D&B Properties: Attracting Clients for Dubai Real Estate Amid High Market Competition in Russia

Background

In 2021, the real estate market in the UAE fully stabilized after the pandemic, sparking interest from investors worldwide, including Russia. It was driven by sensible factors: open borders, visa-free entry, and attractive "bonuses" like the golden visa offered upon transaction completion.

For Russian investors, real estate purchases in Dubai became particularly relevant in 2022, when substantial political and economic changes led many entrepreneurs to consider expanding businesses abroad, seeking comfortable relocation options outside Russia, or exploring profitable investments abroad. This was the ideal moment for Dubai companies to make themselves known to the Russian-speaking audience.

Goal

In March 2022, D&B Properties approached us, recognizing the growing interest of Russians in Dubai real estate. The client was clear about what they wanted: more commercial transactions with the Russian-speaking audience. In marketing terms, they were looking for qualified leads from Russia.

The task seemed promising and feasible, but there were some challenges. A preliminary market analysis revealed a highly competitive environment with an entrenched leadership. It was unlikely that the current market leaders would concede ground to new entrants. D&B Properties' status as one of Dubai's leading brokerage companies with a good reputation allowed us to present our client favorably in the Russian online space.

Properties' status as one of Dubai's leading brokerage companies with a good reputation allowed us to present our client favorably in the Russian online space.

Solutions

D&B Properties' promotion in Russia was a global effort to test various hypotheses. The client completely trusted us and agreed to all the ideas that arose during the project. Throughout our year-long collaboration, we saw significant achievements but we also faced challenges. However, D&B Properties' dealings with Russian-speaking clients began to come to fruition, much to the satisfaction of the client.

Launching Russian-language Landings with Paid Search Advertising in Yandex

At the time of contacting RMAA, the client did not have any Russian-language resources, so our first task was to develop a landing page. D&B Properties had two significant advantages that became the foundation of our landing page strategies:

• Russian-speaking real estate agents
• A comprehensive catalog of properties in Dubai with various pricing options

Creating a multipage site to bring everything ‘under one roof’ would have been inefficient, as the potential audience had widely varying needs. Additionally, clients differed in their familiarity with Dubai real estate. While some wanted to speak directly with an agent, others were interested in viewing prices and comparing options. We aimed to accommodate all audience requests.

The landing page design was created according to the client's brand book, and we adapted content from English to Russian.

The first D&B Properties landing pages were targeted at those who needed professional consultation. These ‘one-pagers’ had similar designs and content, but each contact form was tailored to individual agents. At that time, D&B had three key Russian-speaking agents working in Dubai direction. Using UTM tags, we tracked which page performed best, allowing leads to be directed to specific agents without delay. This format worked well for the first few months. However, we quickly realized that, in addition to consulting a Russian-speaking real estate agent, potential clients were very interested in viewing properties, and the more, the better.

The idea for the new prototype was based on the D&B Properties real estate catalog. On the website, users could explore featured real estate projects in detail, particularly those still under construction (up to 2026). Most importantly, they had the option to download the current catalog for free and then request a consultation with a Russian-speaking real estate agent, either immediately or after reviewing the available listings. In this way, we addressed all essential needs of potential clients on a single landing page. Later, we developed a separate version, “D&B Properties: Luxury Division,” which showcased the most expensive properties and also offered the option to download the catalog.

It was clear that organic promotion of the created pages in search engines was not an option. So, we focused on paid ads in Yandex. Usually, case studies don't highlight flaws, emphasizing only success. However, we have to be honest and admit that we made a mistake during the Yandex promotion stage.

This was because Yandex.Direct was transitioning from manual bid management in ad auctions to automated strategies at that time. Initially, many paid ads specialists, including us, were skeptical of this system update. So, we continued to manually control the campaign, even as leads began to decline significantly. We had to adjust on the spot, connect Yandex’s Campaign Wizard, and actively test new Yandex.Direct algorithms. The optimal solution for the project was an automated conversion optimization strategy, which we followed for most of the campaign.

Nonetheless, we still had to adjust keywords, analyze competitors, and test additional hypotheses weekly. This approach is best when the main advertising target is a high-value product in a highly competitive market. Without these systematic actions, no automated service can generate qualified leads. In addition to this basic set of options, a separate item included creatives for media advertising in the Yandex Advertising Network and text formats for search results. Numerous design options were created for these, and we continuously improved and developed new creatives.

The work was a success. The D&B Properties campaign started to receive over 100 requests per week by the end of 2022. From the feedback we received from the client, it became clear that not all inquiries are qualified. This results in real estate agents spending a lot of time on them. We therefore took over the initial call to a user who had filled out a form on any of the lendings.

We pre-qualified leads using a script that allowed us to quickly ascertain whether a person was interested in buying Dubai real estate or not. If the user responded in the positive way, their contacts were immediately transferred to the D&B Properties agent, with the exact time when the person would be waiting for a telephone consultation. This made the agents' job much easier and further engendered trust in us. Later, lead prequalification was used in social media promotion and for invitations of potential audiences to the client's special event in Moscow.

Exclusive Road Show in Moscow

Six months after the start of the digital campaign, the client decided to hold an offline event in Russia. We were tasked with attracting potential clients interested in purchasing Dubai real estate to the Road Show.

Part of the audience was handled by D&B Properties, who sent email invitations to their existing database of Russian-speaking users from Yandex. To engage a ‘colder’ audience, we used paid social and paid ads, as well as Telegram. For the event’s announcement, we posted promotional content on 15 Telegram channels related to real estate, business, and relocation. The text creatives varied depending on the type of channel to make the posts more native and build trust with the readers.

Clicks on ads across various platforms led users to the client's website, which was specially created for the project. The audience engagement process was as follows: a user filled out a form, we promptly contacted them, and confirmed their attendance at the event. All data was then transferred to D&B Properties. The Dubai Real Estate Road Show, organized by the client, took place on September 1-2 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow. The event was attended by more than 100 people, and we received positive feedback from D&B Properties.

Despite the success and the increase in the flow of clients, we knew this was not the limit. We had to keep moving forward in a segment with very high competition. To increase the reach of the campaign, we decided to showcase the client on social networks tailored to the Russian-speaking audience.

SMM Strategy Development Focusing on Targeted Advertising

SMM promotion of D&B Properties was based on the two leading social networks in Russia. Telegram is the ideal platform for reaching a large business audience, while VK offers unparalleled targeting capabilities for launching highly effective campaigns.

The content was adapted to suit the specific characteristics of the social networks. In Telegram, we focused on the news text format with additional visuals. At the same time, we combined commercial posts with informational materials about the Dubai business market. This provided an additional incentive to buy real estate.

We found that the interaction flow for the channel audience, based on the principle "read the news, wanted to buy, opened the Telegram profile, visited the website, and finally filled out the form," was too complex for users. Therefore, we developed a Telegram bot to provide prompt support for potential clients within Telegram. With its help, users could contact a D&B Properties real estate agent, schedule a consultation, or browse the catalog of available properties. The Telegram bot was built using Python, meaning it was fully automated to meet the needs of the channel and did not rely on limited-functionality builder programs.

By March 2023, the D&B Properties RU Telegram channel had gained 1,385 active subscribers thanks to engaging content and collaborations with other business channels within the messenger (+883 subscribers). This was a relatively simple yet effective solution for increasing the campaign's reach with a focus on useful business content. Additionally, the content of the D&B Properties | Dubai | Luxury Real Estate VK group was updated with client videos featuring Russian subtitles. Posts were published on average once every 3-4 days, which resulted in a significant organic user reach: more than 1,000 subscribers in just one month. The total impressions (including organic promotion plus promo posts) reached approximately 1.343M. In doing so, we successfully targeted the desired audience: users aged 25-55 with interests in IT services, financial and legal support, business services, commercial real estate, business loans, real estate, society and politics, banking, markets and taxes, investments, and more.

The main advantage of VK was its paid promotion options and the ability to find potential clients. The platform's functionality allowed for testing a variety of strategies within the core lead generation efforts

We used a quiz (i.e., a questionnaire), after completing which the user received a brochure with current offers from the client, a contact form within the VK community, a subscription format for newsletters, and the "classic" option of transitioning to the website from the ad creative. The audience parameters varied from key queries to attracting followers from other groups interested in real estate. The number of creatives used in one campaign over three months of promotion exceeded 5. After achieving the KPI, the ads were updated, and new ad combinations were created.

The total number of ad impressions over three months reached 2.91M, with 7,050 clicks on the ads. We significantly reduced the cost per click to 50 rubles, which is an excellent result in the high-end product segment. Most importantly, our work generated qualified leads for the client. Even after the campaign ended in June 2023, users remained active in the VK group. We continued sharing all potential client data from VK with D&B Properties agents for two months following the project’s completion.

Results

Certainly, there’s a lot to say about a campaign of this scale, but let’s focus on the results, as they best reflect its effectiveness.

The promotion period for D&B Properties services lasted over a year, from March 2022 to July 2023. During this time, we provided the client with approximately 200 qualified leads, all within budget. The most effective phase of the campaign began around October 2022, after Yandex.Direct’s algorithms shifted to automated strategies, yielding 125 qualified leads. Additionally, paid social on VK achieved excellent results, generating 25 leads over three months.

Throughout the project, the client was satisfied, especially after we implemented lead prequalification technology, which saved D&B Properties’ agents time significantly. This tool helped us understand potential clients’ behavior, their needs, and their purchasing capacity. There were varied cases: some clients sought consultation and later purchased, while others were reluctant to travel to Dubai for a deal and delegated all information to D&B Properties. Some insisted on in-person consultations in Dubai, booking time early in the prequalification stage. Client budgets ranged from the minimum threshold (around $200,000) for properties under construction to substantial investments (averaging $500,000–900,000) for ready-to-move apartments in prime waterfront locations. This feedback allowed us to adjust creatives, site forms, test new hypotheses, and fully meet client demands.

By the fall of 2023, interest from Russian investors in Dubai real estate had decreased, leading to the project’s end. Even if we had continued, the strategies mentioned above would have needed significant adjustments, shifting to a brand-awareness approach. To clarify, lead generation is a fast-acting process that brings in clients almost immediately, making long-term strategies less relevant. In short: testing, testing, and more testing. If the client isn’t prepared for real-time adjustments and additional activities, it’s best to inform them upfront that results may not meet their expectations.