By Adam Mohrbacher

As any busy title agency knows, finding sufficient time for marketing campaigns can be an uphill battle—even if it is critical to your long-term goals. One thing that can be a real timesaver is using copywriting templates. The 1:3:1 rule is a particularly powerful template for quickly generating messages that will register with audiences who are skimming or scrolling. Here’s how you can deploy it quickly.

Why the 1:3:1 rule?

The 1:3:1 deserves a place in your marketing toolkit for two big reasons. First, it’s fast. Once you master it, you’ll cut campaign development time significantly. What’s more, you’ll create messaging more tailored for how people consume online content today. Last month, I wrote a piece about how your marketing must adapt to the needs of distracted audiences, and the 1:3:1 rule is a terrific strategy for doing so.

Your 1:3:1 playbook

So, how do we put the 1:3:1 rule into practice? It’s a wonderfully simple copywriting formula that involves three main components:

• Begin by crafting your hook. This part of the rule should be about 15-20 words and quickly and clearly cover 1.) what people are going to get, 2.) how fast or easy they will get it and 3.) hint at the additional proof points you will offer further down the line.
• Next, offer your proof points—short, simple, declarative sentences free from jargon that back up your hook.
• End your copy with a strong, enticing call to action (CTA) that’s clear and invites your audience to take the next step. You want this to be as short and punchy as possible.

Avoid these common pitfalls

To use the 1:3:1 rule effectively, avoid a few common mistakes. First, always remember that outcomes trump adjectives. Don’t describe your products or services’ qualities; describe what they can actually do for your customers. Next, try to adhere to the word limits I have outlined here as much as possible. I can’t emphasize enough how much people skim rather than read these days when browsing online. If you create a bunch of bulky copy, I can guarantee you will lose people. And then finally, you must make your CTA count. Make sure it ties directly to your proof points and initial offer. Be descriptive, but not wordy. Whatever you do, avoid generic CTAs like “Learn More.” Tell people what will happen when they decide to give you a click.

Faster more effective marketing

One to hook, three to sell and one to close: that’s the way to faster and more efficient marketing. In a world of endless tasks but finite time, using templates like the 1:3:1 rule can be a lifesaver. They ensure you can push out important marketing messages, avoid bogging down your team and turn skimmers into clickers all in one fell swoop.  

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By Adam Mohrbacher

In marketing, we talk a lot about putting together collateral and optimizing for different channels. These are undeniably important marketing activities, as they bring potential customers to your agency’s website. Yet equally important are the steps you take to prepare your website for their arrival. After all, you don’t bring customers to your website just for the fun of it. You want them to take specific action, usually conversion. Here’s how you can go about tailoring your site to best facilitate that goal.

The simpler, the better

The first way you can start tweaking your site for more conversions is by simplifying the overall experience for your potential customers. Prospects should never need to click more than one to three times to find what they need. Using simple layouts and a clean, crisp design can go a long way here toward creating strong customer journeys.

Clear and consistent CTAs

Unsurprisingly, another great way to start getting more conversions is to spell out what you want your web visitors to do by utilizing clear, consistent and obvious calls to action (CTAs). Always place them above the fold to ensure maximum visibility and utilize distinctive colors or shapes to draw contrast and capture attention. Don’t just do this once either. Repeat your strategic CTAs where appropriate throughout your site.

Creating trust and credibility

The buyer’s journey can be broken down into three distinct stages: Attention, Consideration and Conversion. When you get people to navigate to your website, you have already satisfied the attention stage. You must next guide them through the consideration stage by bolstering your agency’s trust and credibility. Strategically utilizing testimonials, case studies, customer success stories and more on your site can help seal the deal and convince prospects that you’re the best option to meet their needs.

Ensure mobile optimization

In 2025, the average user spent more than 4.5 hours per day on a smartphone.[i] The one conclusion to draw from that is that buyers are likely going to be visiting your website via their mobile devices. These folks will expect just as high-quality an experience as desktop or laptop users. If your site doesn’t play well with their device’s specifications, it will reflect poorly on your brand, and they will be less inclined to convert.

Create conversion-optimized forms

When you optimize your site for conversions, don’t forget to improve the final step: the lead conversion form. Keep the form short, simple and to the point. Use progress indicators if necessary. And be sure to write a short, succinct and automated follow-up message that will convey next steps to your prospects.

At the end of the day

At the end of the day, your website can be the make-it, break-it moment for your marketing campaigns. By optimizing it effectively, you’ll be in a better position to turn curious prospects into cleints. All that this requires is taking a few simple, shrewd steps to remove friction and improve user experience. These ideas can make all the difference and ensure you bring your next great campaign over the finish line.

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By Adam Mohrbacher

No matter what your industry is, marketing can feel like a juggling act. You’ve got to nail your key messages, define your target audience, and ensure alignment between collateral, branding and larger organizational goals. To put it another way, it’s a lot of balls to keep in the air. Working in a heavily regulated industry throws another variable into an already very complicated mix.

Regulatory Considerations

First, let’s understand some of the regulatory considerations for marketing in the real estate settlement services and title industries. One important area is co-branding and co-marketing service agreements. The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) explicitly prohibits any arrangement where a “fee, kickback, or thing of value” is exchanged for referrals of settlement service business; for example, among the many pitfalls to watch out for, it is important that your contribution to the shared cost does not appear to be supplementing or providing free advertising to a potential referrer. Carefully structuring shared advertising or promotional efforts is essential to avoiding regulatory risk.     

RESPA is a federal law, but title agencies must also be sure to adhere to state-specific laws and regulations, most of which either mirror RESPA or go beyond it with additional rules around marketing practices. These state laws can add nuances beyond RESPA requirements, so understanding your state’s laws is also extremely important.

Establishing effective workflows

Given the regulatory complexity, title agencies — particularly smaller, independent ones — need to be strategic when establishing effective marketing workflows. Often, that means standardizing as many processes as possible so your team can focus exclusively on being creative. Here are a few ways to do just that:

• Collaborate early: Bring whoever handles compliance for your agency into the marketing conversation early in the campaign lifecycle. Doing this ahead of time makes sure marketing ideas align with RESPA and state-specific rules well before time and resources are spent on campaign development.
• Document everything: Whenever you create co-marketing agreements or joint promotional materials, it is essential to document to demonstrate compliance.
• Clarify your procedures: If you have numerous people working on marketing initiatives, then having strong review and approval processes is a must. It is important to also take the time to train your marketing personnel to establish consensus and reduce friction.
• Use templates: Creating marketing templates that are approved by your compliance department can be a good strategy for eliminating regulatory gray areas and expediting timelines.

Common pitfalls to avoid

Equally important to standardizing your processes, though, is simply knowing the common ways agencies run afoul of compliance rules:  

• Think small: When co-marketing, even small gifts or expenditures can be considered as things of value under RESPA.
• Train your team: Everyone who touches your agency’s marketing processes should be trained on regulatory basics.
• When in doubt, seek professional help: RESPA and state compliance are complicated areas of law. If you ever have any doubts, it’s best to contact an attorney with RESPA expertise.

Calm, cool and compliant marketing

As anyone who has done it before can tell you, marketers, at the end of the day, are jugglers. Every campaign has many moving parts, so many, in fact, that compliance concerns can be what causes you to drop one or several balls. Robust collaboration, documentation and standardization can help mitigate these risks, ensuring your marketing is calm, cool and compliant.

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Get more of your agency’s stories placed with these best practices.

In the history of marketing and public relations, few tools have been as important as media pitches. Historically, well-written pitches to journalists have been a reliable way to unlock earned media attention and publicity. Of course, pitching journalists in 2025 looks different than it used to. Rapid advancements in technology and shifts in the news industry have transformed the media landscape, rendering many of the old methods obsolete. Market changes in the news industry have completely reshaped media relations as well, creating new pressures for those who want to get their stories placed. Let’s break down how you and your agency can navigate this complex landscape effectively and start gaining more valuable coverage.

Pitching Journalists: A Brief History

To properly contextualize how you can effectively pitch journalists today, it can be helpful to take a brief look back at what was once best practice. In the 1980s and 1990s, media relations often relied heavily on cold calls and faxed press releases to reach journalists. In the 2000s, however, everything changed with the digital revolution. Emails replaced faxes. Press releases took a back seat to short, direct email pitches. And media databases streamlined distribution lists, making it easier to target reporters.

The rise of social media and content marketing in the 2010s caused further disruption, allowing professionals to engage with journalists directly and even promote their own social media content.

Media relations today

In the 2020s, things have once again changed. The explosion of digital publishing has constricted newsrooms and caused outright closures. Local press, for instance, has been decimated by these market dynamics, with over 3,500 local papers closing across the United States in the past 20 years alone.[i] As a result, the day-to-day work of contemporary journalists has changed dramatically. These professionals are under more pressure than ever, having to wade through a larger number of stories due to there being far fewer outlets overall.

How to Break Through

Considering such pressures, businesses must be strategic about how they pitch to journalists if they want to break through and gain valuable media attention. Here are some of the top ways to do just that:

• Personalization: Tailoring your pitches and personalizing them to journalists is essential to gaining traction for stories. While PR pros have been personalizing their pitches for years, past methods were often time-consuming and inefficient. New technology like AI has changed the game. AI-powered databases can analyze journalists’ past work to find the best matches for your story. AI tools can also be deployed to optimize subject lines, refine body copy, and enhance follow-ups.
• Invest in Relationships: Successful PR efforts still often hinge on building strong relationships with journalists. This can sound overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Start small by doing your homework and reading different journalists’ work. That way, you can reference previous stories when pitching and explain how your piece fits well with their journalistic interests. Then, engage with them on social media to further the relationship by commenting on or sharing their work. Additionally, attending events or webinars where journalists are speaking can foster organic connections and meaningful conversations.
• Keep It Short and Simple: It may seem like common sense, but when reaching out to journalists in 2025, brevity is key. Your letter must be short, snackable and ideally scannable. Also, don’t forget that any communication you send must be mobile-friendly.
• Newsjacking: One effective way to raise the attractiveness of your pitch is to leverage existing media cycles or news trends. This technique is called “newsjacking,” and it requires just a few simple steps. First, monitor relevant news topics with a digital tool like Google Trends or BuzzSumo. When you spot a trend that aligns with your priorities, craft your pitch and center your unique expertise at the heart of the story. Finally, get it out as quickly as possible by sending a short, punchy note to journalists who are covering the news trend.
• Follow-Up: As we’ve discussed, many journalists today are completely overwhelmed by the volume of pitches they receive daily. You can elevate your chances of getting a story picked up by following up. Don’t simply send a canned follow-up email, though.Basic follow-up messages are likely to be ignored. Instead, focus on providing a fresh angle or new data to supplement your initial pitch.

Pitch Effectively in 2025 and Beyond In the battle for attention in today’s economy, businesses of all stripes, including title agencies, must leverage earned media to stay competitive. But gaining coverage from respected journalists is not easy, especially given the evolving nature of news business. You can increase your chances of success by incorporating the best practices we’ve discussed here. By doing so, you’ll engage with journalists on their terms, maximizing your chances

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Here’s how you can take your marketing to the next level this year.

When you work in marketing for a while, you quickly realize that nothing stays the same for long. Back in the 1990s, for example, unsolicited bulk emails were the order of the day. Then in the 2000s, many businesses became notorious for keyword stuffing to juice their SEO stats. Each of these went out of style for various reasons, but mostly they boil down to changing technology, regulatory and customer factors. This underscores how important it is to keep your agency’s marketing practices aligned with the latest best practices. Let’s look at what that means for your agency in 2025.

I. Embrace AI-driven marketing

You’ve likely heard this, but artificial intelligence (AI) must be top of mind in this relatively new year. AI applications can significantly improve the way an organization does business, providing personalized and productive solutions across a company. Title agencies have a lot to gain by incorporating this technology into their marketing. Whether it be with AI-powered chatbots, analytics or content creation, there is no shortage of use cases. Collectively, this can lead to improved customer interactions, better business insights and more engaging marketing overall.  

II. Emphasize authentic content

At the same time AI is upending how we do business, customers are increasingly drawn to companies that put good, old-fashioned human authenticity front and center. In practical terms, this means speaking openly about your company’s values and showing integrity by taking consistent action. The business rationale for this is obvious. If you aren’t seen as authentic on something as fundamental as your professed values, why would anyone believe in any products or services you’re selling?

III. Prioritize customer data

Closely connected to these points is the power of data. Even though AI is rapidly making content creation easier and cheaper than before, it won’t benefit your marketing efforts if it isn’t relevant to your audience. To put it another way, AI can’t learn about your customers and your business on its own. You must train it. Without addressing data infrastructure and making improvements, AI applications will lack the insights needed to succeed.

IV. Prioritize local SEO

As a title agency, chances are the majority of your business is highly localized or regionalized. That’s where a strong local SEO strategy comes into play. To begin appearing in more localized searches, optimize your Google Business profile by ensuring all data is accurate and up to date. Then, keep an eye on local reviews of your business. People often make purchasing decisions after visiting review aggregators like Yelp, so it’s important to monitor user reviews and respond appropriately. Finally, consider whether to optimize for voice search. Voice-enabled devices are now mainstream, making it critical not to overlook this channel.

V. And, of course, video

While not necessarily a new trend, video remains one of the most important marketing strategies today, and if you aren’t using it in your marketing, you may be missing a potential opportunity. Here are some ways to incorporate video into your marketing efforts.

• Educational content: Create educational videos that address common customer concerns. Explaining the title process, outlining closing procedures, or emphasizing the importance of title insurance are all potential topics on which to base a video.

• Client testimonials: While it’s usually best to prioritize educational content over promotional content, that doesn’t mean you can’t pitch your agency and its capabilities. One powerful approach is the client testimonial. People often want to hear from others about their experiences before doing business with a company. A polished client testimonial is a great way to bolster consumer trust that can lead to a deal.
  
• Behind-the-scenes content: Remember, people like to do business with people they like. Creating videos that go “behind-the-scenes” is a great way to humanize your brand and make potential clients more comfortable working with your agency. Video also pairs well with social media and can increase your impact on several of the top platforms.
  

Make 2025 your year of marketing success

2025 is here, and with it comes an opportunity for title insurance agencies to refine their marketing strategies and stand out. The marketing field is evolving quickly, and staying ahead means embracing innovation. By embracing AI, prioritizing authentic messaging, and utilizing tools like local SEO and video, you will be able to position your agency for success in the new year.

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Market research is key to successful expansion

Navigating business expansion can sometimes resemble trying to pick your way through a thick forest. The trail can feel uncertain and unpredictable where one wrong step could trip you up. Think of market research as a light that illuminates the best path forward. It deepens understanding of potential customers and leads to more informed decision-making. Moreover, it reduces risk, enables the creation of better products and services, and shores up the long-term health of your brand.

The challenge of getting started

Despite its benefits, conducting marketing research can seem like a tall order, especially if you’ve never done it before. All too often, this leads to companies commissioning a report by a third party, which can be quite costly. Depending on the research, the cost can range at least $15,000 – $25,000 a pop.[i] This can be an unnecessary expense, especially as it’s possible to gather a lot of this information on your own.

A deeper dive

So, how do you start a market research report? Begin by sketching out your goals and objectives. Then outline the contours of your target market using these categories: 

• Market demand for title insurance
• Qualitative and quantitative nature of the customer base
• Competitor analysis
• Regulatory environment (only if different from your current environment)
• Competitive advantages you bring to the table
• Any barriers that will prevent you from entering the market

Secondary research

After you have this framework, add additional detail by consulting secondary research sources. Fill out the market demand and customer base sections of your report by consulting:

• Title industry reports
• Government databases
• Housing, population and employment trends

Next, learn more about your competitors by following these steps:

1. Search online for competitors who serve the target market.
2. Look at business directories and your local land title associations for additional information.
3. Then, see what your competitors are doing to market their products and services by looking at:
   
   1. Their website
   2. Social media channels
   3. Review sites
   4. SEO rankings
   5. Any available advertising
      
4. Pair this with information on your competitors’ pricing, services and customer base.

In working through this exercise, a better picture of competing organizations will come into focus. The last step is then to populate the sections on your competitive advantages and barriers to entry. Perhaps one of the best tools to use here is what’s known as a “SWOT analysis.” Here’s what that requires you to look at and flesh out:

• Strengths: What are you doing right and/or well.
• Weaknesses: The potential weak points within your organization.
• Opportunities: The opportunities or openings in the market of which you can take advantage.
• Threats: What could threaten your ability to enter a new market.

Next steps

Armed with a better understanding of the market, your competitors and how they stack up against your organization’s strengths, weaknesses and capabilities, you can build better offers for your products and market them in a way that connects and converts. Don’t stop with just market research, though. Use this document as the basis for creating a strategic plan, a marketing and sales strategy and even guidance for how your organization can align resources with short- and long-term goals. Combined, these various assets will position you to not only enter your target market but hit the ground running.

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Are you looking to ramp up the marketing of your small agency? If so, consider making an email newsletter part of your toolkit. It may be tempting, especially these days, to think that email is no longer effective. Guess again. According to recent data, email marketing has an average ROI of $42 for every dollar spent. 80 percent of professionals say email is an effective tool for customer acquisition and retention.[i] Get started with your newsletter marketing and start building sustainable demand by implementing the following best practices. 

Subject Lines are Key

It is hard to overstate the importance of your email’s subject line, as prospects need to open your email before they can read it. The subject line is essentially your best opportunity to sell the reader on your email’s contents, so you need to make it count. Some main points to remember are to keep your subject lines short, convey the email’s main point or thesis, and avoid using characters like excessive exclamation points, which increase the possibility of your email getting stuck in a spam filter. 

Emphasize Your Value Proposition 

With any marketing strategy, it’s critical to make it primarily about the customer, not your business. The same idea holds true for your newsletter content. People will open and read your newsletter only if they understand there is something in it for them. Think about how you can deliver content that is exclusive, educational and actionable. For instance, your agency could put together a helpful video explaining how consumers can help keep their escrow funds safe from scammers and include it in your newsletter. You could even solicit participation from your audience, asking them to submit their own topics to be covered in a future newsletter. 

Optimize for Readability

Having strong content is only one-half of the equation; you also need to ensure that your newsletter is laid out in an aesthetically pleasing way. Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Use strong, active verbs. Whatever you do, do not neglect including images. Nothing will turn readers off quicker than encountering walls of text within the body of an email. Many email marketing platforms now include free graphics that you can easily insert into your newsletter, and several sites offer stock photography either for free or at a relatively low cost. 

Stick to a Schedule

 Amidst all the other responsibilities that come with running an agency, making sure that your newsletter goes out at roughly the same time can seem challenging. Yet it is important to prioritize consistency if you are going to maximize your readership. Sending your newsletter at the same time will make it feel more professional, and it will also help you stick out in your recipients’ crowded inboxes. 

Toward More Meaningful Customer Relationships 

The marketing landscape is growing ever more complicated, with marketers having access to a variety of different channels and technology. But sometimes tried-and-true methods remain the way to go. Despite being decades old, email is still a viable marketing method that belongs in your arsenal. And when executed correctly, an email newsletter can help you build more meaningful and valuable customer relationships. 

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