Buying a home is one of the most important decisions in a person’s life. People researching real estate spend time exploring the market and comparing multiple options. In such a competitive environment, developers need not only to earn trust but also to constantly find new ways to attract attention, one of which is paid search advertising.
Google Ads allows you to show ads to a highly targeted audience - users who are actively searching for housing using relevant keywords. These campaigns help reach exactly those users.
Each residential complex has its unique features that appeal to different types of buyers. That’s why ad messaging must be highly personalized and tailored to the needs of specific audience segments. Another critical factor is the long decision-making cycle when it comes to buying property. Users often interact with ads over an extended period before making a final choice. That’s why we needed to build campaigns that would accompany them throughout the entire research and buying journey.
Client
Company atlant.build is a real estate developer operating in Ukraine, primarily in Kyiv and the surrounding region. The company offers a wide range of residential complexes tailored to different needs and budgets. We help Atlant effectively promote these projects, driving apartment sales both for cash and through installment plans.
The Atlant has completed over 2 million square meters of residential and industrial space across 18 cities in Ukraine and abroad. With its production facilities, the company remains independent of contractors and can accelerate construction timelines. All of Atlant's projects have been successfully delivered.
Company advantages:
- 34 years of impeccable reputation in the real estate market. Every project has been completed on time and in full, with zero legal claims from clients.
- Best price-to-quality ratio. The Atlant operates in the economy segment, focusing on high sales volumes with minimal margins - this keeps prices consistently lower than competitors (only companies with questionable reputations or issues offer lower).
- Market leader in residential real estate in the Kyiv region (not including Kyiv city). Thanks to its scale, the Atlant offers the best purchasing conditions and widest housing selection.
- Flexible installment plans: up to 3 years with 12% annual interest or interest-free options with a minimal down payment (70% upfront and the remainder within a year).
- Proprietary patented construction technology.
Atlant already had experience with contextual advertising and aimed to improve their results. Their main reason for reaching out to ITForce was to increase the number of qualified leads - users genuinely interested in purchasing real estate.
Workflow
We began by auditing the client’s advertising account and identified several misconfigurations in the campaigns that hindered both audience reach and conversions. Based on the audit findings, we implemented all relevant recommendations and fine-tuned the campaigns accordingly.
Tasks completed during the client’s campaign audit:
- excluded the Display Network from Search campaigns;
- fixed disapproved ads caused by broken URLs;
- corrected keyword errors;
- added Logo, Business Name, and Image assets;
- aligned Sitelinks and Callouts with the ad language;
- adjusted tCPA values in the relevant campaign;
- configured a Performance Max campaign;
- added Ukrainian-language keywords;
- installed GA4 on the website;
- verified goal tracking and added a goal for live chat interactions;
- implemented Google Ads system recommendations to improve account quality scores.
Key conversion events tracked in the account:
- phone calls via Ringostat;
- callback request form submissions;
- stock availability request form submissions.
We set the campaign geo targeting to Kyiv and the surrounding areas, focusing on all users interested in real estate within this region. Ads were scheduled to run 24/7 on both mobile and desktop devices.
Examples of the ads:
Tasks completed during the ongoing collaboration:
- search query management (expanded the negative keyword list based on irrelevant queries; added relevant queries to the main keyword list);
- optimization based on Google Ads recommendations (implemented relevant suggestions, dismissed non-relevant ones);
- resolving disapproved assets (ads, extensions);
- PMax: added new asset groups and paused underperforming ones, uploaded a video to one group, refreshed banners, configured custom audience segments based on search terms and potential buyers, added search themes to asset groups, and updated/refined audience signals;
- added a script to review PMax search terms;
paused ineffective high-cost keywords with no conversions; - improved the quality of responsive search ads and PMax ads;
- set up a Demand Gen campaign;
- adjusted budgets and bidding strategies across campaigns;
- added new target audiences to GDN campaigns;
- updated geo-targeting for certain campaigns based on client needs;
- relaunched and tested an additional Performance Max campaign;
- added new broad match keywords;
- configured a remarketing campaign in the Display Network;
- launched new search campaigns targeting competitors based on the client's list, єОселя (eOselia), and general keywords;
- updated promotional content (headlines, descriptions, and sitelinks);
- selected keywords related to the “На виплат я” category and launched a new campaign focused on deferred payment offers.
Let's take a closer look at the experimental setup of the new Demand Gen campaign type, launched in November 2023, aimed at generating demand.
Demand Gen
Demand Gen campaigns rely on artificial intelligence to maximize awareness and spark interest in a promoted product. DemGen encourages advertisers to either upload their own audiences or create audience segments based on specific criteria such as age, gender, interests, and more. This ensures that ads are shown to users who have already demonstrated interest in the brand or product.
To begin, we selected the most relevant creatives and set the minimum starting budget in line with system recommendations.
In one month of running, the campaign generated a single conversion, at a cost several times higher than Atlant an acceptable average. However, 20% of all interactions in the account came from the Demand Gen campaign, and the average cost per interaction was twice as low as the account average.
Due to the unsatisfactory performance, the Demand Gen campaign was paused on December 20.
As for any delayed impact from the Demand Gen campaign, we did observe an increase in conversions in January 2024 compared to the previous month. However, given the overall upward trend in demand within our niche, it’s difficult to state definitively that the Demand Gen campaign was the primary driver of this growth. So, while we are seeing a positive dynamic, no direct or measurable effect from the demand generation campaign has been identified at this stage.
Real estate niche characteristics
One of the key challenges in this niche is the large number of factors that potential buyers consider when choosing an apartment. This significantly complicates and prolongs the decision-making process.
That’s why we use several methods of client acquisition and multiple types of campaigns, including:
- search campaigns with broad search terms - showing text ads in the search network in response to general user queries;
- search campaigns with branded keywords - targeting users already familiar with the brand and actively researching their options;
- remarketing via the Display Network - reminding users who previously visited the site;
- PMax - combining text, display, and video ads shown to the most relevant audiences based on predefined audience signals.
The client trusts our recommendations and accepts suggestions on how to optimize their ad campaigns. The Atlant company consistently informs us about any website updates or newly launched promotions, which allows us to adjust the campaigns promptly. To achieve better results, Atlant is also ready to invest additional funds into advertising. This flexibility enables us to quickly adapt to changes in the real estate market.
Deliverables
In this case study, we focus on the collaboration period with Atlant from June to November 2023. First, we'll review the traffic sources to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Google Ads channel in driving users to the client's website.
Total traffic attracted to the client’s website from June to November 2023:
Over the 6-month collaboration period, the website of the construction company Atlant received 183,904 visits. The paid advertising channel (Cross network, Paid Search, Display) accounted for 90,149 sessions, that is 49% of the total traffic. In other words, paid advertising generated nearly half of all site visits and ranked as the second most effective traffic source according to Google Analytics. Among paid formats, search advertising proved to be the most effective. Google Ads campaigns generated 2,680 key events, which represent 42.4% of all such events tracked in the account.
Below is a comparison of data from June - November 2023 to the previous period (November 2022 – May 2023), reflecting the first six months of collaboration:
- 334,826 interactions;
- 1,068.37 conversions;
- 812.19 UAH average cost per conversion;
- +144.25% ad clicks;
- +56.51% conversions;
- –31.02% cost per click;
- +7.65% cost per conversion.
The advertising budget during this period increased by 68.49%. In other words, with a higher investment in advertising, we achieved 56% more target actions, while the cost per conversion rose by less than 8%. This is considered a strong result for the client’s niche, as the real estate segment is typically associated with high product value and a long decision-making cycle.
Let’s rank the ad campaigns by number of conversions in the account:
Data analysis shows that the most effective campaigns to date are branded ones targeting specific residential complexes. These campaigns drove a 56.22% increase in conversions compared to the best-performing non-branded campaign. DSA campaigns (+108.1%) and PMax also demonstrated strong performance.
Branded campaigns have the lowest cost per conversion - 120.18 UAH - while the highest cost was observed in search campaigns with broad keywords, reaching 3,251.6 UAH. At the same time, the average cost per conversion in the account is 812.19 UAH, which is entirely acceptable for the client.
The data confirms the importance of investing in branded advertising to achieve the highest possible return. The Atlant aimed to increase the number of potential real estate buyers. Thanks to our efforts, the number of leads grew by 56.51%.
Plans for the upcoming periods:
- analyzing and adjusting bid strategies and budgets;
reviewing search queries and expanding the list of negative keywords based on irrelevant traffic; - working with system recommendations to improve the account’s quality score;
- adding new property groups to the Performance Max campaign and pausing less effective ones if needed;
- editing ad copy when necessary;
- improving ad quality where required;
- pausing underperforming keywords, ad groups, asset groups, or campaigns as needed.
We continue to monitor campaign performance closely and make timely adjustments to ensure ongoing improvement in key metrics.
