Off-plan launch marketing plan: pre-launch to post-launch

An off-plan launch marketing plan runs in four phases: foundations (permits, fact sheet, assets), pre-launch and expressions of interest (teasers, broker previews, registrations), the launch window (events, paid media, portal listings, bookings), and post-launch sustain (inventory campaigns and construction updates). The plan below gives typical timing, owners and measures for each, adapted to Dubai's permit rules.

Timing varies by project size and market conditions, so treat the weeks as a template. For the wider strategy behind it, see our off-plan marketing strategy pillar.

01What should be ready before any teaser goes out?

Most launch problems trace back to the foundations phase. A teaser that goes live before the payment plan is final, or before permits are in place, creates facts you will spend months correcting.

Under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007, a developer may not advertise off-plan units in local or international media, or join exhibitions to promote them, without written authorization from the Department.^[1] DLD's ad permit service, delivered through Trakheesi, lists project launch events among the permit types, at AED 5,000 plus a AED 20 knowledge fee.^[2]

The fact sheet is the single most important asset. Everything else, from ad copy to broker WhatsApp messages, should be derived from it and carry a version date.

02What does a typical launch timeline look like?

The timeline below is an example for a mid-size Dubai launch. Larger master-planned launches often start foundations months earlier.

1. 1
   FoundationsWeeks −10 to −6

   Permits, fact sheet, legal review of claims, project page, CRM set-up, broker kit.
2. 2
   Teaser and broker previewWeeks −6 to −3

   Teaser campaign, PR announcement, private briefings for top brokerages, first registrations of interest.
3. 3
   EOI windowWeeks −3 to 0

   Expression-of-interest collection under the developer's published terms, nurture of registered leads, event invitations.
4. 4
   Launch windowWeeks 0 to +2

   Launch event, full paid media, portal listings, booking and SPA process, daily inventory updates to brokers.
5. 5
   SustainWeek +3 onward

   Remaining-inventory campaigns, construction updates, content for late researchers, fact-sync audit.

03How should you brief brokers before launch?

Brokers often reach more buyers in launch week than your own channels do, so the broker briefing is a marketing asset, not a sales formality. Hold it after the fact sheet is final and before teasers peak, so agents hear the story from you first rather than from each other.

Keep the briefing practical. Walk through the buyer types you are targeting, the proof points that matter to each, the payment plan line by line, and the questions you expect. Explain what agents may and may not claim: no guaranteed returns, no invented handover dates, visa wording only as officially stated.

Give every brokerage the same kit and a named contact for questions. When facts change, send a short update with a new version date and ask brokerages to replace old files. Agents forward PDFs for months, so an undated payment plan becomes tomorrow's wrong answer on a portal or in a chat assistant.

Finally, agree how broker leads will be registered and attributed. Disputes over who introduced a buyer slow down bookings in the launch window and distort your channel data afterwards.

04How should you run the EOI phase?

Expressions of interest let you gauge demand and prioritize serious buyers. Terms differ by developer: EOI payments are usually refundable or partially refundable depending on the developer's terms, and regulators increasingly require them to sit in escrow.^[3] In Abu Dhabi, developers launching off-plan projects must now register EOIs online through the Madhmoun platform, with funds held in a government-managed escrow account supervised by ADREC.^[4]

Publish your EOI terms in one place and link to them everywhere. Refundability, amount, and what happens if a buyer does not proceed are the questions buyers ask most, and the ones that go wrong when brokers improvise. Check current Dubai requirements for EOI collection with DLD before you open the window.

Use the EOI window to learn as well as to collect. Which unit types draw the most interest, which source markets respond, and which objections come up repeatedly? Feed those answers into final pricing, the launch-event script and the FAQ on your project page.

During the EOI phase, track registrations by source and run quick qualification calls. A registration is not a lead until someone has confirmed budget and timing.

05What happens in the launch window?

The launch window is short and intense. Four streams need to move together: the event, paid media, portal listings and broker communication.

Send brokers a daily availability and price update during the window. Inventory moves fast at launch, and stale availability lists are a common source of frustration for buyers and agents alike.

06What should post-launch marketing do?

After the first wave, the job shifts to absorbing remaining inventory and protecting the project's reputation through construction. Buyers who research later, including resale buyers, will see whatever the internet says about the project at that point.

With that much supply in the pipeline, post-launch content is part of the sales plan, not an afterthought. Dated construction updates, consistent completion estimates and clear answers to payment questions support both direct sales and broker conversations.

Plan a fact-sync audit for week three. Compare the final fact sheet with your project page, every active portal listing, the latest broker kit and the main press articles. Correct anything that still shows teaser prices, an old unit mix or an early completion estimate, and keep a log of what changed and when.

07What should you measure at each phase?

Each phase needs its own scorecard, because a single cost-per-lead number hides most of what matters. In foundations, the measure is readiness: permits secured, fact sheet signed off, assets and CRM tested. In pre-launch, track registrations of interest by source and how many pass a qualification call.

In the launch window, the core measures are bookings, cost per booking and the share of bookings by channel and brokerage. Measure lead-to-booking time as well: if it stretches, buyers are hesitating, often because something they read elsewhere contradicts your sales pitch.

In sustain, track absorption of remaining inventory, cancellations and the accuracy of project facts across your site, broker materials, portals and AI answers. Hold a short retrospective a month after launch and record what you would change. The next launch starts with this document.

08How do you check AI answers before and after launch?

Buyers now ask assistants about new launches directly: "what is the payment plan for this project?" or "is this developer reliable?" Google rolled out AI Mode in Modern Standard Arabic in October 2025,^[6] so these questions arrive in English and Arabic.

Run a simple audit twice: a week before launch, and two weeks after. Ask the same 15–25 buyer questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google, in both languages, and log the answers and cited sources. Our guide on how buyers use ChatGPT for property research lists the questions worth testing.

If an answer is wrong, trace it to the source page and fix that page. Our correction workflow covers the steps.

This pre- and post-launch check is part of what OwnlyReal does for enterprises: measuring share of answer, correcting facts at the source and operating through your CMS and approvals. The for enterprise section explains who it is built for.