YDM Thailand, a leader in digital marketing in Thailand, organized its major annual seminar for 2020 under the theme “The Return of Rising Real Estate Era,” revealing tips for real estate marketers on how to use data from every touchpoint and bringing experts together to help revive sales for the real estate business effectively at Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld recently.

Mr. Tanapon Subsomboon, CEO of YDM (Thailand) Co., Ltd., said that the purpose of this seminar arose from increasing signs of decline in the real estate business, such as falling booking numbers, more booking cancellations, inability to transfer ownership, and so on, together with warning signs of economic downturn from many sectors. This has made real estate operators uneasy and led them to tighten expenses in various areas.

“Problems are a miracle cure. I would like everyone to see that every crisis contains opportunity. The real estate business is the same.”

Mr. Tanapon said.

Mr. Danai Mahannopthanee, Strategic Planning Director, said that “data from the digital world” is one of the treasures that the real estate business can apply to marketing effectively. Marketers can use analytical tools from Google, such as Google Trends, to find insights that can be developed into campaigns targeting new groups—for example, issues residents often mentioned during COVID-19, such as condominium kitchen spaces that do not meet needs or internet signals that are insufficient for working from home. These indicate that consumers’ needs have shifted toward placing greater importance on the living experience. Brands that can communicate precisely will ultimately win consumers’ hearts. In the end, sales depend on how well a project can access and understand consumers’ needs and whether it can use digital marketing tools effectively. He believes that if the approaches discussed in the seminar are applied, results will certainly improve in one way or another.

Mr. Anupong Chantorn, Chief of Digital Media, added that advertisers are now in an era that requires reforming online ad buying from the old way. They must focus on three factors: 1) the target audience, 2) advertising pieces that must be creative, and 3) the platforms used for advertising, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. All three factors must be optimized at the same time for brand communications to achieve maximum effectiveness while also helping brands save more budget. YDM Thailand currently uses Data & AI Technology to help plan digital media buying through 360-degree dynamic media optimization, covering platform optimization, content optimization, and target optimization to achieve the highest efficiency for clients.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Nuttapon Jitngamphong, Research & Data Analytics Director, discussed another factor that makes real estate marketing in the digital world effective: the “database.” At present, there has been dedicated investment in developing databases specifically for the real estate business for three major objectives: increasing revenue, reducing costs efficiently, and creating sustainable business growth.

“A good database also allows a brand to discover what customers do not like or are not interested in, which real estate projects can then remove from construction to save costs. Understanding these insights helps ensure that the homes a project designs truly meet customer needs.”

This leads to business sustainability, because a good database also helps operators understand customers and create satisfaction in property purchases. Residents will then positively recommend the project on their own, leading to truly sustainable business growth.

Ms. Chadakorn Tanasuwankasem, Chief Executive Officer of AVG Thailand, a company under YDM Thailand, spoke about rising demand among investors in mainland China for Thai real estate, especially in major areas such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Beijing, and Zhejiang. This shows that even though international travel has stopped and investors cannot come to see projects in person, if marketers understand the market and can communicate effectively, they can still generate sales from Chinese investors. She also revealed three techniques that marketers can apply to reach the Chinese market:

• Create content continuously on Chinese online communities, especially communities of Chinese people living in Thailand, in order to build credibility (Active on online community) and encourage word of mouth.

• Design websites so they are easy to access and searchable through Baidu, China’s search engine, and have good reviews to encourage word of mouth (Visible on Baidu search engine by a Chinese-friendly website & Good Reviews).

• Establish an effective presence on Chinese social media such as WeChat, Toutiao, Zhihu, etc. (Get Social Media Presence in China).

In addition, something real estate projects should give greater importance to in the post-COVID era is “360-degree review videos,” because Chinese investors cannot travel to view units in person. Such videos help investors see the rooms more clearly. Techniques that marketers can include in the videos may include showing a compass to indicate room direction, which affects feng shui decisions, or filming to show natural surroundings, trees, and swimming pools, which are things Chinese investors value.

Mr. Passapong Plikaphan, New Business Director, concluded that if real estate operators join together to organize a Virtual Exhibition to promote their projects, it will not only save advertising budgets but also provide audience-interest data that cannot be obtained from Facebook or Google. The advantage of a Virtual Exhibition for the real estate business is that consumers can immediately view project information and presentation videos, compare different projects, and have initial conversations with sales staff before visiting actual projects. YDM (Thailand) has the “Virtual Solution” platform, which not only helps event organizers save up to 80% of the cost compared with physical events, but can also support a larger number of participants because there is no limitation on venue space. It also helps operators continue into digital marketing more effectively, because organizers can collect data on which projects each customer is especially interested in and use that data for future retargeting.

“Thailand Virtual Property Expo 2021, which will take place next year, will be a digital solution that helps connect buyers and sellers, creates opportunities amid crisis for Thai real estate operators, and also helps stimulate the country’s economy. Any operators interested in joining can contact YDM Thailand for more information,” Mr. Pasapong said.