resi Marketing
predictions 2026/2027‍

Insights from theEword’s residential team on the trends set to influence property marketing in 2026 and beyond.

Creative Becomes the New Targeting

In 2026, targeting on Meta will become even more restricted. With Special Housing Category limitations and the continued rollout of Advantage+ automation, advertisers will have less control over demographics, postcode targeting and lookalike audiences. Campaigns will increasingly operate within broad, platform-led audiences.

As a result, traditional audience segmentation will lose effectiveness. Instead, relevance will be driven by creative.

Clear, deliberate creative segmentation will be essential. Messaging and visuals will need to immediately speak to specific buyer groups such as first-time buyers, investors, families, downsizers or commuters. The creative itself will act as the filter, allowing the right audience to self-identify and engage.

In a world where technical targeting is limited, the developments that succeed will be those with direct, buyer-specific creative that makes people recognise themselves instantly.

Kai Williams

Quality Over Quantity : Better Leads, Not More Leads

With advertising costs continuing to rise and tracking becoming more constrained, 2026 will see a shift away from volume-driven lead generation towards lead quality.

Developments will focus on attracting more meaningful enquiries by gaining a deeper understanding of real buyer intent. Clearer audience insights will play a key role in keeping engagement high and reducing wasted spend.

This will naturally lead to greater personalisation across copy, creative and targeting, supported by omni channel strategies that deliver consistent messaging at every stage of the funnel. The goal will be joined-up storytelling across platforms, not isolated campaigns chasing clicks.

Mikaella Gartland

AI Will Grow, But Search Still Dominates

AI-powered tools like ChatGPT are becoming more visible and more capable, but in 2026 traditional search engines will continue to dominate traffic for property.

While AI can provide quick, insightful answers, accuracy remains critical in high-value purchase decisions. Property buyers want to research, compare and explore multiple sources, something search engines still enable far more effectively.

Although AI-driven traffic will grow over time, it currently represents a very small percentage of overall acquisition. Search engines like Google will remain the primary driver of intent-led traffic, particularly for residential developments. AI will complement search, not replace it.

Curtis Halligan

Creative Quality and Education Take Centre Stage

The importance of creative quality will continue to rise in 2026. We’re already seeing higher-quality, authentic creatives outperform overly polished CGI, particularly on platforms like Meta.

Standard showhome imagery alone will no longer be enough. Campaigns that educate users directly within the ad creative are proving more effective, reducing reliance on the website to do all the work.

More information will need to be delivered upfront through ads across multiple platforms. Attribution will also become less clear. A buyer might watch an educational TikTok about shared ownership today and convert months later after seeing a Meta ad. Understanding and accepting this longer, less linear journey will be essential.

Lushan Panchal

AI-Driven Search Will Reshape Early-Stage Buyer Research

In 2026, AI-driven search will significantly influence the earliest stages of the buyer journey. Platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini are already delivering tailored answers to complex housing questions, and buyers will increasingly begin their research through conversational AI rather than traditional search.

Instead of broad Google searches, users will ask AI tools highly specific questions based on their circumstances. In response, AI will return a small number of recommended locations, developments or providers, reducing early-stage visibility for brands that aren’t well referenced or indexed.

This shift means paid media will need to support discoverability, not just immediate enquiries. Educational content such as area guides, affordability explainers, eligibility breakdowns and transparent cost information will become essential. These assets give AI something authoritative to surface and summarise.

The brands that perform best in 2026 will be those that invest in structured, trustworthy information and position themselves as credible sources when buyers ask AI for advice.