Returning home last night, I noticed some huge billboards promoting real estate companies. It struck me: Why did I never notice them before? I have been crossing this street every day for the past 3 months. This happened to you as well, right? The feeling is mutual. Then it came to me: I ran out of charge on my cell phone! That is probably why I was looking around to find the billboards, that have been there all this time, for the first time!

Is your company also leaving its advertising money to the odds that people will run out of charge on their phones so that they can see your lavishly designed, expensively placed ads?

Realtors in Bangladesh spend huge sums of money on outdoor and print advertising, but most real estate companies in the west are using social media and content marketing to reach people effectively, build credibility and convert leads. While the price of land in Gulshan Avenue in Dhaka is almost 4 times the price of land in Manhattan in New York City! Bangladeshi real estate marketers must start exploring their options to leverage the power of interactive social media to drive business more effectively.

 The price of land in Gulshan Avenue in Dhaka is almost 4 times the price of land in Manhattan 

After the RMG industry, real estate is the next best thing that happened to Bangladesh. The emergence of the real estate business is a key driver of Bangladesh's economy. However, marketers need to adapt to changes in technology and capitalize on the opportunity presented by the massive growth in internet penetration, mobile phone users, and social media.

Check out: State Of Global Digital Platforms [Infographics]

The best real estate marketers always focus on maximizing ROI. The changing landscape of digital media possesses new challenges and opportunities which marketers should deal with to improve their bottom lines. Most realtors in the real estate industry in Bangladesh are not doing enough experiments with digital media to evaluate its effectiveness, while 84% of the realtors in the west are now using social media professionally to drive sales.

Currently, 9.6 million Bangladeshis use Facebook, out of which, ~460,000 are talking about housing and real estate. Over 801,000+ Bangladeshi professionals use Linkedin and ~760,000 professionals can be targeted on Facebook. In fact, there are ~97,000 CXO-level Facebook users in Bangladesh.

84% of the real estate professionals are now using social media globally

According to google trends, Bangladeshis have shown great interest in real estate over the past 12 months. Around 12,000 people googled the term ‘real estate’ in July; 6,000 people googled ‘apartments’ and 16,000 people searched ‘housing’. Customers are looking for the services, but very few local real estate firms are doing the basics to ensure their customers find them through the functional website, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and social media marketing.

See also: 10 Ways To Improve Your Real Estate Marketing

Three Reasons Why Realtors Should Go Online:

1. Your Prospects (NRBs & Locals) Are Online 

Most of your potential customers spend time online. ‘Only young people use social media is a thing of the past. You can reach more than 1.24 million Bangladeshis on Facebook who is above the age of 30. Moreover, you can target your ideal audience using various professional, demographic, and psychographic criteria in social channels. In fact, you can target specific people who are talking about or are looking for real estate purchases only. Now, isn’t that useful?

Check out: 3 Easy Steps to Connect with Target Audience

2. Social Media Is Not Rocket Science

It’s easier to get started with social media for business than you would think. But it’s important to ensure your presence across multiple channels besides your website and blog, at least on LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. Also, one must maintain consistency in communication and engagement.

3. Going Digital Is Cost-Effective & Allows You To Measure 

Online marketing is cost-effective, at least you get what you paid for – That’s why all successful realtors in the west have moved online. From lead generation to closing a sale, online funnels have helped reduce costs for real estate companies. Moreover, digital platforms allow brands to measure and track all matrices very closely.

Check out: 10 Simple Ways to Measure Social Media

In this age of new media, the effectiveness of your marketing cannot depend on the charge of people’s phones, or the amount of traffic on the streets of Dhaka. With over 8 lakh Bangladeshis on LinkedIn, the scope for real estate and B2B marketing is wide open in the digital space. Needless to say, the early movers are going to have a substantial market advantage in the years to come. The question is: Are you one of them?