April 2017 | Making Home Affordable

Making Home Affordable 

Lessons Learned Series: Marketing & Outreach
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Table of Contents

03 Overview

05 Messaging

06 Marketing Communication Tactics

07 MakingHomeAffordable.gov (MHA.gov)

08 Public Service Advertising (PSA)

09 Paid Radio

10 Search Engine Marketing

11 Mobile Advertising

12 Social Media Advertising

13 Borrower Outreach Events

15 Partner Engagement Events

16 Additional Lessons Learned

4.21.2017

Copyright © 2017 All rights reserved. The Treasury seal, Making Home 

Affordable logotype, Home Affordable Modification ProgramSM (HAMP®), 

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program® (HAFA®), and 

CheckMyNPV® are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury. All other seals and product names are trademarks or registered 

trademarks of their respective agencies.
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In early 2009, the government-sponsored program—

Making Home Affordable (MHA)—was established by 

the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and 

the Department of Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD) to provide foreclosure alternatives to 

homeowners impacted by the financial crisis. A key 

innovation of MHA was the strategic focus on 

communications. Over time, Treasury developed best 

practices in communicating and marketing a 

government program to struggling homeowners who 

were recovering from the financial crisis. 

AUDIENCES

The primary audience was homeowners at risk of 

foreclosure. Secondary audiences included mortgage 

lenders/servicers, HUD-approved counseling 

agencies, real estate associations and member 

realtors, and national organizations such as HOPE 

Now Alliance and NeighborWorks® America, among 

others. MHA cultivated national partnerships with 

these organizations to raise awareness of MHA and 

identify opportunities for coordination. Some 

segments of the secondary audiences became known 

as “trusted advisors” or brand ambassadors and were 

authorized to use official MHA materials and logos, in 

accordance with Treasury guidelines.

MHA Marketing and Outreach Overview

PRIMARY GOAL

The primary goal of the communications and marketing strategy was to help prevent avoidable foreclosures 

by increasing the public‘s understanding of available MHA foreclosure prevention solutions.

MHA communication efforts specifically focused on:

• Developing and implementing marketing strategies and messaging that prompted struggling 

homeowners to take action and seek assistance;

• Creating and delivering training products to servicers, trusted advisors, and other MHA audiences;

• Developing, deploying and managing the HMPadmin.com website – a servicer and partner-focused 

portal;

• Utilizing and developing content for mobile and social media; and

• Designing and delivering program updates and guidance to servicers, trusted advisors, and other key 

audiences.
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REACH

•Build/Increase 

awareness 

online/offline

ACT

•Increase 

actions

•Clicks / Calls / 

Visits

CONVERT

•Begin the 

application 

process for 

mortgage 

assistance

ENGAGE

•Provide 

valuable 

content/tools 

to support the 

application 

process

Public Service Announcement (PSA) 

Campaign 

Search Engine Marketing

Borrower/Partner Outreach Events

Radio 

Mobile/Social Advertising

Email/SMS

Narrow Conversion Gap to 

Counselor/Servicer

Increase Conversion Efficiency

Optimize, Refresh & Refine 

Messaging

Email Marketing

Content/Event Strategy

Leverage Mobile/Social 

Leverage Trusted Advisors

GUIDING FRAMEWORK

The illustration below depicts the guiding framework used for MHA marketing strategy and tactics, which was 

an adaptation of a standard industry model.

MHA Marketing and Communications Overview

Marketing Strategy Framework
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BUSINESS TO CONSUMER (B2C)

B2C messaging evolved over time, informed by 

marketing results and homeowner research:

• Early in Program- “MHA has helped a million 

struggling homeowners, and we want to help you. 

Find out what your options are. The sooner you act 

the better the chance we can help you.”

• Midpoint – “Don’t wait. The sooner you act, the 

better your chance for a positive outcome.”

• Recent – “If you’ve fallen behind on your mortgage 

payments, or you’re worried about how you’ll 

make the next one, MHA might be right for you. 

Call now to find out your options.”

Messaging was additive in nature, and recognized 

that struggling homeowners may be at different 

points in their financial hardship (e.g., current but 

struggling, falling behind, facing foreclosure).

Promotional materials included Treasury and HUD 

seals. Consumer research showed that inclusion of 

the seals was key to establish/confirm program 

credibility. This became particularly important as 

scams became more prevalent. 

Materials also featured one or more call-to-action 

(CTA) messages (primary CTAs in bold):

 Call 888-995-HOPETM (Homeowner’s HOPE 

Hotline);

 Visit MakingHomeAffordable.gov website;

 Contact your mortgage company; and

 Attend a Borrower Outreach Event (BOE).

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS (B2B)

B2B messaging involved providing tools and 

resources to MHA partners, HUD-approved 

counseling agencies, and mortgage companies. 

These resources provided standardized 

communication collateral reflecting up-to-date 

programmatic requirements. This ensured 

consistency across all MHA partners, and enhanced 

outreach efforts to their constituencies. 

Promotional materials for B2B communications 

included: 

 Partner Outreach Toolkit;

 MHA Collateral Web Portal, where partners could 

order free multi-lingual MHA program fact sheets, 

brochures, and posters; and

 Materials designed for BOEs and national/regional 

conferences.

Messaging

Messaging has been additive in 

nature, recognizing that struggling 

homeowners may be in different 

stages of their financial hardship. 
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Marketing Communication Tactics

Tactic Type Scale

MHA.gov B2C National

Public Service Advertising B2C National/Local

Paid Radio B2C Local

Search Engine Marketing B2C National

Mobile Advertising B2C National/Local

Social Media/Social Media Advertising B2C National/Local

Storefront/Collateral B2B2C National

Outreach Events B2B2C Local

Partner Engagement B2B2C National/Local

HMPadmin.com/E-newsletters B2B National

Training B2B National

TARGETING STRATEGY

Initially, outreach efforts were very broad, focusing on 

markets with high foreclosure rates. Over time, B2C 

channels were made more cost effective through 

market analysis.

Both quantitative and qualitative evaluation of MSAs 

based on economic data and past MHA outreach 

results were performed in order to identify potentially 

over/under represented markets, and guide a variety 

of outreach activities, including PSA distribution and 

paid radio.

RAMPING UP QUICKLY

Establishing consistency of communications to both 

homeowners and mortgage servicers was critical to 

MHA’s success. Likewise, building the MHA brand to 

spur national awareness of the Making Home 

Affordable program was equally important.

Below is a list of the marketing tactics utilized once 

the marketing framework was established. 
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MHA PROGRAM WEBSITE 

• B2C Website launch coincided with MHA Program 

announcement.

• Two major refreshes of the site were completed 

reflecting research, user feedback and website 

analytics.

• Program to Date: 22+ million unique visits and 

97+ million page views.

LESSONS LEARNED

• MHA.gov was revamped in 2015 to restructure 

content, enhance usability, and simplify access for 

mobile users.

 Program site content was simplified to 

facilitate readability

 Navigation and program eligibility tools

were simplified over program lifecycle 

 Use of video content expanded user 

engagement

 Mobile device use increased 150+% from 

2011 to 2015

MakingHomeAffordable.gov (MHA.gov)

MHA.gov Website
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DRIVING NATIONAL AWARENESS

• Treasury, HUD, and the Ad Council partnered in 

the creation of a series of PSA campaigns that 

targeted homeowners who were struggling to 

keep up with their mortgage payments. 

• Campaigns included English and Spanish 

television, radio, print, out-of-home (e.g., 

billboards) and web advertising.

• Since 2010, four iterations of creative campaigns 

were developed and distributed to more than 

33,000 media outlets nationwide.

• Since its launch in 2010, the Ad Council PSA 

campaign has garnered more than $238 million in 

donated media advertising and over 8.7 billion 

impressions.

LESSONS LEARNED

• As the crisis and recovery evolved, refining the 

message was critical in order to address the 

changing needs of homeowners

• The campaigns provided additional brand 

touchpoints:

 Included government seals to establish 

credibility

 Included an easy-to-remember phone 

number – 888-995-HOPETM – to promote 

recall among English speakers 

 Grocery cart advertising appeared at more 

than 5,700 stores in priority markets

 Blogger outreach placed 90+ articles and 

blogposts and gained considerable 

traction via social media

 Use of Spanish media (radio) advertising 

through partnership with Hispanic 

Communications Network (HCN)

Public Service Advertising (PSA)

“Isolation”

Launched Dec 2012

Images from Television PSA
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DRIVING NATIONAL & LOCAL AWARENESS

• Paid terrestrial and internet radio advertising 

supplemented PSA campaigns, which gave 

Treasury the ability to strategically focus on 

specific geographies and demographics.

• Radio ads in English and Spanish were used to 

reach homeowners in priority markets.

• Key success measures included:

 Cost per incremental call to the 

Homeowner’s HOPETM Hotline;

 % increase in call volume for the radio 

market;

 % increase in calls to counseling for radio 

market; and

 % increase in market share.

LESSONS LEARNED

 Useful for targeting Metropolitan Statistical Areas 

(MSAs) in order to drive event attendance

 Less expensive than TV advertising

 Return-On-Investment (ROI) for incremental calls 

to 888-995-HOPETM was below expectations in 

some markets

 Identifying and enlisting knowledgeable 

influencers in specific communities provided an 

extra boost to the campaign. For example, 

Spanish-segmented advertising utilized a wellknown talk-show host

 Paid radio was more efficient in driving call

volume to the HOPE Hotline earlier in the 

program, but became less efficient as the number 

of potential program participants decreased

Paid -Radio

“Isolation”

Launched Dec 2012
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EXPANDED REACH THROUGH DIGITAL 

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) increased traffic 

to the MHA.gov website.

• SEM campaign promoted MHA.gov in search 

engine results pages via popular search engines 

like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

• SEM campaign was continually optimized, 

including the addition of new keywords and 

phrases, to capture a larger share of available 

clicks across all campaigns.

• Creative/copy was refreshed based on new 

MHA.gov alterations, including the addition of 

new keywords to current campaigns.

LESSONS LEARNED

 Multi-layered, segmented campaigns performed 

better

 Keyword selection and engaging ad copy drove 

campaign performance

 Building upon and testing efficiencies increased 

site traffic by one-third

Search Engine Marketing

“Isolation”

Launched Dec 2012

Sample Search Engine Results
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Mobile Advertising

Sample Mobile Advertisements

EXPANDED REACH THROUGH DIGITAL

• Mobile advertising campaigns began following the 

increased use of portable devices in 2014. 

• Created three ads with unique messaging to 

appeal to different homeowner interests.

• Utilized highly trusted networks. 

• Drove traffic to the MHA.gov website or to clickto-call 888-995-HOPETM. 

 Expressed interest in programs/content 

related to mortgage assistance

 National in scope, not just priority markets

LESSONS LEARNED

 Provided new opportunity to reach homeowners 

through messaging that appealed to their 

interests

 Return on Investment (ROI) and overall results 

exceeded expectations

 Maximized reach and effectiveness by measuring 

and refining campaigns through A/B testing
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LEVERAGING SOCIAL CHANNELS

• Developed nearly 20 promotions to raise program 

visibility and optimize consumer engagement.

 Started with a pilot and gradually ramped up.

 Aligned tactics to amplify cross-channel 

messaging.

 Set specific and measurable objectives, with a 

consistent voice (e.g., call-to-action, geographic 

targeting, generate calls/visits, etc.)

• Drove homeowners to visit MHA.gov and to call 888-

995-HOPETM through ads on Twitter and Facebook. 

• Allotted budget was closely managed and adjusted 

based on campaign performance

LESSONS LEARNED

 Consistent use of branded visuals deepened 

engagement and impact (videos and photos)

 Anticipating the outcome of automated online 

advertising “vetting” systems became increasingly 

unreliable 

 Used insights to learn more about target audience and 

to optimize campaign messaging

Social Media Advertising

“Isolation”

Launched Dec 2012

“Click-to-Carousel” Campaign – ads directed to specific 

program pages on MHA.gov website

Video Pre-Roll Beta Campaign
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Borrower Outreach Events

“Isolation”

Launched Dec 2012

BORROWER OUTREACH EVENTS 

Turn-key, convention style event, with community 

roundtables and various training modules:

• Servicers, Government Sponsored Enterprises 

(GSEs), and HUD-approved counseling agencies 

met 1-on-1 with distressed homeowners.

• From 2009 – 2014, conducted:

 98 Borrower Outreach Events (see map);

 67 Community Roundtables; and

 46 Training Sessions.

SINGLE SERVICER EVENTS

Event produced by individual servicers participating 

in the HOPE NOW Alliance:

• Invited delinquent homeowners to 1-on-1 

meeting with servicer or GSE representative

• Event costs borne by servicer

• MHA served as co-sponsor and/or co-promoter

Example of BOE Flyer
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Borrower Outreach Events

“Isolation”

Launched Dec 2012

LESSONS LEARNED

 “One-Stop Shop” method utilizing mortgage 

companies, counseling agencies, and GSEs proved 

especially effective during the height of crisis

 Balancing the costs for venues in denser MSAs with 

the projected attendance was key

 Multi-day events more effective in high-density, 

hardest-hit markets 

 Became less effective and cost-efficient as financial 

crisis subsided and attendance declined
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PARTNER OUTREACH EVENTS

• Large annual conferences or other large events 

hosted by national or regional level partner.

 MHA was one of many exhibitors in the 

event’s exhibition hall.

 MHA staff distributed MHA information to 

consumers, partners or trusted advisors.

 May have had HUD-approved housing 

counselors onsite, but not servicers.

PARTNER-LED EVENTS

• Smaller, community focused events produced by 

partner (e.g. HOPE Now, NeighborWorks® 

America, etc.).

• Servicers and HUD-approved counseling agencies 

met 1-on-1 with distressed homeowners.

LESSONS LEARNED

 High-impact visuals and engaging activities drew 

interest

 Events furthered brand extension to relevant 

audiences, including those who were unaware of 

the MHA program 

 Activated “brand influencers” – homeowners who 

place more trust in recommendations from 

someone they know

 Smaller events did not always drive large enough 

audiences to justify travel costs

 Events linked to partners with similar 

constituencies drove the most booth activity

Partner Engagement Events
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Additional Lessons Learned 

 Having a strategic framework is crucial to building trust with key audiences. Messages must reach and 

speak to the current conditions of the targeted population. 

 MHA messaging adapted over time to keep up with changing housing market conditions through 

continuous market research, data analysis, and feedback from audience segments. Efforts to 

communicate with potential homeowners included information about how various MHA programs 

could help them.

 Building brand awareness takes time, and once established, protecting program (and organization) brand 

identity becomes more important. 

 MHA protected its brand identity and intellectual assets such as logotypes, product names, and 

taglines by registering trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

 Segmenting audiences with relevant and engaging messages lifts overall awareness. 

 Struggling homeowners often faced a wide variety of roadblocks to stay current on their mortgage 

– from divorce, illness, and unemployment to death of a spouse, military transfers, and/or 

increased household expenses. 

 Scammers and unscrupulous players may attempt to profit from potential program participants. Having 

dedicated government resources to help investigate and prevent and these acts can protect the 

vulnerable, as well as preserve the program’s reputation. 

 Fraudulent actors frequently targeted struggling homeowners with scams, such as charging fees for 

“helping” them get government help. MHA established an anti-fraud unit that aggressively 

monitored and enforced registered brand marks and product names such as MHA logotype, 

HAMP®, and HAFA® and referred cases to relevant authorities with additional resources and 

prosecutorial authority, such as the Special Inspector General (SIGTARP) and the U.S. Department 

of Justice.