DAS Marketing Guidelines & Procedures

DAS Marketing Guidelines & Procedures

MARKETING GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES

Your guide to what needs marketing approval, general marketing guidelines and tips, design and brand guidelines, best social media and video practices, and more!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ITEMS THAT REQUIRE MARKETING APPROVAL BUSINESS CARDS SIGNAGE WEBSITES TEAM LOGOS PROMOTIONAL ITEMS ADVERTISING GENERAL MARKETING GUIDELINES DESIGN GUIDELINES SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES VIDEO GUIDELINES

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Company NMLS 227262

ITEMS THAT REQUIRE MARKETING APPROVAL

DAS Acquisition Company, along with its DBAs, work hard to maintain our image using strict brand guidelines. Our brand encompasses all of the dierent aspects, practices, and ideas that make us who we are. It’s what separates us from our competition, and attracts customers and talent to our doors. A lot of hard work and thought has gone into building our brand and reputation. For this reason, there are several items that must be approved by marketing before ordering. You can send any of the following directly to [email protected] and we will go over anything that needs to be changed before it is ordered! BUSINESS CARDS Our business card represents our brand. Consistent design of the card is critical to presenting a unified image of our brand. All business cards MUST adhere to our templates. Business cards can be ordered directly through the DAS Store and your marketing coordinator will send you a proof to make sure all of your contact information is correct before printing.

If you choose to go through a third party for business card prints, the design MUST still be done by the Marketing Department.

Jonathan Smith Mortgage Banker

12140 Woodcrest Executive Drive, Suite 150 St. Louis, MO 63141

[O] 314.555.5555 [M] 314.555.5555 [email protected] NMLS ID NUMBER: / LICENSE NUMBER: 1225-MLO COMPANY NMLS 227262

loanofficer.usa-mortgage.com

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SIGNAGE For all signage used, the proportions and hierarchy of the logo should remain consistent. ALL signage MUST be approved by DAS Marketing and Compliance BEFORE ordering.

You may order signage from a local sign shop of your choosing. We prefer that DAS Marketing provide all logos and/or artwork for the signage based on the sign shop’s specifications. If the shop prefers to create proofs themselves, make sure to send the proofs to DAS Marketing and Compliance for approval before ordering. Signage that was not approved and does not meet brand guidelines may be subject to alteration or removal at your own cost.

WEBSITES Digital Systems provides each mortgage banker their own personalized webpage with an application link. If you choose to create a separate website through a third party, please inform Marketing BEFORE any of the website is developed. We can work with the web designers to make sure the website developed matches our brand guidelines, so changes will not need to be made later.

Websites MUST also be checked by Compliance before going live.

TEAM LOGOS At DAS Acquisition, we allow teams to have their own logos to be used in conjunction with our brand logos. Team logos must match our brand guidelines for colors and fonts. Team logos may NEVER be larger than the USA Mortgage or USA Lending logos. They must be the same size or smaller, in order to maintain the brand hierarchy. If you have an existing logo that was in use before joining DAS, you may continue to use it with adjustments to colors and possibly fonts to make it consistent with our brand guidelines.

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PROMOTIONAL ITEMS We work with a local promotional products supplier and can help you find promotional items directly through the Marketing Department. There are many branded options available in the DAS Store as well. Please allow Marketing to provide designs for any promotional items and handouts you order through third parties to make sure they meet brand guidelines and are Compliance approved.

ADVERTISING Any advertising (including website banners, print ads, video ads, billboards, and sponsorship ads) MUST be approved by Marketing and Compliance. Marketing can provide the designs for advertisements as long as the specs for the ad are provided.

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GENERAL MARKETING GUIDELINES AND TIPS

DAS Marketing is here to help you succeed with your marketing plan! In order to do this, we require some commitment and dedication to learning our guidelines and making sure everyone is on the same page. The following are some common questions, misconceptions, and errors we have seen to help you get ahead of the curve! 1. What do I need to know to use the Marketing Department? We don't expect you to be a marketing professional, but you should know how to use Total Expert like any other of the other tech programs you use in your business (Optimal Blue, Encompass, etc). Erin Smith, our Marketing Communications Coordinator, is on hand to provide trainings for you and your co-marketers on how to use Total Expert. Please do not rely on your marketing coordinator and/or co-marketers’ knowledge of Total Expert only; take some responsibility for what marketing is going out with your name on it. 2. How do I request marketing? Simply email [email protected] with your request! Please do NOT email (or Teams!) your marketing coordinator directly for orders/requests. Send all requests to [email protected] (you can copy your marketing coordinator if you wish). This will keep tickets from getting lost. You may email or Teams your marketing coordinator for questions, however. 3. Can my co-marketing partners request marketing? Yes! They can order through Total Expert or email [email protected] with their request. Just make sure your co-marketers copy you on requests or let us know who they are working with when they email [email protected]. We work with thousands of co-marketers, so we do not always know which mortgage banker they are co-branding with.

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4. Do I need to be involved on my co-marketer’s requests? While it is not a requirement, we strongly suggest that you at least follow along with your co-marketers’ tickets. We often have problems when our mortgage bankers need to step in at the end of a request, but have not been following the whole ticket chain. It also makes you look more involved with your co-marketers, which fosters better relationships. It’s a win-win! 5. Unusual and “out-of-the-box” ideas Please run any unusual or ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas by us before telling a co-marketer that we can do it. Though we try to accommodate all requests, some cannot be done for technical or compliance reasons. 6. Payment issues Payment MUST go through Total Expert when possible. We cannot make exceptions because a co-marketer does not know how to log in and pay. We have a dedicated Marketing Communications Coordinator that can walk them through the steps along with their Marketing Coordinator. Also, keep in mind that we cannot send a link for payment for pieces in TE. Co-marketers receive emails when payment is due, and they have the option of logging in and paying. We will follow up with co-marketers once or twice for payment. If they do not respond we will close the ticket until they decide to continue on their own. 7. Turn times Please ask for marketing early and be prepared. Rushes take away from those who have put in their requests on time and we may not always be able to accommodate them. Our turn times vary based on current workload, but please allow at least 48-72 hours for custom design proofs (books over 8 pages may require additional time) and up to one week for print orders to be in hand depending on the type and complexity of the order. 8. Why aren’t my changes showing up in Total Expert? Changes to templated pieces are not automatically made when they are entered in the draft notes – we must make them on the back end. Once the order is submitted and paid for, we will make the changes and send you a revised proof. (If it’s a flyer that you are printing yourself, please prompt us to make the changes. We will not see the draft notes if an order is not placed.)

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9. EDDMs vs. Postcards EDDMs and postcards are not the same thing. Please specify which you would like before you place an order. If you have a list of addresses, you need a postcard. If you do not have a list of address and would like to send to a USPS mail route, you need an EDDM. Please make sure to pay for the correct number of EDDMs for the USPS mail route you select. Please note: All mailers are out of our hands once they leave the oce. If you are worried your EDDMs did not go out, please contact the post oce. We will not give refunds for mailers that are lost after they are in your hands. 10. Our Ticketing System Even if you can’t see it, your co-marketing partners are usually CC’d on tickets. Please remember this and be professional. And last, but certainly not least: If you don’t know how to do something, ASK! We are happy to teach you how to do anything in Total Expert. Please don’t rely on your marketing coordinator to do everything for you instead. COMPLIANCE MARKETING Compliance Marketing helps make sure we keep all of our marketing pieces compliant. Every piece is approved by Compliance Marketing before it is printed or used. Here are some basic rules pieces must follow: 1. We must follow many Compliance rules governed by RESPA for co-branded pieces. Please do not ask for exceptions to the rules. 2. You may not pay for any co-marketers marketing. This is a violation of RESPA. 3. If you are hosting, speaking, or presenting at an event you must submit any scripts (a general outline of what you will be talking about), handouts, or PowerPoint slides you will be using to Compliance Marketing. 4. You may not hold events for or give gifts to RESPA sanctioned co-marketers. This can be considered a kickback and is illegal. 5. Names and address on marketing materials MUST match what is tied to your NMLS. If you go by a dierent name or are no longer located at the address in your NMLS, please contact HR to have it updated.

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DESIGN GUIDELINES AND TIPS

1. What do I need to provide for custom design pieces? While we love developing custom pieces, we do need some information up front. Please give us as much information about the piece as you can (this includes content, photos, and design ideas), so we can make it as accurate as possible from the beginning. Redesigning takes time and makes turn times longer. 2. Less is more We know you have a lot of ideas and information that you would like consumers to know, but remember that sometimes less is more. If too much information is crammed onto a flyer or social media piece, consumers will often avoid reading it. Keeping some white space helps your eyes flow through and take in the information much easier. 3. Headshots Please send in a high resolution, professional headshot for use on marketing materials. Low resolution headshots will be pixilated when printed. 4. File types Our designers use the Adobe Suite for design. If you have an existing file that you would like edited, it must be an editable vector file (file extensions include .ai, .eps, and .pdf). We are unable to edit .jpgs, Microsoft Publisher, or Canva files. If these are the only files your co-marketer has, we will need to charge a custom fee to make any edits. If you or your co-marketer have a document you would like redesigned, we will need a digital version to be able to copy the text from. Scanned documents or jpgs will need to be re-typed in a Word or other text document to be usable. 5. Photography We must have permission to use photography on any marketing piece. We cannot use any Google or other search engine images. We utilize a stock image subscription and can likely find an image similar to the one you are wanting to use. If not, you must obtain written permission for us to use the photo from the source.

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SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDELINES

1. Do's and Don'ts of Social Media

a. Use correct company name for that state (USA Mortgage or USA Lending) b. Make disclosure clear and conspicuous c. Be clear and careful when discussing rates

DO

DO NOT a. Use or reference another lender’s name

b. Publish private information (loan numbers, addresses, etc.) about specific borrowers c. Imply that the marketing is coming from the potential borrower’s current lender d. State terms of a loan that we cannot actually oer e. Imply underwriters, processors or any other unlicensed person can originate loans f. Imply that we are endorsed by any government agency (HUD, USDA, state agencies, etc.) 2. Posting with DAS Marketing In order to publish posts on your business page, our Social Media & Content Coordinator, Emily Miller, will need to be made an Admin on Facebook and be given login information for LinkedIn and Twitter. Our publishing tool can only connect to Facebook and LinkedIn business pages, so we encourage you share the posts to your personal pages in order to build engagement and a larger audience. 3. Boosting If you would like Emily, to boost posts for you, you will need to provide the login to your personal Facebook account. 4. Social Media Compliance and Brand Standards All social media posts that include our logo MUST be approved by Compliance before posting. If you are sharing a post that does not include the USAM or USAL logos, they do not need to be Compliance approved. They must, however, keep within the spirit of the company. Please avoid cursing, polarizing and negative content on your business page. If you choose to use a third party to post for you, they may not use our logos or branding on their designs unless they are sent to Marketing and Compliance before posting. We prefer you use Emily for all social media posting to avoid any problems with Compliance or brand standards.

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VIDEO GUIDELINES

1. Video Requirements If shooting a video on your own for a marketing video, please make sure to use the correct orientation. This will usually be landscape (or horizontal). Feel free to contact one of our Videographers, Doug Homann or Jakob Summers, if you are unsure. 2. Custom Videos Please give as much detail about your video up front as possible. Every single change made to a video after it is finished will require it to be re-exported. That time adds up quick. 3. Animated Videos There is no such thing as a “quick little animation.” Animated videos take A LOT of time. Know that if you are wanting an animated video, it will have a considerably longer turn time. 4. Scripts All script changes need to take place days before the shoot, not as we are filming, to prevent any compliance problems. 5. Appearing on Camera We are unable to edit your personal appearance on camera. If you are uncomfortable appearing on camera, we have several animated video options you can use instead. 6. Saving Final Videos All video links are temporary and will be deleted. Please download your video when you receive it to keep for future use.

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12140 Woodcrest Executive Drive, Suite 150 St. Louis, MO 63141

DAS Acquisition, LLC dba USA Mortgage NMLS #227262. Not a commitment to lend. Additional terms and conditions apply. Licensed Lending Area: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, NH, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV and WI. AZ License Number: 942577. Licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, Regulated by the CO Division of Real Estate, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee #33479, MA #ML227262, OH #RM.850291.000, Licensed under the Oregon Consumer Finance Act, OR License #ML-5723, TX: 2150 S. Central Expressway, Suite 310, McKinney, TX 75070, WA #CL-227262. Headquarters: 12140 Woodcrest Executive Drive, Suite 150, St. Louis, Missouri 63141, Toll Free: (888) 250-6522. For licensing information, go to: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org.