2012 Year in Review: Redesigned Website, TitleTopics Webinars, Lifetime TV Segment
December 27, 2012
As the national voice for the title industry, ALTA informs federal policy makers, state regulators and legislators, the media and consumers about the value of title insurance. Through all of our communications, ALTA is unifying the message of the title industry’s role in the economy.
ALTA provides an information pipeline through various communications that can be shared with customers and clients, helping to position members as industry experts. Our information vehicles include the monthly print magazine, TitleNews, and several electronic communications, including the weekly Advocacy Update, twice weekly TitleNews Online and daily News You Can Use. We also distribute a quarterly newsletter to attorney agents, called Title Law Quarterly, which provides information on top lawsuits impacting the land title industry, residential real property law and changes to ALTA policy forms.
During the 2012 Annual Convention in October, ALTA unveiled its redesigned website. The redesign focused on making the homepage more eye appealing and reducing the amount of text. You will notice a large graphic on the homepage that will allow us to promote upcoming meetings, advocacy efforts, news items, etc. We’ve attempted to make it easier for members to locate business tools as well as important news. There also is a feature on the ALTA homepage that allows members to bookmark their favorite pages on the website.
With more and more of our members using Facebook and Twitter, integrating social media was an important aspect of our redesign. We’ve added a feature that allows members to send us comments through Twitter directly from our homepage. There also is a feature that allows members to share information and news with customers via email or social media. To stay connected via social media, you can “like” our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter at @ALTAonline. In addition to giving the website a facelift, we are improving how we collect and store member data. Under the My Account tab, members can update their profile and manage the types of communications you receive from ALTA.
In 2012, ALTA also started offering a free, monthly 30-minute webinar called TitleTopics. We’ve averaged about 60 attendees on each webinar with topics addressing escrow standards, marketing strategies, tactics to grow revenue, tips on going paperless and advice on how to avoid getting sued, among others. The presentations are archived at www.alta.org/titletopics. If you have a topic suggestion, send an email to Jeremy Yohe, ALTA’s director of communications.
During the first half of 2012, ALTA worked with the Lifetime TV series “Designing Spaces,” to produce a five-minute TV segment explaining the closing process and the importance of purchasing an owner’s title insurance policy. Designing Spaces typically reaches 1.5 million potential and current homebuyers, making it one of the biggest opportunities we’ve ever had to explain the value of title insurance to the general public. The average viewer of the show is female, age 38-42 and in the $63,000 plus per year income demographic. The TV segment, which aired April 26 and June 1, has been the most popular news item viewed by members with more than 2,000 views through September. In addition, the TV segment has been viewed nearly 2,000 times on ALTA’s YouTube page. Several ALTA members have posted the video on their websites, giving the segment even more exposure. The TV segment will continue to be a great resource to explain the closing process and value of title insurance.
During the second half of 2012, we focused on communicating with membership about the CFPB’s proposed mortgage disclosures and regulations, as well as the rising trend of lenders demanding more information from settlement agents due to uncertain regulatory requirements and recent monetary settlements. We’ve written articles in TitleNews and TitleNews Online, and held several webinars informing members how the proposed disclosures will impact business. You can find all of ALTA’s communications efforts regarding the CFPB at www.alta.org/cfpb.
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.