A property developer should choose a real estate marketing agency that reports on cost per qualified lead, cost per site visit and cost per sale, not just reach and likes; that has run campaigns for developments similar to yours; that owns the follow-up as well as the ads; and that gives you full access to your ad accounts and data. Good creative matters, but it is not the job. The job is deposits.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What results have you delivered for developers, and how were they measured? Ask for cost per qualified lead, cost per visit or return on ad spend, not follower growth.
- Who owns the ad account? It should be your business, with the agency added as a partner. If the relationship ends, your data and audiences stay with you.
- What happens after a lead comes in? If the answer is "we send you a spreadsheet", the agency is only doing half the job.
- How fast are leads contacted? Ask what their response time is and how they handle evenings, weekends and diaspora time zones.
- How do you report? Weekly reporting tied to your sales outcomes beats a monthly deck of impressions.
- Do you understand off-plan buyers? Ask how they handle trust, titles, payment plans and diaspora buyers.
Red flags
| Red flag | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Reports only on reach, likes and followers | None of these pay for the project |
| Runs ads from its own ad account | You lose the data and audiences when you leave |
| Celebrates cheap leads without asking about sales | Cheap leads are often the most expensive per sale |
| No plan for follow-up | Most leads are lost after the ad, not before it |
| Long lock-in before any results | You cannot test whether it works |
Agency, in-house team or brokers?
| Option | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Brokers | Existing buyer networks, paid on sale | Little control over brand and pricing; slow to scale |
| In-house team | Close to the product and the sales team | Expensive to hire the full skill set; slow to build |
| Specialist agency | Ready-made skills across ads, content and follow-up | Needs clear targets and access to sales outcomes |
Many developers use brokers and an agency together, with the agency generating direct demand and the brokers working their networks.
How Dane Studio works with developers
When Kavit, CEO of Maisha Development, chose an agency, involvement from the people at the top mattered as much as the ads: "For me it was important that I would get allocated time with Branely and Dave, as the two founders of Dane Studio. They really have to be invested, understand the project, understand me, understand Maisha very well for anything to be effective."
We run paid social and AI qualification together, so every enquiry is answered in under 90 seconds and booked into your sales team's calendar. We report on qualified leads, site visits and sales. Clients include Maisha Development, AMS Properties and Tilisi Developments. See the results on our work page, or ) and ask us every question on this list.