Guide · Marketing plan
A real estate marketing plan for a development: calculating the budget from your sales target
A typical marketing plan starts with the budget: «we have MX$300,000 a month, let's split it across channels». A developer's plan starts from the other end: how many units need to sell, and how many meetings, qualified leads and inquiries that takes. The budget comes out at the end of the calculation. Here's a template for that plan: preparation, calculation, sales stages, channels, measurement and calendar.
What to prepare before ads go live
Ads only bring people in. If there's nothing to show them and nobody to answer when they arrive, the budget is wasted. Before launch, check:
| What | Ready when |
|---|---|
| Product and materials | Renders, floor plans, master plan, price list, payment plans, and dated construction progress exist |
| Documents | A permit package you can show buyers before the reservation |
| Landing pages | A page or quiz for each offer, with the «from» price and down payment visible |
| CRM | Every lead arrives with its source, fact-based statuses, and disqualification reasons from a list |
| Lead response | First WhatsApp message within minutes, including nights and weekends |
| Phone numbers | Company numbers for every sales rep, one number across the buyer's whole journey |
| Brokers | One price list, client registration rules, and commission in the contract |
Why each row matters is covered in the guides on non-obvious developer mistakes and the WhatsApp chatbot.
Calculating from the sales target
Work the funnel from the bottom up. Use conversion rates from your own history over the last few months. If you don't have history, start with conservative estimates and recalculate after a month of work.
| Stage | Conversion to next stage | Needed per month |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | plan target | 10 |
| Meetings | ≈13% of meetings end in a sale | ≈80 |
| Qualified leads | ≈30% reach a meeting | ≈270 |
| Leads with first contact | ≈30% qualify | ≈900 |
| Leads | ≈30% get reached | ≈3,000 |
| Budget | CPL MX$200 | ≈MX$600,000 |
The table also shows the levers. If first contact rises from 30% to 60%, the same sales target needs half the leads and half the budget. That's why a marketing plan covers not only ad channels, but also response speed and follow-up. The numbers come from the running example in the real estate sales funnel guide. Run it with your own numbers in the budget calculator.
Sales stages and what to do at each
| Stage | Marketing's job | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Before sales open | Build a waiting list, prepare brokers, reactivate the old database | Don't take money before permits: in Nuevo León the law explicitly prohibits it. More in the pre-construction guide |
| Launch | As many qualified leads and meetings as possible for the first, best prices | Response within minutes, daily status checks |
| Core sales | A steady flow of meetings, with construction progress as the main argument | Optimization for qualified leads, weekly report |
| Final units | Sell what's left: dedicated creatives and landing pages for specific floor plans | Leads get more expensive, and that's normal: the less popular units remain |
Channels and their role
| Channel | Role in the plan |
|---|---|
| Meta: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp | The main lead volume, reach and project awareness |
| Google: search | People already searching for housing in your area, or for your project by name |
| Real estate portals | An additional flow of people who are already choosing |
| Brokers | In our experience, about half of pre-construction sales |
| Your old database | The cheapest leads: you've already paid for them. See lead reactivation |
| Buyer referrals | They work when the developer keeps its promises |
Don't turn off awareness ads just because last-click sales are credited to search or brokers. Often those ads are what brought in the person who later searched for the project by name. How to account for it is covered in the end-to-end analytics guide.
How to measure the plan
- Weekly: leads, qualified leads and CPQL, meetings and cost per meeting, reservations by channel, and time to first response.
- Monthly: sales, CAC and ROMI by channel, checked against the sales target.
- Data back to your ads: qualified leads and meetings from the CRM flow to Meta and Google so ads learn from sales. See Meta Conversions API.
A calendar for the first 90 days
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Weeks 1–2 | Materials, landing pages, CRM, company numbers, the first WhatsApp message, broker rules |
| Weeks 3–4 | Launch ads with 2–3 offers, check response and statuses daily, reactivate the old database |
| Month 2 | Turn off combinations with no qualified leads, move budget to the best ones, connect CRM stage events to your ads |
| Month 3 | Recalculate the plan with real conversion rates, decide where to add budget and where to fix sales |
Frequently asked questions
How do you build a marketing plan for a real estate development?
Start with the sales target and work the funnel from the bottom up: how many meetings, qualified leads and inquiries you need. The budget comes out at the end. Before launch, prepare materials, landing pages, the CRM, and fast lead response.
How much should you spend on marketing a real estate project?
Not a percentage of revenue, but a calculation: the sales target, your conversion rates at each funnel stage, and cost per lead. Recalculate after a month with real numbers: the first month usually costs more.
Which channels does a developer need?
Usually Meta ads, Google search, portals, brokers, the old database and referrals. Each channel plays a different role, so compare them by cost per qualified lead, per meeting and per sale, not cost per inquiry.
What if sales are behind plan?
Check the funnel stage by stage: are there enough leads, are they answered within minutes, how many qualify and reach a meeting. Often the lever isn't the budget but first contact and follow-up.