Why property developers need to be active on social media

Prior to the pandemic, many property developers globally gave only a token thought to their social media and online promotions.

Some were industry titans, established heavyweights in their own markets with decades—or centuries—of construction history behind them. Others were niche operators, well known within their own communities or spheres, and able to move property through direct communication to these markets.

The pandemic, however, raised a number of challenges for property developers—elongated and expensive supply lines; slowdown or complete pausing of construction work; inability to hold face-to-face meetings; and the difficulty of bringing potential buyers into showrooms or construction sites. While social media and online marketing can do little to assuage the first two issues, it can have an impact on the other two challenges as these can help property companies grow sales.

According to Data Reportal, the Philippines has 86.6 million active Facebook users (79 percent of the total population) and 76.01 million active internet users (69.67 percent of the total population). So if you are one of those companies with slow, old-school websites and outdated social media pages, you may be in danger of losing prospective buyers to competition.

Some property developers regard Facebook as a nuisance. On a recent property tour of Malaysia, I encountered a developer who bemoaned Facebook as “a time-waster for millennials.” But a cursory glance at the demographics would tell a different story. We run multiple campaigns on Facebook, and these have been effective in generating quality leads.

Merging technology and real estate is inevitable. With PropertyAccess.ph, one of our goals is to provide an ultra-fast platform which can still display a variety of rich media (3D property walkthroughs, video tours, floor maps) while loading within 5 seconds. Considering that 90 percent of our web traffic in the Philippines is via mobile phone, it is essential that all property developers look into next-gen web solutions that are mobile-friendly and render their images quickly.

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The article was originally published in Inquirer.NET and written by Andy Roberts.