Real estate advertising in the UAE – TikTok and Meta Ads
About the client
In the run-up to the launch of targeted advertising in the UAE, the client faced several challenges at once, consisting of: - high cost per click (CPC was €1.2); - low CTR (0.68%); - lack of a clear profile of the target audience, its division into segments. The initial coverage was small - about 45 thousand users in 14 days. CPL amounted to 42 euros. The priority was to promote the keyword “real estate in Dubai”, the interests of the target audience were not taken into account. Another problem was static creatives, lack of adaptation to the peculiarities of Meta and TikTok platforms. Such a location as the UAE requires a different approach. TikTok, for example, demonstrates excellent results in the segment of potential investors under 35 years old. Advertising campaigns in Meta Ads and TikTok were active, but without preliminary A/B testing, which created difficulties with optimization.
Goals
- Attracting targeted leads from potential CIS investors Setting up highly accurate targeted advertising in Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and TikTok to generate bids for luxury real estate purchases - through quality visual creatives, authoritative offerers and accurate segmentation by interests, income and behavior.
- Building interest and trust through creative audience warm-up Creating video content and advertisements emphasizing the investment advantages of apartments in Dubai (profitability, price growth, residence permits, stability), followed by retargeting of the engaged audience to convert them into leads.
Solution
We revised the strategy of targeted advertising with due consideration of the specifics of the UAE market and the real estate niche. We performed in-depth analysis of the target audience, focusing on investors from CIS countries interested in buying foreign real estate.
12 creatives were tested on Meta Ads and TikTok platforms:
- vertical format videos with captions and narrator's voice;
- carousels with visualization of ROI and demonstration of layouts.
We conducted A/B tests of funnels: quizzes vs. typical application forms. From TikTok we started attracting investors aged 25-35, adding Meta with a more mature audience over 35.
Tested audiences: Lookalike, by interests (investments, desire to move to Dubai for permanent residence), made retargeting with heating. We performed optimization at the level of creatives, landing pages and placements. As a result of proper targeting in the UAE, TikTok brought CPL 40% lower compared to Meta.
The result was an increase in CTR to 2.31%, a reduction in CPL to €18, and an increase to 240,000+ users per month.
Result
After revising the advertising campaign in the UAE real estate niche, we managed to reduce the CPC to 0.65 euros and increase the CTR to 2.31%, with a decrease in the CPL to 18 euros and an increase in the number of requests from the original 38 to 129.
The greatest effect was demonstrated by advertising on the TikTok platform, the number of leads tripled. They became highly profitable. Add to that the increase in conversions in showcasing sites. Using Meta's multichannel approach in combination with TikTok proved to be effective.