In PracticeWhat This Looks Like in Practice
In competitive property markets like Dubai and London, 92% of property searches start online. International investors typically research for 3-6 months before making contact—if you're not visible during that research phase, you're not in the running.
Portal sites charge AED 5,000-15,000+ per month for premium listings, and you're competing side-by-side with every other developer. Building your own acquisition channels means controlling your brand story, qualifying leads earlier, and reducing your cost per sale.
Example 1
An off-plan developer launching a new Dubai Marina tower
Created multilingual landing pages (English, Arabic, Hindi, Russian) targeting investors in key source markets. Ran Meta Ads with lookalike audiences built from previous buyer data, segmented by nationality and investment profile. Set up WhatsApp Business for instant lead follow-up.
Generated 340+ qualified investor enquiries in 8 weeks at 60% lower cost-per-lead than portal listings
Example 2
A London estate agency competing against Rightmove and Zoopla
Built hyper-local area guide content for each neighbourhood served—school catchments, transport links, market reports. Optimised Google Business Profile for 'estate agent [area]' searches and developed a vendor acquisition content strategy.
45% increase in direct vendor instructions within 6 months, reducing portal dependency from 80% to 50% of new instructions
Example 3
A property management company targeting expat landlords in the UAE
Created a content hub addressing common concerns: RERA compliance, rental yield calculations, property maintenance guides. Ran LinkedIn Ads targeting UK and European expats with property in Dubai.
Built a portfolio of 120+ managed properties in 12 months through digital channels alone