Smart Real-Estate Marketing: Turning Your Property into an International Brand

One of the questions every real-estate developer faces is how to market the project: choosing the target audience and the marketing message. But what do I do when I’m building an apartment block in Bucharest, Athens or Porto and want to sell the apartments to Israeli investors on the one hand, and to the local public in each country on the other? How do I sell the same apartment both to the Israeli investor and to the young Portuguese couple?

“Real estate is a local business,” Donald Trump, the incoming US president, once said. “You need to understand the local market, the culture, the needs of the people.”

Trump is right. International real-estate marketing requires a deep understanding of diverse target audiences, each with its own needs, preferences and culture. To succeed and maximize sales potential, developers have to adapt their marketing strategy to the different markets, using the right marketing channels and writing effective marketing messages.

Many Israeli developers I’ve met over the years learned the hard way that Tel Aviv is not Bucharest or Porto, even before we get to marketing. Israelis tend to prefer spacious, modern, well-equipped apartments with a balcony or garden. Greeks and Portuguese, especially in the big cities, tend to prefer apartments with local character that blend into their surroundings, and their needs and preferences lean toward smaller apartments. Anyone who built a building with a large share of 5-room apartments struggled to sell it to the local market, while studios up to 3-room apartments will sell quickly and easily both to Israeli investors and to local buyers.

But when it comes to marketing, the story is no less complicated, and here too Israeli developers tend to choose the easy, familiar solution, which often turns out not to be the right one.

The first step in international real-estate marketing is a thorough analysis of the target audiences. It’s important to understand the motives for buying property abroad, the needs and preferences of each audience, and the cultural differences that affect decision-making.

A study by Knight Frank found that international investors are mainly looking for properties with high returns and stability (Knight Frank, 2023). In contrast, a CBRE study showed that people upgrading their home are looking for a quality property in a pleasant, safe environment, with access to transport, education and community services (CBRE, 2022).

“Success in real estate isn’t just about buying and selling properties. It’s about understanding people.” Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad”.

Common motives among Israelis for buying property abroad are investment, emigration or buying a holiday home. So when the developer markets to the Israeli audience, the emphasis will be on advantages such as high returns, potential for value growth, personal safety, being close to a Jewish community or easy access to Israel. The Greek, Portuguese or Italian buyer, on the other hand, is looking to buy an apartment to upgrade their home, to be close to work or family, close to public transport, or as a holiday home. So the marketing message for each of these audiences is different. For the local audience the emphasis will be on quality of life, a pleasant environment and closeness to community services, using local terms and referring to local cultural features and lifestyle. The marketing message for the Israeli audience, by contrast, will emphasize the investment advantages, personal safety, closeness to a Jewish community and access to Israel, in direct, clear language.

Once the target audiences are identified, it’s important to choose the right marketing channels for each market. Digital channels such as websites, social networks and paid campaigns are important tools, but they must be adapted to the audience. Every country (and sometimes every segment of the audience) has its own local listing sites like Israel’s Yad2, and there are also specific local ways to market to the local public, from billboards to promotions and offline advertising channels.

A Statista study found that 93% of potential property buyers use the internet to search for properties (Statista, 2024).

Understanding the differences between audiences, marketing channels and marketing messages is critical to success in international real-estate marketing. By adapting their marketing strategy to the different markets, developers can maximize sales potential and reach the right audiences.