Marketing and real estate: what works for developers now
By Makon Team · 3 October 2026 · 3 min read
A flat is the largest purchase most families ever make, and they research it for months. By the time a buyer calls, they have seen your adverts, your competitors' adverts, photos from the site and what their relatives say. Modern real estate marketing is less about being loud and more about being clear, believable and easy to find at every one of those moments.
Own one clear idea
Al Ries and Jack Trout showed decades ago that a buyer remembers one idea per brand, if that. "Comfort class near the park, keys in 2027" is an idea. "Quality, reliability and modern living" is three words every competitor also uses. Decide who the complex is for — young families, buyers who want to rent the flat out, people moving from the regions — and say the one thing that matters to them.
“Location, location, location.”
Prove it instead of promising it
Every developer says they build on time. Buyers believe what they can see: monthly photos and video from the site, a finished show flat, the names of the contractors, keys handed over in earlier projects. The great advertising teams have always sold with facts. David Ogilvy's rule was that specific facts outsell general claims, and his warning against talking down to buyers still holds.
“The consumer isn't a moron; she is your wife.”
Be easy to notice and easy to remember
Byron Sharp's research at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute found that brands grow mainly by reaching more buyers and staying easy to recall, not by deepening the loyalty of a few. For a developer that means a consistent name, colours and sign on the hoarding, in every advert and in every message — so that when someone finally decides to buy, yours is the project that comes to mind.
- Instagram and Telegram for the people who follow construction month by month.
- The site hoarding and the sales office as your largest permanent adverts.
- Referrals: a satisfied buyer is believed more than any advert.
- Search: a website that answers the questions buyers type, in their language.
Show what is really for sale
Marketing that sends a buyer to a flat that is already sold costs you twice: the advert and the trust. Your adverts, your sales office screen and your managers should all read from the same live availability. In Makon the 3D view of the complex for the sales office and the public Telegram bot, where buyers browse the available apartments, read the same live data as the chessboard.
Know which advert sold which flat
The old complaint attributed to John Wanamaker — that half the advertising budget is wasted and nobody knows which half — no longer has to be true. Ask every buyer how they found you, write it on the sale, and compare it each month with what each channel cost. Then put the money where the contracts come from, and look at the results by residential complex, where the sales figures already live.
Modern real estate marketing is simple to describe and hard to fake: one clear idea, proof buyers can see, a name they remember, and a budget that follows the contracts.
Further reading
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Al Ries and Jack Trout, 1981
The classic on owning one clear idea in the buyer's mind. Read it before naming a complex or writing its first advert.
How Brands Grow
Byron Sharp, 2010
Evidence from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute that brands grow by reaching more buyers and being easy to notice and remember, not by niche loyalty.
Ogilvy on Advertising
David Ogilvy, 1983
The founder of Ogilvy & Mather on adverts that sell rather than entertain: research, headlines, facts and testing.
Marketing Management
Philip Kotler, 1967
The textbook most marketing teams learned from: segments, targeting, positioning and the marketing plan, end to end.