In today's ever-evolving real estate landscape, the traditional norms of property transactions have undergone a significant transformation.
The industry, being at the forefront of digitalization, has witnessed a monumental shift in how potential buyers seek information, make decisions, and engage with real estate offerings.
Amidst these dynamic changes in the Indian real estate market, the demand for targeted, data-driven strategies is rapidly increasing.
Performance marketing has emerged as a vital tool, distinct for its focus on delivering measurable results and effectively reaching the right audience with precision and innovation.
Performance marketing, as a concept in digital marketing, involves placing ads on online advertising channels and paying based on specific actions taken by the targeted audience. When executed effectively, it fosters a mutually beneficial relationship between the sales agent and the advertiser.
Recent studies indicate an average response rate of 82% for search ads across various industries.
One of the primary advantages of performance marketing is its ability for advertisers to measure ROI by tracking clicks, impressions, shares, or purchases generated by their ads.
Essentially, performance marketing is used by most businesses because it works well and can be tracked, easily making its way into the real estate market giving companies access to a bigger, more engaged audience.
Now that we've established a strong understanding of how Performance Marketing relates to the real estate sector, let's delve in deeper to discover some of the benefits of performance marketing and how it can help your real estate business shine!
While the world of performance marketing may seem daunting, here are the benefits of performance marketing and how it can help you!
1. Cost-Efficiency:
Real Estate Marketing Cost = (Total Ad Spend) / (Number of Clicks or Inquiries). For instance, if an agency spends ₹5000 on online ads and gets 200 inquiries, the cost efficiency would be ₹5000 / 200 = ₹25 per inquiry.
Here we showcase a more cost-effective approach compared to traditional fixed-cost advertising ensuring the marketing budget is utilised more efficiently by targeting individuals actively interested in properties.
2. Measurable Results:
By employing performance marketing tools, a property management company monitors the efficiency of various online ad campaigns.
As mentioned in a blog post by Databox, a business analytics platform, keeping an eye on key performance indicators (KPIs) assists real estate agents in determining where to focus their resources.
For instance, 'X company' observes that ads featuring virtual property tours generate twice the number of inquiries compared to static image ads. This insightful data enables them to direct more resources toward virtual tour campaigns, ultimately enhancing their lead generation efforts.
3. Flexibility:
Here’s an example of how performance marketing can help real estate agencies optimise their ad campaigns. Suppose an agency promoting urban condos runs Instagram ads on both Stories and the regular feed. The agency noticed that their Stories ads generate twice as many inquiries compared to feed ads . To capitalise on the higher engagement, the agency reallocates a portion of their budget from feed ads to Stories, generating more leads from potential buyers interested in city living.
4. Increased ROI:
Through a strategic investment in content marketing, a real estate company produces informative blog posts centred on investment properties. Their meticulous tracking of website traffic and lead conversions arising from these blogs reveals a substantial surge in inquiries, ultimately yielding a superior return on investment compared to traditional advertising methods.
56% of marketers leveraging blogging affirm its effectiveness, with a noteworthy 10% citing it as the top generator of ROI.
5. Risk Mitigation:
Let's illustrate an example of how performance marketing helps in risk mitigation:
A property investor strategically runs multiple ad campaigns on various platforms, leveraging a payment model that charges only for qualified leads obtained. This approach directly ties marketing expenses to the acquisition of successful leads, reducing the risk of investing in less fruitful campaigns.
As reported by Carrot, a real estate marketing company, their members consistently see Google Ads leads converting at a rate of 1 in 10 to 1 in 15 leads per deal.
6. Scalability:
The real estate agency successfully implemented an email marketing campaign tailored for first-time homebuyers and expanded its reach to multiple regions. This strategic move resulted in consistent positive outcomes across diverse locations, allowing the agency to scale its approach without significantly increasing its marketing expenses.
As outlined in a case study by Marketing 360, a real estate business replicated an effective email marketing strategy targeting first-time homebuyers in various regions. Over a six-month duration, this initiative garnered more than a million impressions, tens of thousands of clicks, and ultimately, hundreds of conversions
7. Extended Reach:
Property listings need widespread exposure. With performance marketing, ads are displayed on various platforms and websites, each incentivized to deliver results.
In the real estate sector, According to a study by Social Media Lab, Instagram Story ads generate 44% higher reach, 78% more clicks, and 45% lower cost per click (CPC) compared to Instagram feed ads
by using performance marketing to garner exposure businesses reach a broader audience interested in different property types, ensuring listings are visible to potential buyers across diverse online channels.
8. Rich Insights
Performance marketing in real estate offers a detailed and nuanced perspective on the effectiveness of your digital marketing strategies. Unlike conventional advertising methods, performance marketing campaigns—such as search engine marketing, affiliate marketing, and social media advertising—provide in-depth insights into various aspects:
CTA click-through rate
Page views
Sales funnel progress
Ad performance
As highlighted in a Databox blog post, tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) can significantly aid real estate agents in comprehending the performance of their marketing endeavours. The more insights you gather, the more empowered you become to make data-driven decisions, thereby propelling the growth of your performance marketing campaigns.
We know how in performance marketing, advertisers pay for the actions their audience takes.
Let's explore these actions and see how they're calculated.
This simple advertising model is a great way to drive traffic and promote your products while saving on unnecessary marketing expenses.
With PPC, you only pay when a user clicks on your ad to get to your landing page, website.
Here, marketers either agree to pay a fixed price to marketing channels per click or determine the cost per click through an action
You can decide the maximum price you are willing to pay per click based on what ROI you think each click brings.
The algorithm compares your ad with other ads based on their price and quality and displays the winning ad above other ads in the case of an auction.
But if you’ve got a direct deal with the advertiser, you can pay a fixed sum for a pre-decided number of clicks.
So, to sum up:
Maximum CPC = Maximum price you are willing to pay / Total number of clicks.
Marketers use PPC ads to generate leads, sales, and also to drive traffic to their site. These ads offer an excellent depth of targeting in that you can serve ads to people who are looking for properties or services similar to yours.
Now, for the all-important question—where do you place the PPC ads?
Here are the top platforms for PPC campaigns:
Search engines – Google and Bing
Social media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram
Property listing sites– 99acres,NoBroker,Housing.com,Magic Bricks
Before we get into the details of these platforms, let’s see what factors influence the CPC.
Cost per click varies based on the domain or industry you are in. Real estate usually has a medium to high CPC
Here’s an estimate of the average cost per click (in inr)The average CPC for real estate keywords in India is around ₹20.
When numerous marketers vie for specific real estate-related keywords, securing a high ranking for those keywords becomes challenging. The intensity of competition for these keywords fluctuates depending on their popularity and industry competitiveness.
Thankfully, tools like Semrush offer assistance in assessing keyword competitiveness. By inputting your main search term, you can access a catalogue of keywords, their volumes, difficulty (KD), and the average cost per click (CPC).
For example, if you input “property investment” and choose precise match keywords, the tool exhibits the average CPC for various keyword variations.
Moreover, Google Keyword Planner is another tool for exploring keywords pertinent to real estate through comprehensive research.
Exceptional advertisements can result in improved ad placements and reduced CPCs. Google rates Ad quality using a scale of 1 to 10, considering factors like ad relevance, keywords, and landing page experience
Moreover, the click-through rate (CTR) has an impact on the Quality Score; a higher CTR corresponds to a better ad quality score.
Channel Impact on CPC
The choice of channel for your PPC campaign also influences your CPC. Here are the CPC benchmarks across various channels:
Google Ads (Search) – ₹75 to ₹150
Google Ads (Display) – ₹52
Twitter Ads – ₹22 to ₹42
LinkedIn Ads – ₹86 to ₹100
Facebook Ads – ₹0.51 to ₹2.26
Instagram Ads – ₹10 to ₹206
Pinterest Ads – Global average CPC is $1.53 which is approximately ₹112.5
The CPM tactic suits those aiming for brand recognition rather than direct sales.
Marketers pay a set fee for every thousand times their ad is seen or displayed, regardless of whether users click on it or not.
Since CPM doesn’t measure ad clicks, advertisers use CTR to gauge the effectiveness of their CPM campaigns.
Similar to CPC, numerous elements impact CPM, including industry, ad quality, location, and website traffic. To compute your CPM, use this formula:
CPM = (Total ad spend ÷ total ad impressions) x 1000
For instance, if you spent ₹100 to acquire 4000 impressions, your CPM would be ₹100 / 4000 = ₹25.
Cost per conversion is the amount of money you spend to convert a lead.
Here’s the formula: Cost per conversion = Total ad spend ÷ number of conversions.
Conversion rate is the number (or percentage) of people who convert out of all website visitors. A high conversion rate means a lot of people want your offering, which in turn means marketing success.
Conversion rate = (Total conversions ÷ total visitors) x 100
Let’s work this one out with an example.
If you had 20000 total visitors and 2000 of them converted, your conversion rate is 2000/20000 x 100 = 10%.
Conversion rates also vary by industry with the average being 8.82 percent.
In this performance marketing payment model, you will pay every time your ad generates a lead.
A lead is someone who shows interest in your property by taking an action such as:
Opting in for a newsletter
Filling up a form
Registering for an event/webinar
CPL businesses helps understand what it costs to acquire new leads and whether their marketing expenses are being used wisely. It also allows you to discover which advertising channels (and formats) generate the most leads and which ones don’t.
Here’s the formula for calculating your CPL: CPL = Divide the Total Amount Spent by the No. of Inquires you receive
CPL = Total Amount Spend / Total No. of Inquiries
For example –
Suppose you spend INR 15000 on your Google Ads(or Adwords) campaign and you received 5 Calls & 15 Form submissions from the campaign so your CPL would be
Cost Per Lead = 15000 / (5 + 15) , which will give you a CPL of INR 750.
This means on an average you would have to spend INR 750 on Google Ads to capture a customer’s intent.
By comparing this figure to the cost of your product or service, you will know if your campaign is reasonable or expensive.
As it is with CPC and CPM, CPL varies by campaigns. According to Digital Tripathi, these are the average CPL’s for various Real Estate segments on Google Adwords:
Uber Luxury – ₹ 4000+
Luxury – ₹ 2000 – ₹ 5000
Budget Homes – ₹ 1000 – ₹ 2500
Affordable Homes – ₹ 500 to ₹ 130
Alternate metrics and payment methods exist in performance marketing like engagement-based payment, action-based payment, and sale-based payment.
In essence, the fundamental concept across these methods remains identical: payment is made when someone interacts with your business, performs a defined action, or makes a purchase from your campaign.
While we are here, let’s also talk about the click-through rate (CTR). You read above that CTR affects your ad’s Quality Score.
But what exactly is CTR?
It’s simple really.
Just divide the number of clicks your ad gets by the number of times the ad is shown and multiply this by 100.
In other words CTR = (clicks ÷ impressions) x 100.
If your ad was seen by, let’s say, 200 people, and 25 clicked on it, your CTR is 12.5%.
Is that a good CTR?
Yes! According to the same Wordstream research, the average CTR is 6.18 percent across industries. A high CTR indicates that your ads are helpful and relevant.
Click-through rate helps you discover the most effective ad copy, keywords, offers, and targeting strategies.
But, here’s the deal—CTR can also be a misleading metric to estimate your ROI.
Let’s say your social media campaigns grabbed 1,00,000 ad impressions plus 50 clicks. Here, your CTR is 0.05%.
On the other hand, if your social media advertising campaign delivers 3,00,000 ad impressions and 100 clicks, the CTR is 0.03%.
In this case, although your CTR is lower, you are getting twice as many clicks.
Additionally, it’s important to see if the cost of the ads was the same or different.
If you only look at CTR, your online advertising campaigns may fail to deliver the ROI you want.
Analyse your CTR with other metrics such as conversion rate and sales to get the big picture.
The next step is to know what your company’s marketing objectives are and the timeline to achieve them. Otherwise, you could be paying for results that are not aligned with your objectives. Your goals could be to create brand awareness or any one (or all) of these:
Drive more traffic to your website
Generate more leads
Convert leads to customers
Remarket to existing customers
Boost brand engagement
You’ll need to get as specific as possible when identifying these goals. For instance, “drive social media traffic” is a nice goal to have, but it doesn’t tell you how much traffic to generate and in what timeframe.
Making your goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound) will help you choose the metrics to track your ad’s performance. Here are some examples of SMART goals:
Once you identify your aims, choosing the suitable advertising method and promotional content becomes simpler. Before diving into picking methods, ensure you have a good grasp of your target audience.
By learning who your audience is, what they seek, and where they usually explore is vital in creating a successful advertising plan.
Researching the market, conducting online surveys, studying competitors, talking to customers, and tuning into social media are some ways to comprehend your potential customers.
Your task now involves selecting the finest performance marketing platforms that align with your business objectives.
Although there isn't a single perfect platform for all your marketing efforts, specific advertising avenues might better suit particular goals and your intended audience.
Here, we delve into various examples of performance marketing platforms to aid your decision-making process:
SEM plays a significant role in the digital marketing strategies employed by real estate professionals to enhance the online presence of their websites on search engines.
Within SEM, there are two primary options:
Paid search advertising functions as a "pull" marketing strategy. Advertisers pay search engines to exhibit their ads within organic search results.
For example, when searching for "homes in Hyderabad," a paid search ad might appear prominently at the top of the search results page, similar to the displayed ad below the search bar.
While there are many search engines, you can see from the Chart.
below that Google continues to dominate the search engine market with nearly 85% market share.
Search ads are accessible across major search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. They make appearances in various spots within search engine result pages (SERPs).
Display advertising, another prevalent form of search marketing, operates differently. Unlike search ads, display ads reach individuals who may not actively seek your products on search engines. This helps engage potential buyers earlier in their purchasing process.
Display ads are also effective for reminding and re-engaging prospects who have previously visited your site or app. They come in various formats, including banner ads like these:
Display ads appear in news feeds or on the right sidebar of the main feed on social media channels.
Or, in personal email boxes, they show up as text ads that open into images when you click on them:
It's clear that more and more people are using search engines to find things they need, whether it's products, services, or information.
Google is a big player in search engines globally. That's why it's smart to talk about advertising using search and display ads on Google.
There are different ways brands can advertise on Google's search marketing platform, Google Ads. These ads could be text, product listings, or videos, and they pop up at the top of Google search pages.
Curious about the cost of each click?
The usual cost per click (CPC) for Google search ads is between Rs160 - Rs 330 For display ads, it's under Rs 80.
Google might be the most popular, but there are other search engine marketing channels out there too. In January 2022, Bing, owned by Microsoft, handled 25% of US searches, and Yahoo!, owned by Verizon, handled 11.2% of search queries.
Costs for clicks aren't fixed; they change based on factors like keyword categories, actual keywords, industry, location, and the quality of your ads.
Your CPC can also shift depending on the keywords you're after and the industry you're in.
Plus, the CPC changes depending on which search engine you're using.
Before picking the best channel for your marketing, it's crucial to consider your goals and the people you're trying to reach.
In India there are about 470.1 million active social media users, making it an excellent avenue for real estate performance marketing.
Popular platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest are highly favoured in India. and globally, presenting vast opportunities for real estate marketers.
These platforms provide an array of tools, simplifying the creation, tracking, and analysis of real estate ads on social media. here example of effective usage of Facebook marketing to gain exposure for their real estate page
Facebook and Instagram offer cost-effective avenues for reaching your target audience. Using Facebook's marketing tools, you can advertise across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and the Facebook audience network.
You can set a minimum budget of ₹1.00 for advertising on Facebook, customising lifetime or daily budgets.
While both platforms yield significant returns, Facebook ads focus on increasing clicks and traffic, whereas Instagram excels in reach and impressions.
Advertisements appear in various locations on Facebook and Instagram:
Mobile and desktop news feeds
Various ad formats like videos, stories, and reels
Messenger as sponsored content
Facebook Instant Articles
Facebook Marketplace
Oculus mobile app
Facebook Audience Network
Twitter also provides placements within its feed and search results for real estate performance marketers. They offer a range of ad formats, including single images, videos, text, and carousel ads.
Twitter's "Takeover Ads" prioritise displaying your ads to users when they open the app initially. Pricing varies based on the advertising program, ranging from ₹0.50 per day to higher amounts for promoted trends, which deliver immense exposure quickly but at a higher cost.
For those with more restrained budgets, alternative options like Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts offer various pricing, from ₹0.50 to ₹2 per click and ₹2.00 to ₹4.00 per follower, respectively.
LinkedIn, with its user base of 58.5 million people, serves as another platform for real estate marketers. Different ad placements include text ads, timeline ads, sponsored messages, and dynamic ads. The cost-per-click (CPC) on LinkedIn ranges from ₹2.00 to ₹5.00, with an average impression cost of ₹7.85.
Ever encountered ads on a website without even realising they were ads?
That's the magic of native advertising. These ads blend seamlessly into the website they're on, making them look like regular content. This stealthy approach is why native advertising is so effective and generates a great return on investment.
That's the aim of native advertising—it seamlessly fits in with other content. Native ads come in various forms:
Sponsored content on social media
Branded content
Ads in search results
Feeds on social media and websites (like those on Times Of India,)
Content recommendations Ads
Native ads are easier to understand and seem more reliable than regular ads, often achieving goals like:
Making impressions
Increasing engagement
Raising brand awareness
Boosting click-through rates (CTR)
How much do these ads cost? Well, it depends on where you want them and how many people you want to reach.
Big names like The Hindu, Times Of India,Deccan Chronicle, and The Siasat Daily offer native ad spots that might cost more than traditional advertising spaces.
To create effective native ads for your real estate marketing, using a good ad creator tool is key. It helps design impactful ads that blend seamlessly into various platforms.
Absolutely, here’s how you can enrich user experience in real estate through performance marketing:
Even with compelling ads and strategic channels, the success of your real estate performance marketing hinges on the user experience of your website or app.
Think about this: a sluggish site, unappealing offers, or a poor landing page can drive potential buyers away. Plus, a subpar website experience can dent your ad’s Quality Score, hiking up your marketing costs.
To maximise results, optimise everything—landing pages, website content, design, loading speed, and offers. Even small tweaks matter!
According to Deloitte, a mere 0.1-second improvement in site speed can surge conversion rates by 10.1 percent, increase
Page views
Transactions
Spending
Apart from speed optimization, captivating content is key. Engaging copy on your website boosts conversion rates.
Best Practices for Enhanced User Experience and Performance Marketing in Real Estate:
Utilize white space effectively
Craft compelling Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
Segment key info using bullet points
Integrate captivating images
Utilize hyperlinks for seamless navigation
Employ attention-grabbing headlines
Maintain design consistency
Ensure mobile responsiveness
Eliminate 404 errors
Successful real estate marketers continuously test, adapt, and refine their performance marketing strategies. A/B testing is crucial—experiment with various tactics, metrics, and channels to determine what resonates best with your audience.
Similar to maintaining physical fitness, consistent A/B testing sharpens your digital marketing game, refining ad copy, CTAs, website design, and channel strategies.
When testing, focus on one aspect at a time. Leverage tools like Google Analytics or HubSpot’s A/B testing software for this purpose. You can also use headline analyzer tools to optimise ad headlines for higher engagement.
Stay updated on new tools. For instance, Facebook’s Automated App Ads (AAA) enables testing of 50 creative combinations to identify the most effective one.
Lastly, never underestimate direct user feedback. Implement exit surveys and polls to comprehend customer behaviour and gather insights into why certain ads succeed while others fall short.
As we conclude this article, it’s clear that performance marketing has emerged as a vital instrument for triumph in the fiercely competitive real estate sector. The prompt results and high success rates it offers are the primary reasons why real estate firms are progressively investing in this domain.
To exploit the full potential of performance marketing, it’s imperative to devise a thorough, strategic plan that encompasses:
Profound understanding and effective segmentation of your target audience
Selection of the most appropriate ad format and platform
Enhancement of your website’s user experience
Monitoring of crucial metrics and the performance of your campaign
Constant testing and refinement of your performance campaigns
However, caution is advised in the realm of digital marketing. Stay alert to ad frauds where bots might be clicking on your ads, which can significantly hamper your performance marketing efforts.
Furthermore, avoid a shortsighted approach to your marketing objectives by focusing exclusively on short-term clicks, leads, and sales. While performance marketing can deliver immediate results, it might not lead to long-term profitability if it distracts you from your company’s broader business objectives.
Ensure that your performance marketing objectives are in alignment with and contribute to your overarching goals.
Lastly, stay up to date with the latest trends in performance marketing. The digital marketing landscape is undergoing rapid evolution, with advancements such as AI-powered optimization, programmatic advertising, visual search.
The future of performance marketing in the real estate sector holds great promise.
By keeping a sharp focus on your larger goals and crafting an intelligent performance marketing strategy, you can significantly elevate your real estate company’s success.
