Realty Strikes Gold With Social Media As Rupee Falls

Can social media lift India's realty out of the crisis?

The Indian economy has been in a major currency meltdown in the past few months. But does economic gloom always mean bad news for businesses?

It is definitely not the case with the realty (real estates) in India, with the help of social media.

Rupee Downward Spiral Since April 2013

Ever since the rupee started on a downward spiral in April 2013, it has led to speculation that the currency will continue its free fall until the end of the year. There has been optimism among financial experts on the Rupee bouncing back very quickly, however with the current performance on the exchange, it does not mirror their optimism.

Chart 1: The rupee's long term decline and we are rapidly seeing it breaking grounds reaching new lows.

Realty can safely say to us. In times of turmoil there will always be a window of opportunity.

Whilst importers and industries take a huge hit from the currency exchange, it paved the road of golden opportunity to India's realty to target oversea markets.

The general idea behind the currency exchange is to create a fair rate of exchange as reflected by the different currencies economic strength, dependent as well on the demand and supply of the currency available on the exchange. With Rupee weakening and losing its value against other currencies like the Sterling (Pound), Euro and the US Dollar, it meant countries utilising these currencies will have a greater economic competitive advantage when buying Rupee services and goods.

Realty Targeting NRIs

Now armed with the knowledge what the depreciated Rupee could do, realty players are targeting NRI (Non-Resident Indians) to invest in the Indian property market. Why do they see NRIs as the perfect clientèle to pursue? You will find majority of NRIs living abroad in the west, with a good education background and fall under the high income bracket. This may come as a stereotype but comparing with India's vast population still irking out their lives on a meagre living with a huge income disparity in the country. You will find the stereotypical archetype of NRIs to be very reasonable indeed.

In the picture, Mike Jatania is one of the wealthiest Asians in Britain with an estimated self worth of £640 million. One of the many potential investors in the Indian realty market.

However, how could realty players target these niche markets abroad?

The answer is very simple social media.

Social Media - The International Market

It is always easier to do business at home than abroad. The number of factors you have to overcome trying to target a niche market on foreign soil can be a very daunting task.

• How do I find them?
• How do I find a foreign intermediary to act on our behalf?
• How much would it cost to target a foreign niche market?

The amount of time, cost and coordination it requires would make the venture unprofitable and in some circumstances result in devastating losses. Social media has provided realty with the answer to all their problems.

• Facebook alone has over (Global) 1.1 billion (monthly) and 710 million (daily) active users.
• With direct contact with your target market, you can cut out the intermediary or the middle man.
• The running cost of using social media is low.

Social Media is like the spider web, bringing all the different markets together.

The barriers to entry for foreign markets have been simply broken apart by social media platforms like Facebook. Twitter could be just as important a mouth piece for realty companies spreading the words of the latest offers and getting the showcase properties out there, whilst fuelling the interest of potential buyers at the more profitable rate of the Rupee.

Pinterest is another viable social media platform, which have been exploited to showcase high end condos and luxury apartments. With trends showing in a recent article aesthetic products being shared via Pinterest having a higher percentage of resulting transaction.

The benefits of social media for realty can be explained by Rajeeb Dash, Head of Marketing, at Tata Housing. "Tapping NRIs through the social media route helps cut marketing costs by 30 to 40 percent, and also makes our marketing efforts more focussed. Since the Rupee depreciation of the last two months, NRI enquiries are up by 20 to 25 percent."

Realty in India has suffered major setbacks with the decline of the Rupee but by targeting NRIs via social media, they have somewhat minimises the losses. By seeing the window of opportunity and with the help of social media, it may have got some of the tech savvy companies out of jail.

What do you think?

Do you think the same strategy is viable in your home country? Could the same thing be done in another different industry? Only by thinking outside of the box could you see the opportunity that may arise.

Feel free to share with us your thoughts.

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