Property Marketing ROI: A Million Views Won't Fill an Empty Building.
Kaysha Davies
Contents
Your latest property campaign has reached 100,000 people.
The Instagram reel has thousands of views.
Engagement is up.
Everyone's happy.
But there's one question nobody seems particularly keen to ask.
How many actual enquiries did it generate?
Because while reach, impressions and engagement are useful marketing metrics, they don't tell the whole story.
And in property, the gap between getting attention and generating commercial results can be pretty significant.
Property marketing needs to be measured differently.
Marketing a residential development isn't the same as selling a £20 T-shirt.
The decision-making process is longer. The investment is bigger. And potential residents have a lot more to think about before committing.
They're comparing locations, pricing, amenities, availability and the overall living experience.
Which means your marketing needs to work across several stages.
Awareness. Consideration. Enquiry. Viewing. Application. Signed tenancy.
Each stage has a role to play.
And each should be measured accordingly.
Not every metric deserves a round of applause.
Let's start with the obvious.
Reach and impressions tell you how many people your content or campaign has been exposed to.
Engagement tells you whether people are interacting with it.
Website traffic shows how many visitors you're attracting.
All useful.
But none of them automatically proves that your marketing is generating revenue.
That doesn't mean awareness campaigns are pointless.
Far from it.
According to DataReportal's Digital 2025 brand discovery research, the typical adult internet user discovers brands and products through an average of 5.8 different sources.
It's not property-specific research, but it reinforces something marketers should already understand.
People rarely discover a brand, make a decision and convert through one single interaction.
For property businesses, that means taking a more joined-up approach.
Someone might first discover a development on Instagram, research it on Google, visit the website and then book a viewing days or weeks later.
Looking at one channel in isolation won't necessarily tell you the full story.
So, what should property marketers actually measure?
That depends on the objective.
But if you're running campaigns designed to generate leasing enquiries, there are a few numbers worth paying attention to.
Cost per qualified lead
How much are you spending to generate an enquiry that meets your actual criteria?
Because 200 enquiries from people who can't afford the rent aren't necessarily more useful than 30 enquiries from people who can.
Enquiry-to-viewing conversion rate
What percentage of enquiries become booked viewings?
If lots of people are expressing interest but very few are taking the next step, something might be going wrong.
Perhaps the campaign is attracting the wrong audience.
Maybe pricing isn't clear.
Or perhaps the booking journey is unnecessarily complicated.
Viewing-to-tenancy conversion rate
How many viewings result in signed tenancies?
This helps show whether the people coming through the door are genuinely suited to the development.
It can also highlight issues outside marketing, including the viewing experience, product fit or leasing process.
Cost per acquisition
How much are you spending to secure a new resident?
This gives a more commercially meaningful view of marketing efficiency than cost per click alone.
Occupancy and leasing velocity
How quickly are available homes being leased, and how is occupancy changing over time?
Marketing is only one factor influencing these figures, but they're important outcomes to monitor alongside campaign performance.
Here's where things get interesting.
Imagine two property campaigns.
Campaign A generates 100 enquiries from a £2,000 budget, with 5 eventually becoming signed tenancies.
Campaign B generates 40 enquiries from the same budget, but 10 become signed tenancies.
On cost per enquiry alone, Campaign A looks better.
But look at cost per acquisition.
Campaign A: £20 per enquiry and £400 per tenancy.
Campaign B: £50 per enquiry and £200 per tenancy.
Suddenly, Campaign B looks considerably more efficient.
Same budget.
Half the cost per signed tenancy.
That's why understanding lead quality matters.
More leads don't always mean better marketing.
And for the avoidance of doubt, these are hypothetical figures, not industry benchmarks.
Stop reporting numbers without explaining what they mean.
A good marketing report shouldn't just tell you what happened. It should tell you what you've learned.
Which campaigns are generating the most qualified enquiries? Where are prospects dropping out of the journey? Which audiences are responding best? What should you stop doing, start doing or invest more money in?
That's how reporting becomes useful.
Because nobody needs another 30-slide presentation explaining that impressions were up 12%.
They need to know what that means for the business.
If you're spending money on marketing, know what you're getting back.
Property marketing should build brands people recognise, create demand and support commercial performance.
That doesn't mean every activity needs to generate an immediate tenancy.
Brand awareness, resident engagement and reputation have a role to play too.
But you should understand what each activity is supposed to achieve and how you're going to measure it.
Because looking busy isn't the same as being effective.
And a million views won't pay for an empty apartment.
At co&co, we're ROI-obsessed for a reason.
We combine strategy, creative, social and activations to help property brands connect their marketing activity to meaningful business results.
Less vanity. More value.
Speak to Jordan today
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