebalanced but remains strong.鈥�
Internationally, envisions consistent 3% growth across the board in 2025, despite trade war concerns emanating from the threat of increased tariffs.
鈥淣ot one of the top 45 economies in the world are expected to be in recession next year,鈥� said Jeffrey Kleintop, Managing Director, Chief Global Investment Strategist in a Dec. 2 release. 鈥淢ost are expected to grow faster in 2025, including Europe, Japan, Canada, and the U.K., according to the latest outlook from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the consensus of economist forecasts tracked by Bloomberg.鈥�
While all of this should point to an improving housing market, there are still plenty of headwinds for consumers, including the elevated cost of living in general, as well as a tight housing market that has kept prices from moderating despite dwindling sales over the past year. That is not expected to change heading into 2025.
Recent data indicators, including resilient employment and cooling inflation, point to a stronger economic foundation, especially if interest rates moderate in 2025.
The Consumer Price Index rose 2.6% through October, up from 2.4% in the September data, but moderate compared to the peak of 9.1%. Employment has been surprisingly resilient with an unexpected jump in jobs numbers in September after a sluggish summer. And although jobs bottomed out in October due to two hurricanes and several significant labor strikes, the economy quickly rebounded by adding a healthy 227,000 jobs in November.
The continued strength of the economy has allayed some consumer fears, opening the door to the potential for increasing home sales in 2025.
Consumer Confidence
Although inflation has diminished consistently through 2024, persistent elevated prices from two years of high inflation continued to contribute to consumer frustration. As job growth lagged over the summer, consumers became increasingly pessimistic, but according to , that tide is beginning to turn.
鈥淐onsumer confidence continued to improve in November and reached the top of the range that has prevailed over the past two years,鈥� said Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board. 鈥淣ovember鈥檚 increase was driven by more positive consumer assessments of the present situation, particularly regarding the labor market. Compared to October, consumers were also substantially more optimistic about future job availability, which reached its highest level in almost three years.鈥�
The question foremost in the minds of real estate professionals is will all of this good news result in a stronger real estate market in 2025.
Interest rates hold the key to 2025 housing market
On Sept. 18, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced a widely expected .5% point rate cut, saying it reflected the agency鈥檚 鈥済rowing confidence that, with an appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the labor market can be maintained in a context of moderate growth and inflation moving sustainably down to 2%.鈥�
More significantly, Powell noted that FOMC participants at the meeting prepared individual assessments of an appropriate path for the federal funds rate, determining that if the economy evolves as expected, the appropriate level of the federal funds rate would be 4.4% at the end of this year and 3.4% at the end of 2025.
The FOMC followed up with a 0.25% rate cut in November. However, during the December meeting, policymakers signaled a more restrained outlook for future rate cuts, reflecting concerns about inflation and broader economic conditions. The updated “dot plot” now indicates expectations for only two quarter-point cuts in 2025, marking a slower pace of monetary easing than previously anticipated.
Despite the Fed’s actions, mortgage rates have remained elevated, hovering around 6.5% through the final quarter of the year. This persistence in higher rates has further tempered expectations for the housing market.
In its , Freddie Mac noted that while the U.S. economy remained resilient with strong Q3 growth, unexpected volatility in mortgage rates has weighed on housing and mortgage activity.
鈥淎s we get into 2025, we anticipate that rates will gradually decline throughout the year,鈥� the GSE reported. 鈥淭he expected decline in mortgage rates in 2025 should loosen some of the rate lock-in effect for existing homeowners, offering more inventory in the market.鈥�
However, in its November Spotlight Report, Freddie Mac noted that the housing market continues to be plagued by a housing shortfall, which has persisted for years.
鈥淗ousing affordability remains one of the top economic issues facing American households,鈥� the GSE noted. 鈥淏oth homeowners and renters have seen the cost of housing increase faster than other consumer prices, putting a significant strain on household budgets. As we have documented in several previous research notes, the root cause of decreased housing affordability is the fact that housing supply has not increased enough to match demand. Inadequate housing supply leads homeowners and renters to bid up the sale price and rent of available housing, which puts a squeeze on affordability.鈥�
Fannie Mae has also revised its home sales projections for 2025, saying they are expected to rise by only 4% next year. According to the from the Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group. the downward revision to the existing home sales outlook, which was previously forecast to rise 11% in 2025, is the result of significant upward movement in mortgage rates.
鈥淲hereas previously the ESR Group had expected mortgage rates to dip below 6% in early 2025, the revised forecast now shows mortgage rates ending 2025 at 6.3% and remaining above 6% through 2026,鈥� the report noted. 鈥淭he ESR Group does expect a significant improvement in existing home sales of around 17% in its inaugural 2026 forecast, as affordability conditions improve, the lock-in effect weakens, and pent-up demand to move materializes. Furthermore, the ESR Group continues to expect new home sales to improve on already-robust levels in both 2025 and 2026, as homebuilders continue to offer buyers incentives to move existing inventories.鈥�
A changing market
For real estate agents, the volatility of the 2024 real estate market was compounded by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement, which brought significant changes to real estate practices. While these changes led many part-time agents to exit the profession, full-time professionals have quickly adapted and are ready to move forward under the new system.
In the mortgage arena, lenders have encouraged their loan officers to become far more consultative with their clients to ensure borrowers have the tools and knowledge to make the best decisions about the range of home they can afford and to be prepared to increase their downpayment to make their monthly payments more affordable.
Affordability and availability are going to be the keynote for a real estate comeback in communities across the U.S. in 2025 due to high interest rates and the persistent escalation of home prices. Migration trends may shift from states impacted by environmental disasters or housing markets that are overpriced to areas that boast affordability, availability and with fewer downsides such as high taxes and climate impact.
Real estate professionals should stay vigilant and adapt to these evolving trends within their regions, positioning themselves to better navigate market challenges and seize emerging opportunities in 2025 and beyond.
This is the marketing guide you鈥檝e been waiting for.
Marketing your title agency can sometimes feel like a beast. And if you鈥檙e trying to market while also managing your day-to-day operations, that beast can become a full-on monster鈥攍ike the legendary Hydra. If you remember your Greek mythology, the hero Hercules struggled greatly when fighting that creature. Every time he cut off one head, two more would appear. Without a clear marketing strategy, it鈥檚 easy for challenges to start piling up, and campaigns may not achieve the intended results, such as a strong ROI or high client engagement.
海角吃瓜黑料 has created The Ultimate Marketing Checklist for Title Agencies to help you navigate these challenges efficiently. With this comprehensive guide, you鈥檒l ensure your marketing efforts are effective and well-targeted.
1. Define your target audience:
To be effective, any marketing effort should start with a careful analysis of your target audiences by following the steps below:
鈽� Identify key audiences: Determine who your primary stakeholders are, including real estate agents, homebuyers, sellers and lenders.
鈽� Research pain points: Work to understand each of these audiences on a deeper level by parsing their specific needs and challenges.
鈽� Build customer personas: Take this initial research and expand it into a comprehensive profile of each stakeholder group. If you need help getting started, check out our full blog on the subject.
鈽� Segment messaging: The last step is to customize your messages for each audience segment.
2. Develop a strong brand identity:
Proper branding is a must for agencies seeking to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Ensure you have taken the following steps:
鈽� Create a brand style guide: Establish your agency鈥檚 colors, fonts, logos, tone, and brand voice to ensure consistency across all marketing materials. This consistency helps to build recognition and trust with your audience. If you want to dig into the details of branding, review our blog here.
鈽� Establish unique value propositions (UVPs): Communicate why your agency stands out. We recently authored a blog on how you can develop your UVPs by crafting a strategic messaging framework.
鈽� Design professional materials: Finally, deploy your branding across collateral, including business cards, social media and email signatures. Don鈥檛 have a designer? We have tips for how you can master graphic design basics and produce high quality materials at a low cost.
3. Optimize your website:
Your website is your agency鈥檚 digital front door and is often the first impression potential clients have of your business. In the title industry, an informative, easy-to-use website is crucial for establishing trust. Follow these best practices to connect and convert visitors.
鈽� Ensure mobile responsiveness: People need to be able to view your site easily across devices 鈥� including desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Use our blog to begin optimizing your content for mobile and multi-device audiences.
鈽� Implement SEO basics: Add relevant keywords, page hierarchies, ALT text and meta descriptions across your website. Refer to our blog for instructions on getting started with the basics of SEO.
鈽� Add lead capture forms: Use forms to capture new leads and drive additional business.
鈽� Provide valuable resources: Developing title-centric FAQs, blog posts, white papers and guides can help increase your website traffic. And even if you don鈥檛 have a lot of time, you can still try things like micro-blogging!
鈽� Integrate analytics tools: Verify whether you have analytics set up to track traffic and user behavior.
4. Build your social media presence:
Social media is vital for growing brand awareness and engagement. Take the following actions to get the best results:
鈽� Choose platforms: Select platforms where your audience is, which probably includes some mix of LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
鈽� Develop a content strategy: Post educational, promotional and interactive content. This could encompass everything from industry insights, to case studies, to client testimonials. Use a content calendar to stay focused, and find further guidance on developing a content strategy on our blog.
鈽� Get social: Remember – social media is not meant to be a bullhorn. Engage with followers by liking their posts and resharing their content. That鈥檚 the best way to build mutually beneficial relationships.
5. Establish content and email marketing programs:
Through the power of content and email marketing, you can increase your website traffic and achieve better marketing ROI. Here is how to get started.
鈽� Create valuable and educational content: Write blogs and other educational content assets that your audience will find interesting, including title insurance best practices, trends and closing optimization tips.
鈽� Track with a content calendar: As with social media, carefully track the development, creation and dissemination of each asset. Include dates, deadlines and communication channels.
鈽� Use visuals: Make your content more visual to get higher engagement. Infographics and videos are just two examples of how to do this. For tips on building great video content, refer to our blog.
鈽� Optimize for SEO: Don鈥檛 skimp out on SEO for your assets hosted on your website. That鈥檚 the best way to ensure that people who are not on your email list can find your content.
鈽� Send a regular newsletter: A newsletter is a fantastic way to build long-lasting connections with your audience. Our blog can help get you started.
鈽� Segment and personalize emails: Set up your email marketing software and start building out your lists. Segment your contacts to make your mailings personalized and relevant. Also, never spam people. We鈥檝e prepared an article on why gaining consent for your email marketing is always a good idea.
6. Take advantage of events:
Industry events are an exceptional way to network, showcase your services and form valuable connections with customers or other stakeholders. Here鈥檚 how to approach events strategically.
鈽� Find industry events: ALTA and state-specific title associations often host events. Industry calendars and social media groups are other great resources.
鈽� Prepare marketing collateral: Bring branded materials to help fully highlight your agency. Bring along business cards, brochures, newsletter sign-up sheets and more.
鈽� Create a promotional plan: Take steps to promote how you are participating in an event. Read our blog for a step-by-step guide.
7. Nurture your customer relationships:
Marketing to clients you have is just as important as marketing to those you鈥檙e trying to win. Don鈥檛 miss these opportunities by taking advantage of these steps.
鈽� Establish a client communication plan: Develop a mechanism to ensure a consistentstream of client communications. These touch points can be added to your content calendar as well.
鈽� Celebrate milestones: Sendingpersonalized communications aroundanniversaries, birthdays or transactions is a wonderful way to reinforce relationships.
鈽� Seek feedback: Offer clients the chance to share their feedback through a digital channel like an online survey.
8. Monitor and track your performance:
Finally, tracking metrics is the only way to determine marketing ROI and refine future campaigns. Here鈥檚 how to do that.
鈽� Track website metrics: Become familiar with Google Analytics. Some top metrics to track include traffic, bounce rates and conversions.
鈽� Assess social media engagement: Just as important as your website are your social media metrics. Here are some tips to help you learn about the most important analytics to monitor.
鈽� Review email campaign data: Track every email campaign as well by looking at numbers like email open rates, click-throughs and bounce percentages.
鈽� Adjust based on results: Lastly, carve out time to discuss the performance of your various marketing campaigns and adjust accordingly.
Slay the marketing monster once and for all
We hope you find this checklist helpful as you build stronger, more strategic marketing campaigns. By following these steps and referencing our blog, you鈥檒l be well-equipped to slay the marketing monster once and for all. With the right strategy, you can take your marketing to the next level and drive real growth for your agency.
LONGMONT, CO鈥�(October 24, 2024) 海角吃瓜黑料mpany and affiliate (鈥満＝浅怨虾诹镶��) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (鈥淒FH鈥�) (NYSE: DFH).
Presidio Investors (鈥淧I鈥�) acquired 海角吃瓜黑料 in 2018 and has been instrumental in helping the company establish robust internal processes, expand geographic reach, improve operational efficiency, and drive technology innovation. In 2023, 海角吃瓜黑料 created a leading fraud detection tool designed specifically to streamline the flow of a real estate transaction. This unique solution is fully customizable for title agencies and has robust AI-enabled fraud prevention capabilities. Meredith Moss, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, said, “海角吃瓜黑料 has continued to grow market share through top-tier service to title agents, backed by an innovative software platform and cutting-edge application of AI. Dream Finders鈥� announcement recognizes the value created by 海角吃瓜黑料’s distinctive approach, which prioritizes both relationships and technology.”
Chris Puscasiu, Managing Partner of Presidio, said, “It has been an exciting six-year journey to see 海角吃瓜黑料 dramatically increase its footprint and develop tools to scale and to assist its customers. Despite the uncertainty during the pandemic and the recent housing market challenges, the Company’s continued investment in growth enabled it to be recognized as an innovation leader in its space, as this transaction illustrates. “
The relationships developed over almost 20 years with independent title agents have facilitated this exciting transaction. David Sinclair, President & CEO of 海角吃瓜黑料, said, 鈥淲e are thrilled to become part of the Dream Finders ecosystem and envision an exciting future together. The collaboration of an innovative builder, strong title agency, and the 海角吃瓜黑料 underwriting team will promote our long-term success and growth into a national real estate partner.鈥�
The closing of this transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.
Please review the by Dream Finders Homes.
About 海角吃瓜黑料mpany
海角吃瓜黑料, based in Longmont, Colorado, is a title insurance underwriter with more than 700 independent agents in 32 states and the District of Columbia. 海角吃瓜黑料 is focused exclusively on the success of independent agents, as the largest underwriter in the country with no direct or affiliated operations.
As any seasoned title insurance professional will tell you, real estate transactions are complex beasts, requiring different stakeholders to share personal information sometimes across great distances. This presents massive challenges, especially at a time when data breaches seem more common than ever. What can an independent agent do to protect personal and proprietary information? Technologies like client-side encryption (CSE) offer a possible way forward. CSE can reduce your attack surface and limit liability by centralizing key management and strengthening access controls. Let鈥檚 see how it can help secure your agency from the threats of both today and tomorrow.
What is client-side encryption?
You have likely heard about encryption and perhaps even use such technology at your agency. After all, encryption technologies have been in place across multiple industries for decades. CSE is a more recent innovation. It offers users greater control over when and where their data is encrypted, and over who can decrypt this information.
How does it differ from traditional encryption?
CSE technology differs from traditional methods of encryption in two key aspects: where the actual encryption occurs and who controls the encryption keys. When using CSE, data is usually encrypted on a user鈥檚 local device before being sent to a server or shared over a cloud network. Access to this data is similarly held by the user, which means that the data remains completely inaccessible to a service or network provider.
How CSE can benefit your agency
There are clear security implications for your agency when you choose to implement CSE. CSE can help strengthen defenses against data breaches and other criminal activity. When equipped with this technology, agencies are freed from relying on third-party providers to manage security keys. Even if your network or service provider goes down or is compromised in some way, your data will remain safe and secure. Additionally, CSE gives companies greater control over who can decrypt their data, allowing them to align access permissions with organizational policies or user roles.
For highly regulated businesses like title insurance, CSE may be particularly advantageous. Title agencies are required to meet various compliance obligations, which include taking steps to ensure consumer security and privacy. CSE can directly help with these requirements.
Be future-ready with CSE
CSE doesn鈥檛 just have immediate benefits; it can also help your agency prepare for future challenges. For example, data protection laws are expanding throughout the world and the United States, imposing ever-more-stringent regulations on how businesses operate online. Data sovereignty laws are similarly growing, mandating that organizational data stay within a specific geographical location. Lastly, the rise of AI and quantum computing is upending many current encryption methodologies.
CSE holds great promise for agencies looking to navigate these seismic changes. It can ensure data is immediately encrypted at the source where it is created, thus satisfying key data protection provisions. It can empower companies to maintain control over encryption keys and not rely on providers who may be hundreds of miles away. And it provides enhanced security that can help agencies use AI safely while preparing for the next wave of cryptography advances.
Consider CSE for your encryption needs For title businesses, protecting sensitive organizational and customer data is non-negotiable. Encryption has long been the go-to method for accomplishing this goal, but traditional technologies may be insufficient for the changing digital environment. Client-side encryption offers potential advantages by encrypting data right at the source and ensuring that access is strictly maintained. Companies that adopt it no longer need to rely on third parties, can more easily comply with regulations, and are better prepared to leverage emerging technologies. In a competitive business environment like ours, those are benefits worth considering.
