It might seem like there isn’t much a commercial mortgage broker could learn from a company that streams entertainment to the masses. However, Netflix can certainly teach any business owner valuable lessons about website and social media content creation, as well as obtaining new business, commercial brokers included. Here are some useful lessons you can learn from the streaming giant:

Develop your own content

When Netflix started, it was simply a subscription service to rent movies. Then, the company introduced online steaming in 2007, allowing customers to watch TV shows and movies instantly, and paving the way for the company to begin creating their own rich content. Like Netflix, commercial mortgage brokers need to develop interesting, meaningful content for their websites and social media accounts to attract new business.

Pay attention to what borrowers and lending sources want

Netflix uses various statistics and analytics to decide what kind of original content they should produce. While most commercial mortgage brokers probably don’t have the tools or the time that Netflix has to decide what type of content to produce, you do need to remember to keep your borrowers and referral sources in mind when working on your website and social media strategy. Ask current and past clients what information would be helpful to them, or pose the question on one of your social media channels and allow possible borrowers to respond.

Supplement with relevant content

While Netflix now produces a numbers of its own shows, movies and specials, it still relies on outside content to retain subscribers. Likewise, it’s important for commercial mortgage brokers to post content that they haven’t created themselves to their social channels in order to keep potential borrowers and referral sources interested and informed. Posting relevant articles about the industry is a great way to provide potential clients and sources with information and increase your credibility.

Netflix recently wowed investors with the news that its video-streaming service has topped 62 million subscribers, thanks to both original and licensed content. While your ambitions might not be global like Netflix’s, it’s important to remember that the content you produce is important when it comes to attracting and retaining new commercial mortgage customers. Do your best to produce relevant original content for your website, blog and social media channels, while supplementing that with interesting information from industry publications. And always keep potential borrowers and referral sources in mind. They’re the real key to your success as a commercial mortgage broker.

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