Social media fever catching up in realty sector

From shopping groceries to furniture to paying bills to booking tickets, when everything is available at the click of a button, how can real estate be behind. Gone are the days when only press releases about the launch of the new project was enough to lure prospective home buyers. With online becoming the buzzword, developers have gone one notch up in their marketing strategies. Most developers these days maintain up to date websites. !n addition, realty giants have marked a signi"cant presence in the world of social media. #ccording to a recent survey by #$$%&'#M, realty companies spend about () per cent of the total amount in digital marketing. %ut of total *s (,)++ crore, online marketing accounts for *s ,() crore. $hocked- Well, it.s true. /oday, the launch is announced on twitter, amenities are updated on Facebook, details are shared on 0uora and walk throughs are uploaded on you tube 1 this is how social media fever has grabbed the eyeballs of the developers. /he success of these portals can be estimated by the fact that !ndia is now world.s third largest !nternet user after 2nited $tates and &hina. #nd crossing 3++ million users, !ndia has now become the second largest market for Facebook in terms of users after the 2$. 4efore going further, let.s delve into the past. !t all began in (++) with the inception of "rst property portal in !ndia. Following this, one after the other several real estate portals were launched. #s market became 5ooded with these portals, in order to stand out developers came up with innovative marketing ideas. #nd social media paved the way for transforming these ideas into reality. %ne such recent initiative was 6ational 'ome 4uying 7ay by /ata 8alue 'omes. /he initiative received over (++ applications on the "rst day and 9, ++,+++ hits on the website during the four days.$haring the e:perience about the over whelming response, ;awan $arda, head marketing, /ata 8alue 'omes says, <this success has strengthened our belief that the accessibility, convenience and reach of the internet makes it an ideal medium for us to accomplish our vision of being the largest home provider of =uality homes to our consumers across the country.>

?:plaining the pro"le of the buyers, $arda adds, <%ut of over ()+ apartments that were sold, around (+ percent were bought by 6*!.s and rest from !ndians across various parts of the country.> #nother realty major using the power social media e:tensively is Godrej ;roperties. ?:plaining the same, Girish $hah, ?8; Marketing @ $ales at Godrej ;roperties says, <We use a two pronged approach to social media. First, we use it to build communities of like minded individuals, without an overt brand presence. /his allows for a lot of creative 5e:ibility and the ability to co create products by crowd sourcing trends and preferences.> !nterestingly, the company also runs several contests on GoogleA and linkedin, which helps them in connecting to diverse customers, and support their on ground activations. /alking about consumer response, $hah adds, <3B per cent of our booking is through the online medium and we are today focussing on creating a right format for it being a primary source of information and a seamless source. We follow a 9,+ degree integrated approach to e:tend the reach of our brand and its values not only across the length and breadth of the country but also across the globe.> /his has been a great hit among the 6*! buyers and the ones who are accustomed to using internet. &learly, developers, brokers and buyers in /ier ! cities are making the most of it. 'owever, as realty majors are shifting their focus from metro cities to /ier !! and !!! cities, soon developers will have such oCers for the buyers in /ier !! and /ier !!! cities. /ruly with the advent of social media, real estate marketing has gone to a diCerent level altogether. $o what ne:t- Well, mobile apps are projected to be the ne:t big thing in the world of real estate marketing. SourceD &ommonFloor.com For Eatest 2pdates on *eal ?state 2pdates, ;roperty 6ews and &ities !nfrastructure 7evelopments 8isitD httpDFFwww.common5oor.comFguide

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