Real Estate Marketing Trends, Advertising,Recommendations in 2020
By Sania Aziz (SEO Expert)
Analytics on advertising channels for 2019–2020, stable online trends in advertisements for developers, and relevant recommendations.
Today, the Pakistan real estate market is in a difficult situation, like other industries. But when compared with automotive, tourism, or beauty and health, things are not so bad. Developers were the last to quarantine and did not refuse to advance during the pandemic, having cut the budget.
First, real estate marketing companies in Pakistan were hit by the fall of the ruble, after which they faced restrictions imposed in connection with the coronavirus. Some of them paused some of their advertising channels because they could not quickly readjust to online sales. But paid search traffic was abandoned by everyone, as it brings in more than 30% of hits.
How to properly distribute the advertising budget between channels and what to focus on in ads? It focuses on the current situation and trends in six industries – real estate, auto, e-commerce, pharma, etc.
Removing cheap leads and doubling sales
Many advertising can attract hundreds of cheap leads and not grow in money.
In a case study, we will tell you about work at all stages of the funnel, which doubles contextual advertising effectiveness for them.
- We set up analytics and connect online and offline.
- Digitizing the sales funnel and experimenting with strategies.
- We take money from the client only for the achieved result – sales volume, RRP, or ROI.
The report allows you to compare the current performance of campaigns with industrial benchmarks, analyze the real estate market situation, and optimize the placement strategy in contextual advertising systems, taking into account the trends in the first half of 2020.
What’s new in 2020
Online sales start
In 2020 real estate companies began digitalizing the real estate sector – they launched a service with which you can pay for the purchase of an apartment online and order an assessment of its market value, checking for legal purity.
New options for purchasing residential properties on the Internet reduce intermediaries’ chain and make the paperwork process more accessible for buyers. This creates difficulties for those real estate agencies, private consultants, and brokers who are used to making money on classified information and monetizing dating.
virtual communication
Previously, communication between a client and a real estate agent or developer took place on screenings and by phone. Calls are the most well-known kind of communication in real estate, but instant messengers and chats are gaining momentum.
Zoom, Skype, Google Meet & Whats App have made a significant leap in the last couple of months. Many developers began to show apartments and give consultations online, and some made regular appearances on YouTube.
If the company refuses or fails to ensure the quality of work in one of the communication channels, it will quickly lose its position in the market.
The beginning of the economic crisis and the global pandemic
There was a surge in demand, but for a different reason: buyers hastily invested in real estate, and sellers tried to sell objects at the same cost. Despite the difficulties that arose during the pandemic, most large developers did not make serious adjustments to their marketing strategy. Developers temporarily reduced the advertising budget but did not abandon the promotion, focusing on the implementation and development of tools that were previously lacking in time.
Marketing trends in 2020
Responsive or mobile version
A study of the call tracking service Calltouch shows a steady increase in mobile devices’ conversions – 61% of customers search for apartments using their phones. First of all, developing a landing page for a special offer or selling apartments in a new residential complex need to think about the mobile version of the site.
Need more information
Competition among developers and real estate companies pushes them to use 3D tours, showrooms, virtual interior planners, and other tools to attract their target audience’s attention. Clients are more willing to make deals with modern companies that are friendly with new technologies.
End-to-end analytics
A couple of years back, not many individuals thought about end-to-end analytics, but only a few used it. Most real estate companies didn’t want to spend money and time implementing an incomprehensible system.
The situation has changed over time. But according to research, 8 out of 10 developers are still struggling with implementation, which takes several months. During this time, the marketing team may change, and the commercial director will not appreciate the tool’s practical benefits after a couple of months.
Influence of Marketing Development
From the the Leads360 study, we can conclude that the peak of media consumption growth was on YouTube – 69% and Instagram – 49%. These platforms are the most popular among bloggers and influencers. For large real estate players, presence and promotion on these sites become part of the marketing strategy.
Briefly about important
Purpose: calls and requests
You should not evaluate performance campaigns by the percentage of bounces, the number of viewed pages, and time on the site, and also choose such indicators as ROI, RRP, and sales price as the main KPIs. The buying cycle is long; the current trade data from the system will be out of date.
Focus on targeted and scored calls. Optimization of the campaign will be based on hot targeted appeals – this is especially beneficial given the current economic situation.
Increasing brand awareness
Image coverage tools will help everyone whose brand is little known to the target audience: Youtube and Facebook/Instagram media networks, and Skype. It would help if you built communication with the client before he starts looking for offers.
Online impressions and bookings
Many developers add interactions that help the buyer save time: online viewing of an apartment, tracking the progress of construction in real time, booking an object they like online.
To increase loyalty and conversion, you need to broadcast new opportunities in ads or extensions, for example: “Book an apartment on the site and get a discount,” “Booking online.”
Expanding your audience with CRM
Working with an audience interested in buying a home but did not complete the target action is a necessary part of the program for converting users into buyers for a large developer. It is important not only to create look-alike audiences and alternate creatives but also to remember current customers who are thinking about expanding their housing due to a change in marital status.
Recommendations
- Separate keywords into different campaigns with different USPs with sufficient kernel capacity.
- Don’t ignore low-frequency semantics.
- Test general queries when promoting in a regional market. In small towns, there is less variation in prices and classes of housing.
- Indicate in the ads the stage of construction and the class of real estate.
- Use feeds to customize your ad campaigns to deliver a relevant offer.
- Add the location of your property in ads and extensions to narrow your audience.
- Review your average display position regularly.
- Test different landing pages. The CR indicator directly depends on the usability and quality of the content.
- Analyze mobile traffic separately from the desktop. Test the separation of ad campaigns by device type.
