The specialist intermediary press is a really interesting space at the moment for anyone interested in mortgage PR or marketing to brokers. It feels not unlike the social media platforms themselves. Older brands are losing some of their lustre (Facebook). X / Twitter (hereby referred to as “Twitter”) is in a state of flux as Elon Musk dabbles with trying to turn it into a payments platform. Big groups have tried to extend their reach into it via new vehicles (Threads). Minnows are trying to bring something new to the table and carve out a niche for themselves against all the odds (Mastodon, Gettr, Parler, TruthSocial…). Where should a marketing director trying to prioritise their efforts focus?
A Mortgage PR’S Guide to the specialist titles
B&C has always been a big beast. Over the last couple of years, it has been roused from sleep. It is growing its Twitter following faster than its peers (although it’s a close-run thing). It added ~140 followers in the last year and now has about 4,300. B&C isn’t on Facebook, but has added more Instagram followers than its rivals over the last year (+120).
Think back to 2010 or 2011, when the first issue of Bridging Introducer dropped, B&C looked vulnerable. When Barcadia launched Commercial Reporter a couple of years later, I thought B&C was going to get eaten alive. The website was too crowded with too many adverts. The competition was either in print OR on better-looking sites. And yet, since at least 2016, it’s had a new lease of life — despite the launch of Commercial Broker. The magazine is, of course, utterly stand-out. Not often you pick up a trade mag that looks that… sexy. A real hat tip to B&C; I am happy to have been proven wrong here.
Bridging Loan Directory has had a fabulous year, too. It has more LinkedIn followers than anyone else (>8,600 vs B&C’s ~8,100) and has added more than anyone else, too, adding about 2,320 followers over the last 12 months. It’s had a successful tilt at Facebook, too, adding over 100 followers having started with about 2. But the real story is Instagram where BLD reigns-supreme: 1,730 followers. That knocks its closest rival, The Intermediary, into a cocked-hat. Congratulations to Clara Media. About the only thing BLD is not doing is having a pop at Threads. Perhaps that’s in the post?
TRICKY TO JUDGE: COMMERCIAL BROKER
Commercial Broker is a hard one to judge given it’s wrapped up in the NACFB’s digital presence. More Twitter followers than other specialist outlets and it’s growing its presence on LinkedIn faster than anyone else (almost 50 per cent more followers than a year ago). Just about treading water on Facebook — growing on Instragram. The NACFB’s Morning Briefing email is very well put together, too; a great bit of kit.
COMMERCIAL REPORTER ON ITS WAY OUT?
There’s no way to sugar-coat it but Commercial Reporter, founded in 2014, isn’t going quite as well. Fewer than 1,400 followers on Twitter; fewer than 100 on LinkedIn; losing followers on Facebook. Not on Instagram. Not on Threads. 4,000 visits to the site a month recently (which doesn’t compare all that well with B&C at ~33,500) and no print mag to fall back on. There’s very little positivity for me to focus on. Perhaps Commercial Reporter is dominating Parler, ThruthSocial, Gettr, and Mastodon and I just haven’t clocked it? I fear it’s more likely that the sector just isn’t big enough to support another dedicated specialist title. I don’t think it will be around for much longer.
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