How can Native Advertising Boost the Brand Awareness and Sales of your Real Estate Projects?
One of the most successful businesses in the world of construction is the Real Estate industry. This industry covers many aspects of property, including developing, leasing, appraisal, marketing, and management of commercial, residential, agricultural, and industrial properties. Like any other industry, it fluctuates depending on the economy; still, amid all the uncertainty of the past year, it has remained consistent since people are constantly in need of homes, businesses, and commercial spaces.
Real Estate has long been a core economic sector and investment choice in the MENA. Realizing its importance in shaping economies, acting as a catalyst for growth, and diversifying the economy, many governments champion real estate development projects and establish ambitious mega-cities and urban developments.
MENA countries have established many major real estate projects in many of their capital cities, including Riyadh, Dubai, and Cairo; there is a growing pressure owing to an increase in supply. Cost-conscious residents have a wide range of projects to choose from, forcing developers to increase incentives and exert more efforts to secure customers.
Decades ago, newspaper ads, television ads, and billboards would have been the dominant marketing channels to promote a company’s real estate project; now, companies have to look for other media channels as customers spend more and more time online. Faced with the challenge of raising brand awareness, driving interest in their properties, generating more qualified leads, and increasing sales, real estate companies have looked towards digital and native advertising to reach potential customers.
So Why Use Native Advertising?
- Offers non-disruptive experience, native ads are better received by the target audience.
- Enables you to raise your brand awareness and influence users at a subconscious level to see your native ads as part of their experience of consuming relevant content.
- Enables you to reach mobile users more easily.
- Offer top-notch targeting capabilities. Now, you can target your audience based on their browsing and reading interests by targeting specific publishers in the MENA, geographical location (country and city), devices (desktop, android, or iOS), and ISP (internet service providers).
- Provide a variety of native ads format that enables you to reach out to various audience segments including recommendation ads, inline ads, and video ads.
- Offer multiple payment models, including CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per thousand views), CPV (cost per video view), and CPA (cost per action).
How can you run a successful Real Estate ad campaign?
- Research your competitors before launching your campaign to get inspired and create your unique marketing angle.
- Feature people in your images. This trick increases your brand familiarity, purchases, and recommendations, especially to mobile users. Use interesting, high-quality images to attract your audience.
- Use your logo in your ad; this can increase fixation by 25%.
- Use high-quality video content that is 15 seconds long; this can increase purchase intent.
- Avoid using clickbait captions as consumers can tell when they are misled.
- Mention any offers or promotions in your title.
- Ensure that your CTA (call to action) is clear.
- Create easy-to-navigate landing pages with easy signup steps.
- Make sure your ads are always mobile-friendly.
- Segment your audience and run different campaigns for each group that shares the same location and interest.
- Target premium publishers in the country you are targeting to maximize your exposure and increase the chances of landing quality leads.
- A/B test various ad images and titles to assess which combination engages people more.
If you are trying to market your real estate project, we do suggest you explore the world of native advertising. The Real Estate industry is one of the most booming industries on the Speakol network. Real Estate ads have been displayed more than 240 million times, securing over 1.1 million clicks. With a reasonable CPL, our customers have secured thousands of qualified leads, which significantly increased their sales and maximized their profits.
Now is the time to try native advertising.
What Types of Advertisements Do We Provide?
An overview of the different types of advertisements that advertisers have access to.
Speakol provides you with a diversified product range of digital advertisements for you to capitalize on. Below are the 4 types of ads you can use to secure maximum reach and increase product awareness.
Recommendation Ads:
Recommendation ads allow you to promote your products and brands along with other recommended articles on our extensive publishers’ network. This will enable you to reach a wider audience of more than 75 million monthly unique users.
Our platform detects content relevance and ideally displays your ads to users along with other related content that users are more likely interested in viewing. You can feature your ads alongside exciting content that appeal to users’ preferences, current interests, and browsing modes, which renders them more likely to engage with your ads. This precise targeting grants a non-disruptive and smooth user experience and maximizes click potential and conversion.
Once you prescribe to Speakol’s recommendation ads, your ads will be featured on targeted publications that contain more than 10 million articles and content pieces.
Campaign Requirements:
- Title ( the maximum length of ad title is 70 characters.)
- Landing page
- Image (dimension 640×360 with a size not exceeding 300KB)
Mobile Feed:
Since most potential clients are on their mobile phones, then so should your ads. Millions of users are using their mobile phones, creating unprecedented traffic that should optimize your brand visibility to ensure that your ads reach your target audience in the best possible way.
Speakol’s mobile feed provides continuous scrolling of relevant content, which mirrors the way users are accustomed to on social media platforms. Our platform detects users’ devices and displays ads in the best possible format that matches the type of devices. This feature provides an enjoyable user experience.
Campaign Requirements:
- Title ( the maximum length of ad title is 70 characters.)
- Landing Page
- Image (dimension 640×360 with a size not exceeding 300KB)
Inline Ads:
Speakol’s Inline ads feature your brand every time your targeted keywords are mentioned on our publishers’ network.
To promote your brand, you can bid on relevant keywords to narrow down and target your potential customers. Every time your chosen keywords appear in any article or editorial content, your contextual ads will appear to users.
This feature will increase your brand visibility, ensure wider reach, and boost your conversion rates.
*Please Note:
i) you can have a maximum of 3 inline ads per article.
ii) Speakol recommends targeting 4-5 keywords per adset.
Video Ads:
Video ads enable you to promote a video alongside articles in the recommendation section. This features your brand using one of the most effective marketing tools, which has proven to be more exciting and engaging. Many businesses employ video to prompt company profiles value propositions, products, services, as well as instructional and informational videos.
Launch your video ad campaigns and watch out conversion rates skyrocket, boosting your engagement, and maximizing your optimal ROI.
Campaign Requirements:
- Title ( the maximum length of ad title is 70 characters.)
- Landing page
- Video (the maximum length of the video is 30 seconds)
Video Specs:
- Size should not exceed 15 MB.
- File format needs to one of the following (MP4, MOV, WebM, WAVE, PCM).
- Recommended Dimensions: 374*219.4 (600×315 Recommended)
- Video Duration: 30 seconds (maximum length) with no minimum length
- The maximum number of frames is 30fps.
*Please Note:
i) the CPV($0.01) will be calculated after the video runs for 5 seconds.
To get started, visit our website and sign up to take advantage of the digital space and take your business even further. You can click on our interactive chatbot to get quick help and talk to an Account Manager for any further inquiries.
Please read our full guide on pricing for the details of all minimum prices for CPC, CPV, and CPM
Speakol Pixel Overview
Everything you need to know about tracking using Speakol’s Pixel Code.
What is the Speakol Pixel?
Speakol’s Pixel is an analytic add-on that allows you to comprehend actions users take on your website or landing pages and track user conversions originating from Speakol’s recommendation platform. It enables you to optimize your marketing campaigns, achieve your goals, and secure valuable actions. Once users take the desired action on your website, the Speakol Pixel will be activated and directly update your Speakol campaign report.
Why Use the Speakol Pixel?
Speakol Pixel serves as a link that connects between your landing page and the Speakol dashboard. Once you set up the Speakol Pixel, you can track conversions to learn more about user behavior and, consequently, modify and update your targeting options. You can use it to improve performance and track metrics such as conversion rates and values. The Pixel will provide you with invaluable information to measure the performance, ROI, and ROAS.
What type of Data does the Speakol Pixel Collect?
The Speakol Pixel collects data relevant to monitoring and optimizing performance, including page views, leads, purchases, add to cart, add to wish list, and sign up.
- Website Conversions: This includes new leads, purchases, and email signups.
- Website Actions: This includes button/link clicks on your website.
- Pageviews: This means tracking the pages a user visits after they click on your campaign ad and the number of times visited
How does the Speakol Pixel Work?
Once users click on one of your campaign ads displayed on one of our Speakol Widgets, they will be directed to your landing page. If the Speakol Pixel code is enabled, the information will flow from your landing page to your Speakol dashboard. Speakol will be able to collect relevant data to generate a detailed report about your campaign’s performance, the behavior of users, and the actions they have taken on your landing page.
Campaign Device Targeting Options
Targeting the right audience who is more likely interested in your campaign ads raises the chances of your Speakol campaign’s success. Therefore, you must determine the devices you want to target. Speakol allows you to target Desktop, iOs, and Android devices.
With Device targeting, you can choose the devices, where your campaign ads can be displayed. This feature will help you make the best of your Speakol Ad campaigns, especially if some of your products or services appeal more to users of specific devices. So, for instance, if you want to promote a mobile application, it will be better to target mobile devices only rather than include desktops.
If you plan to target multiple devices, it will be best if you set up separate campaigns for each device, to better access the strengths and shortcomings of each campaign, enhance the drawbacks, and achieve the best possible results.
How to set your Device Targeting Options:
- Press Create Campaign
- On the Targeting Options page, Press Advanced Options.
- When asked about Targeting devices, you can select the ones you want to include and deselect the ones you want to exclude. You can choose between targeting desktops, iOS, and Android devices.
Why Native Video Advertising is the New Best Thing?
Native Video Advertising is one of the fastest-growing segments of digital marketing. According to eMarketer, advertisers had spent around 38.7% of their digital video advertising budgets on native videos in 2020. This is hardly surprising since videos have attracted web users when display ads were less noticed. Therefore, if you aren’t already using native ads, it is hay time you start.
So What is Native Video Advertising?
It is the seamless integration and display of an in-feed branded video into existing content on the open web. Like native advertising, native video advertising matches the look, feel, and visual context of any website or app they appear on. Native video ads blend in with their surroundings and take on the natural environment where they are seen just like chameleons.
Native Video Content employs two of the most appealing online marketing trends, which are native advertising and videos, which are informative and engaging. Since videos focus more on storytelling than product centricity or sales orientation, you can easily convey your message to interested and engaged users without disrupting their browsing experience; on the contrary, you encourage them to click. This way, video boosts conversions and sales and provides great ROI.
Why Use Native Video Advertising?
Video Ads are great to boost your brand awareness, generate engagement, and build trust. You can also use video marketing to drive post-click landing page traffic and generate sales by including a compelling CTA (call to action).
Video ads are also recommended because:
- 80% of viewers can recall a video ad they have seen within 30 days, which is the highest of any type of digital advertising.
- 95% of viewers are more likely to recall a CTA after watching a video in comparison to only 10% after reading it in text.
- 90% of users report that product videos encourage them to settle purchasing decisions.
- Users are 27.4 times more likely to click-through on videos.
Besides, video ads do not start to play until it comes into the users’ full view; it will begin playing without sound to avoid disrupting the user, but the view can click on the ad to activate the sound giving him full control to engage and interact with the video ad.
So what are some of the Top Video Advertising Trends?
- Shorter Video Ads: Brands have been challenged to create engaging videos that are valuable, convey a message, and short enough to beat the skip button and short attention spans. Some videos are as short as 15 sec, which calls for impactful content that induces an immediate emotional response from viewers.
- Mobile-first advertising: 73% of generation Z and millennial consumers watch more videos on their mobile devices. Reports have found that consumers spend an average of 47 minutes on video on mobile in comparison to 24 minutes average on their laptops.
So, why don’t you try video ads on Speakol?
In January 2020 alone, video ads on our platform have received:
- 34% VTR (video through rate)
- 18% saw the last two-quarters of the video.
- 15% Video Completion
Marketing is about giving the audience what they want. Native videos do just that. They tell a story, engage your audience, trigger emotions, create a sense of affinity, raise your brand awareness and encourage action.
Don’t believe us. Try us out yourself.
Spiritual Art / Entrepreneurship – Mariam Gaber
Throwback to one of our insightful talks on entrepreneurship and art.
“It isn’t just about loving something; you have to be consistent and persistent. You can’t deal with your passion at face value; it has to consume your body and soul, and drive you to keep going even when it isn’t convenient.”
Mariam Gaber is a Product Designer at Speakol. In an extraordinary, inspiring talk, she shared with the team how she discovered her passion for Moroccan art and spirituality, and how she managed to establish a profiting project by exploring the beauty and depth of her newfound interest.
Mariam says, “it all started with my graduation project. I wanted to create an artwork based on “Obet el Gholy” in Egypt; it is an old place that hosts cultural, spiritual, and artistic performances. Through my extensive research, I learned more about Sufism in various countries, which introduced me to Sufism in Morroco and led me to further explore the beauty of Moroccan art. It became the spark that ignited my passion for I instantly fell in love. I was inspired by the beauty and spirituality of Moroccan culture, patterns, and artworks; all my paintings and drawings reflected my fascination.
In 2016, I launched “Roh” which is Arabic for Soul. I started making notebooks and planners using the beautiful and vibrant colors and designs of Moroccan art. The content, however, was spiritual, reflecting divine qualities. A sense of ‘belonging and connection’ developed between me and this form of art, especially after my trip to Morocco. There, I immersed myself into everything Morrocan.
There is a vast international community that shares the same passion and enthusiasm; therefore, I am lucky to learn more and be able to express my passion through art.”
About Speakol
Speakol is the most extensive content discovery and native advertising network in the MENA and GCC region. Our technology enables publishers to boost users’ engagement and monetize their online presence and allows advertisers to target potential customers and promote their brands.
Speakol believes it is only as strong as it’s people. We are always on the lookout to infuse our team with new talents. If you are interested in joining the team, visit our Careers Page.
Animal Love – Alaa Amr
Putting the passion in compassion, Alaa Amr, our Inbound Account Manager inspires us with her love for animals and reminds us of the importance of understanding and living in harmony with these beautiful souls.
“I discovered my love for animals 10 years ago when my friend’s cat gave birth, and I received one of the kittens. I was a little indifferent at the beginning but thought I would give it a go. Little did I know it would turn into an obsession. Now, a decade later, I dream of opening an animal shelter to help these beautiful creatures find the homes they deserve.”
Alaa actively reports animal abusers and saves strays from people, who attempt to poison them. “You have to be compassionate and connect with these animals, they have souls, and it’s not their fault. Those who adopt, their pets aren’t pets; they’re part of the family as any other member.”
She continues, “I would like to remind people that during these difficult times, it is important to remember that animals do not carry the COVID-19 virus. I see people abandoning their pets under the misconception that they may become infected. Animals are safer than all of us.
Alaa concludes with advisory words of wisdom: “I think one of the best decisions new parents can take is to provide their babies with pets. It teaches responsibility, love, and kindness instead of aggression. It’s simpler than people think once you start.
Cats can be a little less demanding than dogs in my view. It’s good to remember that cats (and most pets) will adapt to their owners, so don’t be surprised if you see yourself in your furry best friend”.
About Speakol
Speakol is the most extensive content discovery and native advertising network in the MENA and GCC region. Our technology enables publishers to boost users’ engagement and monetize their online presence and allows advertisers to target potential customers and promote their brands.
Speakol believes it is only as strong as it’s people. We are always on the lookout to infuse our team with new talents. If you are interested in joining the team, visit our Careers Page.
Speakol Speaks Out On Being Back In The Office
“We are back to our regularly scheduled program”.
Months ago, the world was overtaken by storm with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries announced lockdowns and companies had to make tough decisions regarding their employees and their operations, which impacted the world economy to a downfall.
However, the hard work of sleepless medical personnel, the commitment of rule-abiding citizens, and the strict government regulations have finally started to pay off. We finally see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel with the lifting of restrictions and life slowly going back to normal.
As the saying goes, “The show must go on,” and eventually it has. With companies placing safety regulations and welcoming their staff back to their offices, Speakol has joined the conversation.
We talked with our colleagues to get their take on being back in the office during these times after working from home for such a long time.
Our Chief Commercial Officer (C.C.O), Youssef Assaad, gave us an enlightening perspective:
“Managing a team from home has its challenges. However, having faith in their commitment, and capabilities has helped the boat sail smoothly. Being back has proved a greater advantage in synchronizing and harmonizing the team to reach the goals we all work hard to achieve. I’m also very pleased to see our management and HR department take the necessary precautions regarding the novel coronavirus, prioritizing our people’s safety and health.”
Alaa, our HR wiz, who is making sure everyone goes back to a safe environment, comments:
“Very happy. I feel like I’m taking the first steps back to my normal life, and I can’t wait to go back to a full sense of stability and familiar routine. I’m very grateful.”
We all are Alaa, especially since returning to the office, has also meant enjoying the new office for the first time. With the celebration of the new office, we have not overlooked the importance of maintaining social distancing, sanitation and wearing face masks.
“I’m really excited to be working in the new office and I’m loving the seating arrangements and design, and I’m definitely happier to be able to see all the new people whom we were introduced to and communicated with over zoom.”
From our newcomers, who have joined the team during our working from home period:
“I feel united with the family, and felt what Speakol is actually all about.”
“As a newcomer, I’m glad that I’m in the office soon after starting, interacting with the team better compared to doing it online. It’s easier to learn here than it is through zoom calls since my colleagues are right next to me.”
We’re all glad to have each and every one of you, and it’s definitely a pleasure to welcome everyone on board.
And since a picture is worth a thousand words, we thought a boomerang was worth a million. We asked our Publishers Relationship Manager how she felt, being back in the office after so long. Her response:
Well received Shorok.
It’s normal that with change comes a buffer period before finding a resemblance of “normality”:
“It feels a little weird after being home for so long and it took some time to adjust mentally and emotionally, but definitely way more excited to work among everyone rather than alone in my room”
“It’s taking some time to get used to the old sleeping hours, rather than waking up 10 minutes before our morning meetings, but productivity as a team is definitely clearer.”
It seems excitement and satisfaction have been all around during this first week back.
“The greatest thing of being back to the office, other than reuniting with my colleagues and having a clearer image of working hours – since working from home for an extended period of time can be challenging as the lines between work and personal time can get blurred at times – is being able to go back to our normal life again.”
“I’ve recharged my productivity and its a change from my home routine. It’s also much easier compared to online communication especially when it comes to designs work.”
Thank you to all those who have helped make the transition period smoother and safer for us all.
About Speakol
Speakol is the most extensive content discovery and native advertising network in the MENA and GCC region. Our technology enables publishers to boost users’ engagement and monetize their online presence and allows advertisers to target potential customers and promote their brands.
Speakol believes it is only as strong as it’s people. We are always on the lookout to infuse our team with new talents. If you are interested in joining the team, visit our Careers Page.
Speakol Celebrates World Mental Health Day
Today the world celebrates World Mental Health Day to remind us of the importance of being aware of how other people around us might be suffering from things we know nothing of, and Speakol celebrates with it.
Life is not always easy; in fact, for most people, it rarely is. It’s full of expectations & duties: duties towards your family, job, society, and even your friends and social life. When there aren’t any duties, there are problems to solve, losses to grieve, or simply the pressures of juggling everything at once.
However, staying aware of this fact can help alter our behavior and take us a long way. Our HR guru, Alaa Hassan, gives us a powerful note on how this matter is crucially important within the corporate world.
“This year specifically was a big hit to a lot of people’s mental health. Jobs were lost, families destroyed, and even lives lost. So much has happened in a matter of months. Whether you have managed to keep your job or not, everyone was locked up in their homes, unable to live a natural life, which made matters harder. There were many blogs and videos on how to make the most out of this experience, and thankfully we’re starting to come out of it, but it would be naïve to think that people are coming out of it the same way they entered.
As a ‘People Partner’, it is my job to care about people, to maintain a balance between having the business’s best interest at heart but even more so, our colleagues’. For me, even before COVID hit us, it has always been vital to notice the small details. I start worrying if I see someone is crouching or walking around the office with his/her face to the floor, or catch someone, who is generally calm, constantly fidgeting. I also worry if someone is typically outgoing and talkative, suddenly becoming silent and quiet; or notice a steady and gradual decline in someone’s performance, who is generally very hardworking and productive. I am not saying all these changes can be traced back to mental health issues, but I want to highlight that they could be signs; therefore, we must pay attention to these small things.
At Speakol, we incorporate awareness by adding “casual” leave days, besides our regular “annual” leaves, because we understand that there are days that are just more challenging than others to get out of bed and that people just need a breather. We are also aware of how hard our teams work, their dedication and commitment, and how pressuring work can get, which is why it’s important to constantly come up with ways to make people’s day. It can be as simple a gesture as providing everyone with morning donuts, or more significant and elaborate events such as frequent work retreats that help us all unwind.
It’s important to remember to treat employees as human beings with lives and difficulties, who have ups and downs. We should be mindful of this fact and recognize the signs when we see them, stay calm, understand, and act accordingly. We’re all part of one team, and we’re all working towards achieving the same goal.
I encourage every HR member to try and help their colleagues migrate back into the workplace, stay mindful of their behaviors, and be kind and understanding of their teammates’ personal lives and the challenges that they may be going through. Always stay kind.”
Speakol on Women’s Equality Day
The Women of Speakol Speak Out
A famous riddle:
A father and his son are driving and get into an accident, the father doesn’t make it, but the son survives and is rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival, the doctor says, “I can’t operate on this boy because he is my son”. How is this possible?
If you haven’t figured it out, the answer is at the end of the article.
Initially, this day was to commemorate women’s right to vote in the United States in 1920. However, the right to vote was merely the beginning of a movement addressing the oppression women faced within society. Women gaining the same rights, opportunities, and status as men is a fight that cannot be won by one group alone.
We asked the women of Speakol how they feel about this movement, especially in Egypt, what areas are more affected, and what needs to be done.
“As a mother first and an HR Business Partner second, I realize that it starts by raising my kids. I constantly teach my son to depend on himself and not expect the women in his life to “serve” him in any way, for the responsibilities are the same for both genders. As an HR person, I have to be gender-blind and give everyone a fair opportunity, seeing candidates as human beings not as “men” or “women”. Companies need to be mindful of women’s empowerment and equality. Management should never assume or think that women have more duties that would hinder their commitment or focus. Egypt still doesn’t enjoy full equality, but it is getting better than it was in the ’80s. Now we see more women as ministers, so I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
Powerful words from our HR Business Partner, Alaa Hassan. Hopefully, we keep moving towards that goal. We continue with a statement from our Branding Manager, Sarah Marsafy:
“Women worldwide have come a long way in terms of seeking equality. Still, I believe it is a work in progress. We, women, are not done yet; we work every day to prove our worth, capabilities, and talents. Therefore, it is inspiring to work with women, true leaders, who are constantly challenging themselves and their teams. We need to continue empowering women and granting them room to grow and realize their potential.”
And women continue to prove that there should not be a need to prove their capabilities in the first place.
“We’re still not there yet, but we’re seeing change. I think rural areas suffer the most; we need to raise awareness, organize campaigns, and educate the general public for equality to become part of everyone’s life. In Cairo, the situation is better, and people realize the importance of the issue. Parenting is the first step to achieve this goal. We have to treat our sons the same way we do our daughters and teach them that they get the same treatment, share the same responsibilities and duties. Companies have a large role to play; they cannot discriminate based on gender and discard all prejudice against married women and mothers, which we see a lot in Egypt. If there is a vacancy for a managerial position, it has to depend on proficiency and qualifications. We have to make sure we train and empower women the same way we do with men.” – Asmaa Alim, Sales Manager.
It’s not enough for women to support this movement alone, and our Chief Commercial Officer, Youssef Assaad, gave us a strong statement on the matter:
“Women equality is something that should have never been an issue, to begin with, and it’s not enough to support it verbally. It’s important to remember the word equality that men and women should get equal rights, opportunities, and, consequently, returns. But this is a fight women should not go through alone. It’s everyone’s responsibility to acknowledge the problem that has existed for a long time, and men have to make sure they stand firm beside women on this. Most of my team are women, and I can confidently say that my reliance on them and my acknowledgment of them have never been hindered based on their gender. Every day, they prove that it’s important to give women equal rights in every aspect of the business”.
Speakol is also very proud of its ladies in tech. Our Chief Technology Officer, Mahmoud Abdel-Fattah, shared his perspective with us.
“Women equality is an issue that should be addressed by society as a whole. In tech, we need to be gender-blind, and remove any bias or prejudice; we should grant equal opportunities, recognize talent, hard work, and perseverance. We should empower women and support them to realize their full potential. I am privileged to work with talented women, who are not just brilliant at what they do, but who are also leaders, and mentors. They are extremely reliable and hardworking and bring much-needed balance to the team.”
It seems like a long road, but one worth taking, and it can’t be achieved without a collective effort.
And if you haven’t figured it out by now, the answer to the riddle was:
The Doctor was the boy’s mother.