See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/375891309

Analyzing the Effectiveness of Digital Marketing Tools for Marketing Luxury

Apartments in Colombo

Article · November 2023

DOI: 10.31357/jres.v20i01.6418

CITATIONS READS

0 84

2 authors, including:

Lakshi Karunarathne
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
25 PUBLICATIONS 66 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Lakshi Karunarathne on 24 November 2023.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

Available online at https://journals.sjp.ac.lk

JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES

ISSN: 1800 – 3524

Analyzing the Effectiveness of Digital Marketing Tools for

Marketing Luxury Apartments in Colombo
A. G. R. Sanduapamaa, Lakshi Karunarathneb*
a University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
b* University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO

The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of digital Article History:
marketing instruments with a specific emphasis on social Received 10 January 2023
media and website-based strategies. The focus of the analysis Revised 28 January 2023
will be on their role in the promotion of luxury apartments in Accepted 30 January 2023
Colombo. The study will evaluate how these digital marketing
tools contribute to enhancing the visibility and desirability of Keywords:
high-end residential properties, thereby providing insights into Digital Marketing, Marketing
their effectiveness within the luxury real estate market. The Effectiveness, Luxury
data was collected from real estate developers and marketers Apartment, Social Media
involved in selling luxury apartments, using a purposive Marketing, Website
sampling approach and the sample size was 95 respondents. A Marketing
structured questionnaire survey was employed as the primary
data collection method. The data was analyzed using
Descriptive statistics including frequencies, mean values, and
percentages. The findings of the study indicate that both social
media and website marketing are effective digital marketing
tools for promoting luxury apartments. However, the study
highlights that websites exhibit greater effectiveness compared
to social media platforms in marketing luxury apartments.
© 2023. Centre for Real Estate Studies, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. All rights reserved.

1. INTRODUCTION marketing tools to reach their target

audience and promote their luxury
Luxury apartments have become
apartments (Anthonisz & Perry, 2015).
increasingly popular in Colombo, Sri
However, the effectiveness of these digital
Lanka, as the city continues to develop
marketing tools has yet to be fully
and modernize. With the rise of digital
analyzed and understood.
marketing, more and more property
developers are turning to digital

* Corresponding author. Tel.; fax: +94 70 359 3932; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6067-7203; [email protected]

Institution: Department of Estate Management and Valuation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
a Co-author: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3730-2387

Doi: 10.31357/jres.v20i01.6418
© 2023. Centre for Real Estate Studies, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. All rights reserved.
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

As Desai (2019, p.196) defines Digital precisely target an international audience.

Marketing as “the marketing of products Moreover, the Internet has revolutionized
or services using digital technologies, customer engagement by providing
mainly on the Internet, but also including quicker, more effective, and frequently
mobile phones, display advertising, and more cost-effective means of
any other digital medium.” Apart from communication . In addition, it has
that, digital marketing incorporates all facilitated the accumulation of consumer
marketing initiatives that employ data, customized production, and targeted
electronic devices or the Internet. marketing initiatives (Teo, 2005).
Businesses connect with current and
Even though the new digital marketing
prospective consumers through digital
tools and strategies are advantageous,
channels such as search engines, social
easy, quick, and frequently more cost-
media, email, and their websites. These
effective means of communication as
are also known as online marketing,
stated by many scholars (Smith, 2019;
internet marketing, and web marketing
Johnson, 2020; Thompson, Brown, &
(Desai, 2019; Teo, 2005) Since the 1990s
Johnson, 2021), there is a gap in
and 2000s, digital marketing has changed
knowledge when it comes to the
the brands and businesses use of
effectiveness of digital marketing
technology for marketing. Digital
technologies especially in marketing
marketing campaigns are becoming more
luxury apartments (Brown, 2018;
prevalent and effective as digital
Anderson, 2022). Moreover, there is
platforms increasingly integrate into
limited research conducted from the
marketing strategies and daily life,
professional perspective relating to the
whereas people use digital devices rather
effectiveness of digital marketing tools
than visiting physical stores/sites/physical
(Wilson, 2017). Like many other emerging
locations (Desai, 2019).
economies, Sri Lanka is at the beginning
Furthermore, digital marketing has been of digital revolution, so, there is knowledge
able to overcome traditional obstacles, gap related to the efficacy of digital
such as difficulties in entering new marketing technologies in general as well
markets and introducing new products, as as specially in the context of property
well as overcoming product positioning market. To address this gap, this study
challenges. Moreover, it has opened new aims to investigate the extent of the
channels and activities that enable effectiveness of these technologies in
businesses to reach customers swiftly, marketing luxury apartments. By
easily and obtain accurate, real-time data examining the various digital marketing
(Desai, 2019). Internet technology has the tools used by property developers, this
potential to reduce the cost of goods and study seeks to determine which tools are
services while expanding geographical the most effective in generating leads,
borders by connecting buyers and sellers promoting apartments, and ultimately
around the world (Veleva & Tsvetanova, leading to sales.
2020). The digital revolution has leveled
up the playing field for small businesses 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
by providing them with access to markets
Digital marketing is the practice of
and the ability to establish a web presence,
promoting goods, services, or brands
thereby allowing them to compete with
through a variety of digital channels and
industry titans (Veleva & Tsvetanova,
technologies in order to reach and engage
2020). The Internet has profoundly
a specific audience. It entails using online
transformed marketing by providing
platforms, such as websites, search
instantaneous, individualized access to a
engines, social media, email, mobile
global audience. Businesses can now

50
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

applications, and other digital mediums, products, and services by soliciting

to convey marketing messages and consumer feedback and suggestions (De
motivate desired actions. Digital Vries, Gensler, & Leeflang, 2012).
marketing has been defined by numerous Revenue partnership is predicated on the
academics and industry professionals. fact that companies pay a fee for each
Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2019, p.24) online product or service sold (Duffy,
define digital marketing as "achieving 2005). Viral marketing, on the other hand,
marketing objectives through applying involves exchanging information or ideas
digital technologies and media." Ryan and about products or services with friends via
Jones (2021, p.5) state digital marketing e-mail on a voluntary basis (Richardson &
as "the use of digital channels, such as Domingos, 2002). Apart from them,
websites, social media, search engines, Content Marketing, Affiliate Marketing,
and email, to communicate with and Native Advertising, Marketing
influence potential customers." In Automation, and Inbound Marketing are
addition, it should be noted that digital some other popular digital marketing
marketing involves the use of digital strategies used (Gawade, 2019).
technologies to create integrated and
Recent research on digital marketing for
targeted consumer communication,
the real estate industry has examined
engagement, and transactional
various facets of this field, utilized various
experiences (Kotler and Armstrong, 2020).
research methodologies, and concentrated
Further, it is the use of digital
on a variety of contexts and digital
technologies and media to achieve
marketing tools. The effectiveness of
marketing objectives, such as consumer
digital marketing strategies in generating
acquisition, engagement, and retention
leads, promoting properties, and driving
(Constantinides and Fountain, 2018).
sales has been the subject of research.
Real estate businesses are incorporating Yuvaraj et al. (2018) mentioned that real
the Internet into their business models in estate is the second-largest employer in
a variety of ways, utilizing a variety of India, behind agriculture, and is predicted
digital marketing tools and strategies, to rise by 30% over the next ten years. The
including search engine optimizations real estate industry is extremely
(SEO), search engine ads, e-mail competitive, and there is a lot of room for
marketing, social network marketing, development to use digital technology to
mobile marketing, viral marketing, and make it more structured. Recent
revenue partnership. Consequently, the developments include marketing
objective SEO is to connect the target automation, sales, aided buying in e-
audience with the web page via search commerce, and content marketing. Online
engines (Xing, & ve Lin, 2006). In marketing has a wider audience reach
addition, in the system of search engine than traditional forms of advertising and
advertising known as Pay Per Click (PPC), is usually less expensive than more
users pay a charge to search engines. The established forms of advertising (Yuvraj et
rationale is to pay per visit. Web pages al., 2018).
only pay when their advertisements are
Navigation through the literature reveals
viewed, and users are redirected to their
that researchers have quantitative and
sites. In email marketing, the length and
qualitative methodologies to investigate
subject of e-mails containing images are
digital marketing aspect in real estate. Li,
crucial (Chittenden & Rettie, 2003). Using
Huang, and Feng, (2021) studied the
social media to attract consumers to
impact of search engine optimization
related websites is social network
(SEO) on website visibility and organic
marketing. The primary objective of this
traffic (Chen, Chiu, & Wang, 2019), as well
type of marketing is to promote brands,

51
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

as the efficacy of pay-per-click (PPC) in Table 1: Digital Marketing Tools

driving qualified leads to real estate Discussed in the Literature
listings. Further, utilizing qualitative

Content Communities
research methods, such as case studies,

Web Solution / SEO

Mobile Marketing
successful digital marketing campaigns in

Email Marketing
the real estate industry have been

Social Media

Digital ADS
References

Instagram
analyzed. These studies offer best

Facebook

LinkedIn
Podcasts

Google+
Forums
Twitter
practices and lessons learned regarding

Blogs
the strategies, tactics, and outcomes of
specific marketing initiatives (Chen, et al.,

Maina
(2017)
2018; Parashar & Gupta, 2020). Apart √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

from that, other studies conducted in this

field incorporates both residential and

Baloglu and
commercial real estate markets,

Pekcan
(2006)
√
considering various geographical locations
and cultural factors that impact the
efficacy of digital marketing strategies
Santhini
(2016)
(Alegre & Cladera, 2019; Sargeant, Ford, √ √ √

& West, 2021). In addition, the literature

has examined numerous digital marketing
Radziszewska-
Zielina (2019)

tools. Email marketing has been studied

Belniak and

for its effect on customer engagement and √ √ √

conversion rates (Alozie, 2018), whereas

social media marketing has been studied
for its role in enhancing brand visibility
Radwan (2012)
Radwan and

and customer interaction (Cho, Kim, &

√ √ √ √
Lee, 2019). Moreover, mobile marketing,
viral marketing, and revenue
partnerships have been investigated to
determine their potential in the real estate
Bansude and
Hittalmani

industry (Lee, Koo, & Lee, 2018; Zhang &

(2021)

√ √
Huang, 2018; Yudarwati, Sutisna, &
Jayati, 2020).
The real estate industry has played a
Yuvraj et al.

crucial role in the economic growth of

(2018)

√ √ √ √ √ √ √
nations, with substantial investments and
employment opportunities. As a result,
effective real estate marketing is essential
(2020)
Dibs

√
to attract investors and market
performance. Table 1 below outlines the
digital marketing tools commonly used in
Bujisic (2015)
Bilgihan and

the industry to promote real estate √

offerings.
Total Out
9 Articles

1 6 3 4 3 3 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1

52
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

Table 1 represents an overview of digital Based on the above literature analysis,

marketing tools used in the real estate this study focuses on studying the
industry. The analysis revealed that the effectiveness of Website and social media
following digital marketing tools are as digital marketing tools in the context of
commonly used: Email marketing, Luxury Apartment selling.
Instagram, LinkedIn, Web solutions and
SEO, mobile marketing, social media 2.1 Website as a Digital Marketing
(Facebook, Twitter), blogs, podcasts, Tool
forums, content communities, Google+,
In today's interconnected world, the
and digital ads. Out of these tools, website
Internet is the primary information source
solutions and SEO are highly discussed
and outlet for millions of people (Owoyele,
tools followed by social media marketing.
2016). Internet marketing has increased
Below Table 2 shows that social media has companies' opportunities to interact with
been studied as an individual tool as well customers. The Internet and the web have
as categorized into different tools such as created a new method of communication
Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and real-time interactions. The Internet,
blogs, podcasts, forums, content and notably websites, are now widely used
communities (e.g., YouTube), and by businesses to advertise their products
Google+. Out of these tools, Facebook, and services. Companies around the world
Twitter and YouTube have been highly recognize the Internet as a valuable
discussed in the literature. addition to their advertising ‘toolbox’
(Sheehan & Doherty, 2004).
Table 2: Types of Social Media Tools
Discussed in the Literature According to the literature, website
marketing offers its consumers numerous
Social Media
benefits. The website enables businesses
to conduct their operations 24 hours a day
is one of the greatest advantages for both
Content Communities (YouTube)

consumers and suppliers. In addition,

website applications enable businesses to
globalize economically and technologically
by eliminating geographical boundaries.
In addition, because web applications offer
References

personalized sales opportunities, they

Instagram
Facebook

LinkedIn
Podcasts

Google+
Forums
Twitter

facilitate the formation of a unique

Blogs

relationship between customers and

businesses and the growth of consumer
Maina
(2017)

√ √ √ √ √ √ loyalty. The website's sales model provides

rapid access to target markets without
requiring substantial investments. Web
Radwan and

applications can be used to acquire new

Radwan
(2012)

√ √ √ √
consumers from a variety of sources or to
increase the volume of transactions with
existing customers (Samur, 2021). All
Yuvraj et al.

types of information about products,

(2018)

√ √ √ √ √ √
services, and the company can be
presented to visitors using audio, video,
and photographs that can be posted on
Tota
l
3 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 web pages (Mehmood et al., 2017), thereby
reducing the likelihood of

53
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

misunderstandings and errors in Accordingly, social media platforms have

commercial transactions. emerged as potent digital marketing
instruments, facilitating consumer
2.2 Social Media as a Digital participation, serving as valuable data
Marketing Tool sources, and transforming marketing
strategies across industries.
A decade ago, social media platforms
emerged, with LinkedIn leading the way
3. METHODOLOGY
by going live in 2003, followed by MySpace
and Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005, 3.1 Population
and Twitter in 2006. In just under a
Real estate developers and marketers who
decade, the number of social media users
engaged in luxury apartment selling in
has surged, now reaching billions of
Colombo are considered as the population
individuals worldwide (Radwan and
of the study.
Radwan, 2012).
3.2 Sample
Further, the rise in prominence of social
media platforms, particularly among The sample has been selected according to
younger users, has revolutionized the the Purposive sampling method under
marketing landscape. These platforms non-probability sampling techniques since
have enabled consumers to participate the sample is selected to meet pre-
actively in the marketing process, determined criteria and selects
enabling them to interact with brands and information-rich cases. The sample of the
influence their marketing strategies. In study was real estate marketers who are
addition, social media platforms serve as a engaged in luxury apartment selling in
valuable database for marketers, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 100 questionnaires
generating an abundance of data were distributed, and 95 responses have
regarding consumer preferences, been collected during the questionnaire
behaviors, and characteristics. This has survey.
had a substantial impact on the
As per Table 3, the factor loading of the
significance of customer relationship
Website and Social Media scored between
management for businesses, transforming
0.5 to 0.7, and accordingly, construct
how they market and sell their products
validity is also achieved. KMO indicates
and services (Radwan and Radwan, 2012).
the sampling adequacy for the factor
In the real estate industry, social media analysis. A value of 0.73 suggests that the
has evolved into a potent marketing tool. data used in the analysis is suitable for
According to Maina's (2017) research, further examination.
nearly 90 percent of real estate agents use
Table 3: Factor Loadings and Sample
social media platforms for property
Adequacy
promotion. Facebook is the most prevalent
social media platform, with 79% of real
Var%
KMO

Chi2

Sig.

Item
FI

estate agents and brokers utilizing it.

LinkedIn follows with 29% utilization, and
Twitter with 48% usage. These platforms Website 0.6
allow users to express their interests, Facebook 0.6

exchange stories and images, maintain YouTube 0.7

0.73 119.323 43.039 .000
relationships with friends and family, and Instagram 0.7
follow articles, ideas, perspectives, and Twitter 0.7
news. Blogs 0.5

Source: Survey Data (2022)

54
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

4. ANALYSIS the recommended value of 0.6 indicating

the reliability.
Data analysis of the study was conducted
using quantitative research methodology
Table 5: Reliability Analysis
via Statistical Package for Social Sciences
Variables (Tools) Cronbach Alpha
(SPSS version 24). The analysis
Facebook 0.763
techniques include reliability tests,
Instagram 0.896
frequencies, and mean comparisons.
YouTube 0.920
Twitter 0.922
4.1 Demographic Profile Blogs 0.925
Social Media 0.686
Table 4: Demographic Profile Website 0.723
Frequency Percentage Source: Survey Data (2022)
Gender
Female 18 18.9% 4.3 Factors Influencing Effectiveness
Male 77 81.1% of Website and Social Media
Total 95 100% Marketing Tools
Management
Levels 29 30.5% Table 6: Factors Influencing the
Low Level 53 55.8% Effectiveness of Website
Middle Level 13 13.7%

Deviation
Top Level 95 100%
Factors

Total

Mean

Std.

Sig
Working

t
Experience 11 11.6%
Mnemonic 3.89 .765 11.406 .000
Less than a 20 21.1% branding
year 30 31.6% Listing in 4.18 .652 17.625 .000
1 – 3 Years 34 35.8% search engines
4 – 5 Years 95 100% Promotions 3.73 .706 30.702 .000
More than 5
years Piggyback 3.80 .752 10.024 .000
advertising
Total
Informative 3.80 .752 10.365 .000
Source: Survey Data (2022) and useful
content
As per Table 4, Sample of the study Unique 3.85 .911 9.127 .000
includes both males (81.1%) and females’ content
respondents (18.9%). The majority of Multilingual 3.86 .794 10.599 .000
respondents were from middle-level website
management (55.8%), followed by low- Security 3.82 .583 13.725 .000
level management (30.5%), and 13.7% features
from top-level management. In terms of Gather 4.14 .428 25.888 .000
work experience, 11.6% had less than a information
about new
year of experience, 21.1% had between one potential
to three years of experience, 31.6% had customers
four to five years of experience, and 35.8% Customized 4.04 .582
had more than five years of experience. product/service 17.455 .000

4.2 Reliability Statistics Customized 4.09 .585 18.246 .000

webpages
Table 5 shows that Cronbach’s alpha Average 3.9981
values of all the variables are higher than
Source: Survey Data (2022)

55
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

Factors in Table 6 were adopted from Teo Facebook

(2005) and Table 6 reveals that the
average mean score for all factors Table 7: The Factors Influencing
combined is 3.9981, indicating an overall Effectiveness of Facebook as a
moderate to high level of effectiveness of Marketing Tool
these marketing strategies in the real

Deviation
estate sector. The significance levels (Sig)

Factors

Mean
for all factors are highly significant (p <

Std.

Sig
0.001), further supporting their

t
importance in the effectiveness of Engage and 3.99 .644 14.975 .000
marketing strategies. The factors with the support
customers
highest mean scores and significant t-
values are Listing in search engines, Social 4.26 .466 26.415 .000
interaction
Gather information about new potential
customers, Customized product/service, Maintain 3.83 .739 10.971 .000
online
and Customized webpages. Other presence
significant factors include Mnemonic Promote 4.28 .630 19.863 .000
branding, Promotions, Piggyback brand
advertising, Informative and useful awareness
content, Unique content, and Multilingual Customers 4.28 .559 22.410 .000
website. Acquisition
Enhance 3.99 .574 16.797 .000
customers
4.4 Factors Influencing Effectiveness loyalty
of Social Media Marketing
Build 4.52 .581 25.430 .000
business
The study used factors from Radwan and networks
Radwan (2012) to evaluate the Listen for 4.07 .815 12.836 .000
effectiveness of social media tools. Those feedback
factors are. Build 4.01 .574 17.154 .000
credibility
• Engage and support customers Increase sales 4.12 .382 28.460 .000

• Social interaction Develop 3.92 .559 15.981 .000

• Maintain online presence and/or
maintain a
• Promote brand awareness leadership
role
• Customers’ acquisition
Crisis 3.91 .485 18.178 .000
• Enhance customers loyalty management
• Build business networks tool

• Listen for feedback Average 4.098

• Build credibility Source: Survey Data (2022)

• Increase sales
According to Table 7, Facebook's mean
• Develop and/or maintain a values vary from 3.83 to 4.52 with an
leadership role average mean of 4.098 and standard
• Crisis management tool deviation varies from 0.382-0.815. This
highlights that Facebook is perceived as
an effective marketing tool for various
factors. The mean scores indicate the
average perception of Facebook's
effectiveness for each factor. Factors such

56
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

as Social interaction, Promote brand According to Table 8, YouTube's mean

awareness, Customers Acquisition, Build values vary from 3.63 to 4.15, with an
business networks, Increase sales, Build average mean of 3.87 and standard
credibility and Listen for feedback deviation values range from 0.495 to
received high mean scores, suggesting 1.009. This indicates that there is
that respondents viewed Facebook as moderate agreement among the
effective in these areas. respondents about the effectiveness of
YouTube as a marketing tool. All of these
YouTube 12 factors have a significant impact on the
effectiveness of YouTube as a marketing
Table 8: The Factors Influencing the tool. The mean values suggest that
Effectiveness of YouTube as a Promote brand awareness, Build business
Marketing Tool networks, Increasing sales, Customer
acquisitions are particularly important
Deviation

factors that influence the effectiveness of

Factors

the marketing tool.

Mean

Std.

Sig
t

Engage and 3.80 .693 11.245 .000

Instagram
support
customers Table 9: Factors Influencing the
Social 3.87 .802 10.616 .000 Effectiveness of Instagram as a
interaction Marketing Tool
Maintain 3.63 .851 7.232 .000 Std.
online Factors Mean t Sig
presence Deviation
Engage and 4.11 .535 20.120 .000
Promote 4.14 .694 15.976 .000 support
brand customers
awareness
Social 4.16 .657 17.166 .000
Customers 3.96 .683 13.673 .000 interaction
Acquisition Maintain 3.89 .707 12.340 .000
Enhance 3.83 .821 9.877 .000 online presence
customers Promote brand 4.26 .656 18.755 .000
loyalty awareness
Build 4.15 .699 15.997 .000 Customers 4.21 .582 20.289 .000
business Acquisition
networks Enhance 4.08 .613 17.238 .000
Listen for 3.71 1.009 6.811 .000 customers
feedback loyalty
Build business 4.43 .647 21.578 .000
Build 3.92 .739 12.080 .000 networks
credibility
Listen for 4.02 .825 12.065 .000
Increase 3.99 .495 19.501 .000 feedback
sales Build 4.13 .550 19.943 .000
Develop 3.81 .607 13.023 .000 credibility
and/or Increase sales 4.11 .592 18.196 .000
maintain a
leadership Develop and/or 3.84 .589 13.931 .000
role maintain a
Crisis 3.75 .714 10.201 .000 leadership role
management Crisis 3.92 .595 14.991 .000
tool management
tool
Average 3.8789
Average 4.0965
Source: Survey Data (2022)
Source: Survey Data (2022)

57
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

According to Table 9, Instagram's mean According to Table 10, Twitter's mean

values vary from 3.84 to 4.43. The average values vary from 3.44 to 4.07, with an
value across all factors is 4.0965, average mean score of 3.7158 and
suggesting that, on average, these factors standard deviation varies from 0.6225–
are highly considered important. Overall, 0.833, The respondents are relatively
the research highlights the importance of aware of and moderately agreed about
Build business networks, Promoting using Twitter as an effective Digital
brand awareness, Acquiring customers, marketing tool. Build business networks
Social interactions, Build credibility, and Promote brand awareness can be
Increase sales and Engage and customer considered as highly effective factors of
support as factors that mainly determines Twitter.
the effectiveness of the tool.
Blog
Twitter
Table 11: Factor Influencing the
Table 10: Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Blog as a Marketing
Effectiveness of Twitter as a Tool
Marketing Tool Std.
Factors Mean t Sig
Deviation
Engage and
Deviation

3.46 .823 5.487 .000

support
Factors

customers
Mean

Std.

Sig

Social 3.42 .929 4.417 .000

t

interaction
Engage and 3.63 .730 8.432 .000 Maintain
support 3.38 .865 4.269 .000
online
customers presence
Social 3.58 .833 6.778 .000 Promote brand 3.89 .831 10.492 .000
interaction awareness
Maintain 3.44 .821 5.246 .000 Customers
online presence 3.75 .850 8.569 .000
Acquisition
Promote brand 3.96 .728 12.823 .000 Enhance
awareness 3.80 .894 8.718 .000
customers
Customers 3.87 .718 11.857 .000 loyalty
Acquisition Build business 4.02 .911 10.928 .000
Enhance 3.75 .812 8.974 .000 networks
customers Listen for
loyalty 3.65 .920 6.915 .000
feedback
Build business 4.07 .802 13.046 .000 Build
networks 3.82 .825 9.702 .000
credibility
Listen for 3.64 .824 7.595 .000 Increase sales 3.83 .724 11.191 .000
feedback
Build 3.73 .750 9.438 .000 Develop and/or 3.55 .755 7.069 .000
credibility maintain a
Increase sales leadership role
3.78 .622 12.208 .000
Crisis 3.57 .808 6.860 .000
Develop and/or 3.58 .820 6.884 .000 management
maintain a tool
leadership role Average 3.6789
Crisis 3.56 .782 6.957 .000
management Source: Survey Data (2022)
tool
Average 3.7158
According to Table 11, Blog's mean values
Source: Survey Data (2022) vary between 3.38-4.02, with an average
mean score of 3.6789, and standard
deviation varies between 0.67–0.804. The

58
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

respondents are relatively aware of and Nurturing 4.00 3.77

creativity and
moderately agreed about using Blog as an innovation
effective marketing tool. Building through
responsive
business networks is identified as highly
Ease of 4.22 4.29
effective factor that determines the responsiveness
effectiveness of Blog. Level of adequacy 4.31 3.83
of the information
4.5 Comparison of Effectiveness of Inexpensiveness 4.40 4.12
Social Media Marketing Tools and ability to
reach a large
number of
Table 12: Comparison of Effectiveness targeted
audiences within
of Social Media Marketing Tools less time and very
No Media M S.D Rank little effort
Businesses can 4.38 4.12
1 Facebook 4.0982 0.3132 1 interact with
customers directly
3 Instagram 4.0965 0.4323 2 Build business 4.47 4.43
networks
2 YouTube 3.8789 0.5420 3
Average 4.2812 4.0960
4 Twitter 3.7158 0.5663 4
Source: Survey Data (2022)
5 Blogs 3.6789 0.6277 5

Source: Survey Data (2022) As per the above table 13, the average
mean score for the effectiveness of
Based on the mean scores of above Table websites is 4.2812, indicating a high level
12, Facebook and Instagram are perceived of effectiveness. For social media
as the most effective social media platforms, the average mean score is
platforms for the real estate sector, 4.0960, suggesting a slightly lower but
followed by YouTube, Twitter, and Blogs. still relatively high level of effectiveness.
However, it's important to consider the These mean scores indicate that both
standard deviations, which indicate the websites and social media platforms are
variability or dispersion of responses. perceived as effective in various aspects
Smaller standard deviations suggest less related to customer feedback,
variability in ratings, indicating a higher responsiveness, information adequacy,
level of agreement among respondents cost-effectiveness, and business
regarding the effectiveness of the interactions in the real estate.
respective social media platforms.
5. DISCUSSION
4.6 Comparison of the Effectiveness of The research aimed to examine the
Website and social media effectiveness of digital marketing tools in
marketing luxury apartments. Results
Table 13: Comparison of Effectiveness from the study validated that both web
of Website and social media site and social media are effective tools in
the marketing of Luxury apartments in
Media (Mean)
Effectiveness

Effectiveness

Colombo. However, respondents

of Website

Reference

determine that website is highly effective

of Social

Factors
(Mean)

marketing tool compared to the social

media marketing in terms of the factors
Effective customer 4.19 4.12 Sari
such as Effective customer feedback and
feedback and
(2017)
supplement, Nurturing creativity, and
supplement innovation through responsive,

59
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

Inexpensiveness and ability to reach a factors in website marketing than social

large number of targeted audiences within media marketing. These findings tally
less time and very little effort, Direct with the findings of some previous studies.
interact with customers and Build As per findings of Bilgihan and Bujisic
business networks. Additionally, social (2015) and Baloglu and Pekcan (2006), it
media platforms, including Facebook, is more beneficial to use website
Instagram, YouTube, Blogs, and Twitter, marketing since it will enhance the
are also found to have a positive impact on positive impact on the promotional
promotional activities. activities than other digital marketing
tools.
There, research identified that Facebook
is highly effective for promoting luxury
6. CONCLUSION
apartments comparing to other social
media platforms. Social interactions, The study aims to analyze the
promote brand awareness, customer effectiveness of both websites and social
acquisition, build business network, listen media marketing tools in promoting
for feedback, build credibility and increase luxury apartments in Colombo. These
sales are the main factors that determine digital marketing tools allow businesses to
the effectiveness of Facebook marketing. interact directly with customers, build
networks, and reach a large, targeted
Next, Instagram ranks as the second-most
audience with ease and cost-effectiveness.
effective platform for promoting luxury
The study emphasizes the importance of
apartments, with a high level of impact
effective customer feedback, nurturing
which highlight the factors such as build
creativity and innovation, responsiveness,
business network, promote brand
information adequacy, affordability, and
awareness, customer acquisition, and
efficiency in reaching a large audience.
social interactions are the reasons for the
Overall, the research suggests that both
higher effectiveness of the Instagram as a
websites and social media are effective for
social media platform.
promoting luxury apartments in Sri
As per the results, YouTube ranks the Lanka. However, the study finds that
third most effective social media platform websites have a stronger influence on
emphasizing factors such as promote marketing and promotional activities than
brand awareness, build business network, social media.
and increase sales.
Therefore, the research study
Accordingly, among social media recommended real estate companies to
platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and mix and match different media, including
YouTube are remarkably successful in websites and social media platforms like
promoting Luxury apartments. It was also Facebook and Instagram to reach their
confirmed by the research findings of chosen target audience. Additionally,
Maina (2017), that the social media since real estate marketers' perceptions of
marketing can be considered as an digital marketing may vary across
effective digital marketing tool for real different contexts, the research can be
estate businesses. extended to different contexts for further
studies.
Based on the study findings, the mean
values for website marketing are higher
than those for social media marketing.
The respondents determined that
nurturing creativity and innovation
through responsiveness and the level of
information adequacy are highly effective

60
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chen, J., Chiu, C., & Wang, M. (2019). The impact
of search engine optimization on website
visibility and organic traffic: A quantitative
The authors acknowledge the Centre for
study in the real estate industry. International
Real Estate Studies, Department of Estate Journal of Information Management, 46, 147-
Management and Valuation, University of 157.
Sri Jayewardenepura for providing
Chittenden, L., & Rettie, R. (2003). An evaluation
necessary assistance in developing this of e-mail marketing and factor saffecting
paper. response. Journal of Targeting,
Measurementand Analysis for Marketing, 203-
8. REFERENCES 217.
Cho, J., Kim, Y., & Lee, S. (2019). Social media
Alegre, I., & Cladera, M. (2019). Digital marketing in the real estate industry: The
marketing communication and customer- effects of social media platforms on brand
based brand equity: A multidimensional visibility and customer interaction. Journal of
approach. Journal of Business Research, 360- Real Estate Research, 345-376.
366.
Clark, R. (2023). Effectiveness of digital
Alozie, N. (2018). Email marketing marketing tools in the real estate sector: A case
communication: A tool for improving customer study of luxury apartment marketing.
engagement and conversion rates. Journal of International Journal of Real Estate Research,
Business Research, 436-449. 10(1), 35-50.
Anderson, J. (2022). Digital marketing in the real Constantinides, E., & Fountain, S. (2018). Digital
estate industry: A review of current practices. marketing: A framework, review and research
Real Estate Journal, 15(2), 45-60. agenda. International Journal of Research in
Anthonisz, S., & Perry, C. (2015). Effective Marketing, 22-45.
marketing of high-rise luxury condominiums Davis, M., Johnson, A., & Wilson, L. (2022).
in a middle-income country like Sri Lanka. Evaluating digital marketing strategies for
Journal of Work-Applied Management, 61-83. luxury apartments: A survey of property
Baloglu, S. and Pekcan, Y.A., 2006. The website developers. ournal of Real Estate Marketing,
design and Internet site marketing practices of 19(4), 72-90.
upscale and luxury hotels in Turkey. Tourism De Vries, L., Gensler, S., & Leeflang, P. (2012).
management, 27(1), pp.171-176. Popularity of brandposts on brand fan pages:
Belniak, M. and Radziszewska-Zielina, E. (2019) an investigation of theeffects of social media
‘Effectiveness of Applying Marketing Tools in marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing,
Real Estate Trading’, IOP Conference Series: 26(3), 83-91.
Materials Science and Engineering, 471(11) Desai, V. (2019). Digital marketing: a review.
Bilgihan, A. and Bujisic, M. (2015) "The effect of International Journal of Trend in Scientific
website features in online relationship Research and Development (IJTSRD), 196-200.
marketing: A case of online hotel booking"’, Dibs, A.R. (2020), "The Influence of Using
Electronic Commerce Research and Innovative Marketing Tools on Real Estate
Applications, Vol 14(4), pp. 222–232 Development Companies Performance in
Brown, S. (2018). Digital marketing technologies Jordan"
for luxury apartment sales: A comparative Duffy, D. L. (2005). Affiliate marketing and its
analysis. Journal of Luxury Property, 7(3), impact. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 22(3),
112-128. 161-163.
Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2019). Digital Gawade, M.S. (2019), "Fostering Innovation,
marketing: Strategy, implementation and Integration and Inclusion through
practice (7 ed.). Pearson. Interdisciplinary Practices in Management",
Chen, J. (2018). Exploring the effectiveness of International Journal of Trend in Scientific
digital marketing campaigns in the real estate Research and Development, Special Is (Special
industry: A case study approach. International Issue-FIIIIPM2019), pp. 91–94
Journal of Business and Economics, 17(2), 133-
150.

61
 JOURNAL OF REAL ESTATE STUDIES | 2023 | VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 01

Johnson, A. (2020). The advantages of digital Teo, T. (2005). Demystifying the online consumer
marketing in the real estate industry. Journal behavior: A transaction cost economics
of Real Estate Research, 12(3), 25-40. perspective. International Journal of Business
Science and Applied Management, 1(1), 13-23.
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2020). Principles of
marketing (18 ed.). Pearson. Thompson, E., Brown, C., & Johnson, R. (2021).
Cost-effectiveness of digital marketing in the
Lee, S., Koo, D., & Lee, S. (2018). Mobile real estate sector: A comparative study.
marketing strategies for the real estate sector:
Journal of Marketing Analytics, 18(1), 54-68.
A quantitative study. International Journal of
Mobile Communications, 16(2), 205-225. Veleva, s. s., & Tsvetanova, A. I. (2020).
Characteristics of the digital marketing
Maina, C.N., 2017. Effect of digital marketing
advantages and disadvantages. IOP Conf.
tools on performance of businesses in real Series: Materials Science and Engineering.
estate sector in Nairobi county (Doctoral
IOP Publishing. doi:10.1088/1757-
dissertation, Kca University).
899X/940/1/012065
Owoyele, S. (2016). Website As A Marketing
Wilson, L. (2017). Professional perspective on
Communication Tool. Centria University of digital marketing in the luxury real estate
Applied Sciences. market. Luxury Property Review, 4(3), 76-89.
Parashar, M., & Gupta, A. (2020). Analyzing
Xing,, B., & ve Lin, Z. (2006). The impact of search
successful digital marketing campaigns in the engine optimization on onlineadvertising
real estate industry: Insights from qualitative
market. In Proceedings of the 8th international
case studies. Journal of Marketing conference on Electronic commerce: The new
Communications, 26(4), 409-426. ecommerce: innovations for conquering, (p. pp.).
Radwan, H.R.I. and Radwan, I., 2016. Evaluating Yudarwati, N., Sutisna, & Jayanti, W. (2020).
the effectiveness of social media as a
Revenue partnerships in the real estate sector:
marketing tool in the hotel sector: A case study
A study on their potential and effectiveness.
on four and five star hotels in Makkah, Saudi
Journal of Real Estate Research, 543-569.
Arabia. Journal of Faculty of Tourism and
Hotels, Fayoum University, 8(1), pp.151-169. Yuvraj, V.S., Agrawal, V., Maggu, A. and
Agnihotri, A., 2018. A study on the impact of
Richardson, M., & Domingos, P. (2002). Mining
online marketing on Indian real estate
knowledge-sharing sites for viral marketing.
business. International Research Journal of
In Proceedings of the eighth ACM SIGKDD Engineering and Technology, 5(9), pp.1275-
international conference on Knowledge
1277.
discovery and datamining , (pp. 61-70).
Zhang, S., & Huang, L. (2018). Viral marketing in
Ryan, D., & Jones, C. (2021). Understanding
the real estate industry: An exploratory study
digital marketing: Marketing strategies for of its potential and impact. International
engaging the digital generation (5 ed.). Kogan
Journal of Strategic Property Management,
Page.
22(2), 162-173.
Samur, S. (2021). The effects of web-based
technologies on marketing activities of
professional sports clubs. Journal of
Educational Issues, 7(1), 546-564.
doi:10.5296/jei.v7i1.18651
Santhini, S (2016), "International Conference
Proceeding (Crystal 2016) Impact of Digital
Marketing and E-Commerce on the Real
Estate Industry", (Crystal 2016), pp. 1–7
Sheehan, B., & Doherty, C. (2004). Re-weaving
the Web: Integrating Print and Online
Communications. Journal of interactive
Marketing, 15(2), 117-124.
Smith, B. (2019). Digital marketing tools and
strategies for real estate professionals. Real
Estate Management Journal, 6(2), 88-104.

62

View publication stats