Social Media Portal

Seb Burchell, outreach and PR manager at Mojo Mortgages on marketing the mortgage broker

Social Media Portal (SMP): What is your name and what do you do there for Mojo Mortgages?
 
Seb Burchell (SB): My name is Seb Burchell, outreach and PR manager at Mojo Mortgages.

SMP: Briefly, tell us about Mojo Mortgages

SB: Mojo Mortgages is a free online mortgage broker that uses AI to ensure customers are getting the possible mortgage experience and deal available.

SMP: When was the company founded, how many people work there and how is it funded?

SB: Founded in April 2018, and now we have around 50 people working here. We?re funded by private equity.

SMP: Who are your target audience and why?

SB: Everyone. Or, anyone interested in buying a house!
SMP: What were you doing before you joined Mojo Mortgages and how did you snag your current job?

SB: I previously worked at an SEO in Manchester before going in house with a company in the healthcare sector. I got my current job through a recommendation of an old boss, and lo and behold here I am at Mojo.

SMP: Briefly, what does your job entail and what does a typical day look like?

SB: Every day is different at my job which is great. A typical day will involve predominantly me coming up with and implementing creative ideas to get Mojo Mortgages featured online.

SMP: What makes it a great job?

SB: Two things make it a great job, I have full creative license in my role. I?m allowed to do whatever I need to do to ensure we gain the maximum amount of possible coverage for Mojo Mortgages. This is the outreach part of the role. Secondly, the company itself makes it a great job. Mojo have a fantastic understanding of how to get the best out of their employees.

SMP: How did you initially attract users to site, social channels et al and how do you do it now?

SB: We build links through traditional and creative PR and content marketing techniques. Once these links have been built, Mojo Mortgages search ranking will improve thereby increasing site traffic.

SMP: What are the challenges that you?ve encountered and how are you overcoming them in what you have been doing so far at Mojo Mortgages?

SB: The challenges in building links for Mojo is that outreach and PR has become incredibly competitive since nearly every online business recognises that they need to link-build to rank on Google. I?ve been made aware that some journalists can receive up to 300 or so emails a day from people like myself, meaning your fantastic pitch can get lost in their inbox.

SMP: What are the high moments of what you have been doing so far?

SB: Since joining Mojo, I?ve secured 50 pieces of coverage online including placements from Forbes, The Guardian and Manchester Evening News.

SMP: What are the main social channels are you using, why and which are the most effective for Mojo Mortgages ?

SB: The most effective channels for us is Facebook as customers can use our Live Chat service to enquire about services/products. LinkedIn is effective also as many of the staff are frequently chatting about what Mojo?s up to. Twitter is great at highlighting where people have been talking about us too.

SMP: What sort of activity / engagement are you receiving across the social channels that you use and how do you create / sustain this?


SMP: What do you see as your biggest challenges and opportunities for your sector and the competition that you have?

SB: The biggest challenge in the sector is being the first company people think of when someone says online mortgages, or even mortgages. A lot of people are still using traditional brokers, and we?re looking to provide consumers with a better mortgage experience.

SMP: What is the most challenging part of building upon your brand presence in digital environments?

SB: The most challenging part of building brand presence is the competition. Digital PR is now a crowded space. Therefore, you must create exceptional content to get noticed, we?re definitely on the right track!

SMP: What do you think is going to be the most interesting aspect regarding content and or/social media, social networks and/or technology for the next 12 to 18-months and why?

SB: Companies trying to gauge the difference between a gimmick and something that could catch on.  When Samsung released their VR headset, I think people thought this could be the future, however in reality people don?t want to be walking around with VR headsets on their faces.

Equally, I think the same will occur with Huawei?s and Samsung?s new folding phones. Nonetheless, it?s exciting to see social media and tech companies inventing things that are ground-breaking, even if they aren?t used by the wider public.

SMP: What are your top five predictions for content and or/social media for the next 12 to 18-months and why?

SB replies with:

• Unless your company has an active Live Chat, Facebook engagement will start to rapidly decline.
• Instagram messaging will be the most effective way to speak to consumers if you have an eCommerce platform that sells visual products.
• Links will become scarcer, but more precious. Journalists aren?t linking/?no follow linking? more frequently than ever before, as a result I think journalists ?follow linking? will decline.
• Campaigns that use calculator logic will be popular. Many of the campaigns that won awards and nominations last year used this logic. Whether it?s about money, time, lifestyle, I think people love putting data into a calculator and getting an answer out of the other side.
• Things will get political. With Britain leaving the EU and the presidential elections next year, I think we can expect to see our fair share of political themed content.

SMP: What are your top overall five content and or/social media tips and why?

• Simplicity. Content must be simple and understandable for it to be shared and engaged with.
• Inform and/or entertain. The best content either educates the user and/or entertains them, it?s that simple.
• Bespoke design isn?t always necessary. Only include sophisticated design if your content requires it.
• Put some personality into your social media channels. Post a variety of content that will make your customers think that it?s not someone simply behind a computer.
• Competitor analysis and improved replication. To quote Pablo Picasso, ?Good artists copy, great artists steal?.

SMP: Best way to contact you and Mojo Mortgages?

SB: Send me a message on Twitter, or email me at seb.burchell@mojomortgages.com


SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?

SB: Coffee with a few pieces of fruit.

SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?

SB: I saw someone looking lost and gave them directions, they chose to go the other way for some strange reason though.

SMP: If you weren?t working at Mojo Mortgages what would you be doing?

SB: I?ve got this idea of a film that I?d like to make, so I?d probably be writing that.

SMP: When / where did you go on your last holiday and why?

SB: I went to Berlin in December to sample the infamous German Christmas markets (eat sausages and drink beer).

SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?

SB: Grab a glass of water, I feel more awake if I?m hydrated.

SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?

SB: I?d like to be like Storm from X-Men, she can make extreme weather whenever she fancies. I think there?s also a bit of lighting and flying involved every now and again.