Driven | Forbes Global Properties and Dot Dot Growth
Abu Dhabi pilot
Prepared for Kaiyan Mistry, COO, and the Driven management team, following our meeting on 24 September 2026.
Driven has the access, relationships and reputation that Abu Dhabi buyers look for, but the current campaigns don't show them. Since the start of August, the Abu Dhabi campaigns have produced 231 leads at a cost per lead of AED 200-400, and 10-15 of those were qualified. Daily lead flow has fallen from around four to one, and no deals have closed from paid media in the last three months.
The causes sit in the setup. Every campaign uses a single structure with no testing, and every buyer sees the same message. There is no retargeting, and leads are handed out in rotation rather than matched to the right broker.
We propose a 90-day pilot from campaign launch, focused on Aldar and Reportage off-plan launches and starting at AED 50,000 in monthly ad spend. The pilot will:
- rebuild the Meta account and the creative around Driven's access to launches
- reactivate recent enquiries from Driven's existing database
- add Google Search and YouTube, Snapchat and LinkedIn in months two and three, so that by day 90 Driven has real data on which channels to scale.
The pilot can run as a full-service engagement or as an advisory model working alongside Driven's own team.
Driven has the access and relationships that Abu Dhabi buyers look for. The current campaigns don't show them, and the leads they generate aren't reaching the right brokers quickly enough to convert.
- Lead flow has fallen.Earlier this year Abu Dhabi spend was around AED 200,000 a month and produced around four leads a day. Spend has since been reduced, and lead flow is now around one a day, which is not enough to keep the brokers busy.
- Cost per lead is high.It sits at AED 200-400, mostly on instant forms. Instant forms ask the least of the buyer, so we would expect them to cost no more than around AED 100 per lead.
- Few leads qualify.Of 231 leads since the start of August, 10-15 were qualified. Across the group, around 90% of leads in the last three months were spam.
- Few leads become deals.There have been 7 marketing-attributed deals since January, including Abu Dhabi, a 0.7% lead-to-deal rate. No deals have closed from paid media in the last three months, including from the campaign that performed best earlier in the year.
- The account structure explains much of this.Every campaign uses budget optimisation with one ad set and one or two ads. There is no testing, no audience segmentation, no retargeting, and exclusions are by location only.
- Lead handling adds to the loss.Leads are distributed in rotation, with no rules for matching budget or project to the right broker. The current CRM has gaps in attribution, and a new CRM goes live on 1 November 2026.
Driven holds around 768,000 historical leads across the group.
Driven held around 30 Aldar credits but didn't have enough buyers lined up to use them.
Many current projects start at around AED 3M, and at 4% commission that is AED 120,000 per deal before the agent split (illustrative). The group's average marketing cost per closed deal is around AED 40,000.
Driven's current Abu Dhabi ads look like any other brokerage's. We rework them so they show what Driven can offer and others can't: access to launches, a realistic route to allocation, and the relationships behind both.
- Mostly static images, with no clear call to action.
- Nothing that separates Driven from a one-person agency.
- The same message for every buyer.
- English and Arabic.
- Broker-led video alongside static formats.
- Aldar and Reportage used as example projects only.
In Abu Dhabi, buyers want confidence that a brokerage can secure allocation at launch. Today that story is mostly being told by social media personalities, and the brokerages that hold the allocation are largely missing from it.
A first-time UAE investor and someone who has lived here for 10 years need different reasons to enquire.
The current account is set up to spend the budget, but not to learn which audiences, messages and formats produce qualified buyers. The proposed structure tests each of these in turn and puts more budget behind what works.
The native survey is a format we have developed and few advertisers use.
Almost all of Driven's paid spend runs through Meta, and there's no evidence yet on whether another channel would produce better Abu Dhabi buyers. The pilot adds channels in months two and three, so the decision at day 90 rests on Driven's own data.
- TodayMeta carries nearly all spend. Driven advertises on property portals, and Google has been considered but not started. There is no activity on other platforms.
- Month 1Fix the Meta account.
- Months 2-3Add Google Search and YouTube to reach people already searching for launches and to show broker-led video to buyers researching Abu Dhabi. Add Snapchat for Arabic-language ads, a channel where Arabic creative performs well in this region. Add LinkedIn to reach senior professionals and business owners who invest in Abu Dhabi property. Split tests run across each channel.
- By day 90Driven will have real performance data by channel. That data sets the budget split for the next phase and for Dubai.
These are the minimum levels we work to, and what they mean at a monthly ad spend of AED 50,000. Some deals take longer than 90 days to close, so the pilot is judged on the measures that lead to them.
In Abu Dhabi, the launch phase creates urgency, so the sales cycle tends to be shorter than in other markets. That makes a 90-day pilot more measurable, although some deals will still close after day 90.
The rows are calculated from the targets above.
For comparison, the current rate of around one lead a day is roughly 30 leads a month.
A 14-day build, then 12 weeks from campaign launch. Driven reviews the results at weeks 4 and 8, before each step up in scope or spend.
These follow DDG's process from strategy through to broker handover. Database reactivation runs alongside the main process from the build phase onwards.
The switch to the new CRM on 1 November 2026 is managed so lead flow and attribution carry over.
A dedicated strategist, media buyer and content lead, with direct access to Mo and in-person reviews with him every two weeks throughout the pilot.
Driven sees the same numbers we do every week. At day 90 there is a clear decision based on them.
- Cost per lead by endpoint
- Lead volume
- Answer rate
- Qualified lead rate
- Qualified leads through to EOIs
- Cost per qualified lead
- Reactivation reply rate
- Deals and cost per deal, tracked beyond day 90 against the group's current average of around AED 40,000
- Every weekA written performance update and a walkthrough with the Driven team.
- Weeks 4 and 8, and day 90Formal reviews.
- Every two weeksMo in person with the Driven team, including time in Abu Dhabi.
- Every leadAdded to Driven's own CRM and tagged, so Driven has full visibility at all times.
- Lower cost per lead.
- Higher lead flow.
- Better lead quality against today's figures.
- Progress towards the minimum targets in section 6.
Deals are not the pass mark within 90 days, because some off-plan transactions close after day 90.
- Access to lead outcomes in the CRM, so leads can be followed through to EOIs and deals.
- Attribution that carries over when the new CRM goes live.
Driven can run the pilot with DDG doing the work, or with DDG guiding Driven's own team. Both options have a fixed monthly retainer, so the cost is clear before the pilot starts.
- The pilot runs 90 days from campaign launch, after a 14-day build.
- The set-up and first month's retainer are payable on signing. After that, the retainer is payable on the same date at the start of each month.
- Under Option 1, the performance component is calculated on the actual ad spend for each month and invoiced at the end of that month.
- WhatsApp numbers and messaging costs are billed to Driven directly, at cost, with no mark-up.
- Access to the ad accounts.
- Brokers available for content shoots.
- CRM access and lead outcomes.
- The Abu Dhabi enquiry data for reactivation.
- Approvals within agreed timeframes.
If the primary measures have not improved on today's figures by day 90, Driven has no obligation to continue, and DDG will not propose an extension.
Choose an option and a start date. We send the agreement the same day, and the 14-day build begins on signing.
- There are Aldar and Reportage launches active in Abu Dhabi now, so the sooner the build starts, the sooner Driven has campaigns running for them.
- Mo can walk the Abu Dhabi head through the proposal in person next week.
- +971 50 130 8588
- mo@dotdotgrowth.com