Why Dubai real estate agents are not generating qualified leads from paid campaigns?

The Secret Digital Marketing Agencies Won't Tell You: Why Your Paid Social Media Campaigns Aren't Generating Qualified Leads

Real story about Dubai real estate paid campaigns

You might have seen headlines about lead generation successes in real estate, like million-dirham property deals originating from social media leads. But if your paid social media campaigns yield different results, you're not alone. Despite substantial investments, only some real estate companies see a return on their social media ad spend.

Here's a truth digital marketing agencies might not always share: results from social media campaigns are not guaranteed, and there's often more beneath the surface than just throwing money at ads.

I have witnessed leads generated from social media channels buying Dubai properties worth millions. Unfortunately, not all real estate companies are getting these results despite paying thousands of dirhams on paid social media paid campaigns. Not to make you jealous, I have seen leads generated organically from social media channels convert and buy or rent properties.

So, if you are not generating leads from social media, you are not following the right way!

Why Dubai real estate agents are not generating leads from paid campaigns?

If you're investing in paid social media campaigns and need to see the returns you expected, it might be about more than just the campaign itself. Let's dive into why this might be happening and how you can turn it around.

The math behind Dubai real estate paid campaigns

The following is a real example I witnessed!

A digital marketing agency was paid over 800 thousand dirhams a year to run and manage some paid social media campaigns of a Real Estate Agency that had to provide the campaign assets like visuals and ad copy. The agency was charging 15-20% as a campaign management fee. So, the campaign's yearly budget was 680 thousand dirhams a year, and each campaign lasted between 6 and 12 weeks. This budget was allocated to 7 or 8 campaigns on average.

By doing the math, the average cost per campaign was 79 thousand dirhams, and each campaign used to generate between 200 and 250 leads.

The average cost per lead was almost 376 dirhams, and some companies are willing to pay that amount,  triple the amount, or even more, as long as there is a good ROI or return on investment.

A different digital marketing agency was running a paid campaign for another real estate company for a project within the same category and price range. Their budget was 75,000 dirhams. This agency generated nine qualified leads and sold an off-plan unit, which cost 9 million dirhams. They were able to cover the campaign cost and generate profit, so their ROI was positive. The client was happy with the results, extended the campaign duration, and even increased the budget to 225 thousand dirhams.

Returning to the first agency, one of the campaigns cost 75 dirhams and generated 210 leads. Only 2 of them were qualified but without any successful transactions.

Even with similar budgets, the quality of leads and ROI can vary drastically

Both campaigns were lead-generation campaigns with almost identical budgets. They supposedly targeted the same audience and promoted two projects in the same price range and within the same category. Despite these similarities, one campaign generated more qualified leads and resulted in at least one deal being closed, while the other campaign only generated two qualified leads with no deal signed.

What should Dubai real estate agents know about paid campaigns?

If you look at the real example I mentioned above, the first campaign was a total failure, while the second one was a complete success! Why?

If you think choosing the wrong agency is the main factor that led to this failure, you are mistaken. The failure of a campaign results from many wrong-doings, and choosing the wrong agency is just one of them.

The success of a paid campaign can be affected by the social media account used to run the campaign.

How can social media profiles affect the paid campaign performance and results?

To explain this, let me ask you two questions:

"When you see an amazing ad on social media about a product you like, need and can afford, do you click on the ad to buy it immediately, or do you check the social media profile running the ad to ensure it's not just a scam?"

"Would you proceed with the transaction if the social media profile was suspicious? (low number of followers, no verification badge, and low res images and videos...)"

Now, the real question:

Do you still think the look and feel of your social media pages, content, presence, and number of followers can affect the performance of your paid campaigns, especially if you are selling a real estate project?

How can Dubai real estate agents generate qualified leads from paid campaigns?

It's not just about spending money on paid social media ads. Many agencies offer a service called "Set up and manage Social Media Paid Campaigns." They usually require a minimum yearly spend and charge between 10-20% as the monthly campaign management fee, in addition to the campaign set up fee, social media retargeting fee, and paid social media ad creation fee (for assets like the ad set, creative, and copy). In return, they provide a bi-monthly or monthly paid campaign performance report.

I understand that they have a dedicated in-house team to pay every month. However, it's better to first evaluate the client's social media channels, identify the real problems, and offer them a complete strategy to resolve their issues before launching a paid campaign.

Understand your qualified leads' profile, persona and behaviour

Dubai real estate companies typically target only 5% of the population in the UAE and 1% of the population abroad (if they are launching international campaigns) with their paid campaigns because they are not selling affordable products like fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Their ads are aimed at an audience willing to spend at least 1 million dirhams, if not more, on a property and with a monthly income of at least 20 thousand dirhams to qualify for a mortgage. The same audience is also considered the perfect target for scammers, and they know this fact.

As a result, they are very cautious about sharing personal information like their email, name, and phone number, which are required when filling out a contact form after clicking on an ad. Even if some of these fields can be filled automatically, people may hesitate to hit the submit button due to their suspicions, and understandably so.

How do you target potential Dubai real estate investors?

If someone clicks on your ad, they might be interested, but you can't track who clicked it or make a user fill out a form. When analyzing the data shown on the ads manager dashboard, you will notice that 20 to 30% of ad viewers typically click on the ad. However, a successful campaign may convert 2-3% of those clicks to leads, while a campaign with poor performance converts less than 0.8% of those clicks into leads. It's not just about the number of leads; it's more about the quality of leads generated.

The real question is not: "How can I make my paid ad look better or improve the performance of the paid campaign?"

The real question is: "How can I make interested qualified social media users who clicked the link less suspicious and more confident to click the submit button?"

When qualified Dubai real estate investors see an ad on social media, they want to ensure they share their information with a trustworthy source, such as a broker, company, or brand. They can verify this by checking the social media profile or page that appears on the ad. The ad includes a clickable username, allowing users to visit the social media profile used to run the campaign.

Qualified Dubai real estate investors are more likely to investigate and review your account before engaging with your ad and sharing any information. If they recognize or are familiar with the brand name, they are more likely to fill out the form if they are interested. If they are unfamiliar with the brand or account, they will assess its legitimacy.

Legitimate profiles typically feature a logo as a profile picture, a verification badge, industry information, a brief business description, office location, and contact information such as email address, phone number, website, WhatsApp number, and other social media channels. They will also assess the number and quality of your posts and your followers. Some users may even check your followers to see if they are authentic or fake, review the comments on your posts, and evaluate what others say about you.

Can a paid campaign's budget affect the quality of leads?

Paid campaign performance can be affected by the budget. However, it is not the only factor that affects the quality of leads. The cost per lead of a Dubai real estate paid campaign can be affected by many factors, like the distribution channel, duration, competition, timing, and targeting. 

As an example, I have managed campaigns where the cost per lead was as low as 40 or 50 dirhams because of proper targeting based on creating a comprehensive study case. The low cost per lead was the result of curated targeting. However, the conversion rate from that campaign was almost 7%.

Try to focus on understanding the potential real estate investor behaviour to achieve a higher quality of leads.

Another successful Dubai real estate paid campaign to convince real estate agents

In 2021, I met with the CEO of a real estate company located downtown. During our conversation, we discussed their paid campaigns. At that time, the company had been launched just two months earlier, and its brand name was unfamiliar to its target audience. The paid campaign they ran to promote an exclusive residential project at an attractive price could have performed better, and the cost per lead was high. However, they found that they were receiving calls from people who had seen their ads on social media but were sceptical because they didn't recognize the brand. These individuals searched online to verify the company's legitimacy before reaching out.

In conclusion, optimizing your social media channels and establishing a solid brand presence before launching paid campaigns is essential to help build trust with your audience and improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.