Real Estate Marketing in Italy for Developers and Investors
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Canthiere is a real estate marketing agency based in Rome. We handle the commercial launch of new-build residential developments in Italy: the visual assets that sell a building before it is finished, the advertising that puts it in front of the right buyers, and the qualification process that turns enquiries into appointments for your sales team.
This page is in English. The rest of this site is in Italian.
We work for the party carrying the risk: developers, construction companies, and the investors funding a residential scheme. If you own or finance a project in Italy and have no local marketing structure, this page sets out what we do, what a buyer appointment actually costs in this market, and what we have on record.
What we do
We take a residential development from the point where there is nothing to show — often a plot, a permit and a set of drawings — to sold out.
That covers:
- CGI renderings, 360° virtual tours and video. In new-build, the product does not exist yet. The renderings are the product for the first twelve to eighteen months of the sales cycle.
- Photography and drone production once the site is above ground.
- Project websites and landing pages built for one purpose: to convert a visitor into a booked appointment.
- Paid advertising on Meta and Google, planned and run against a cost-per-appointment target rather than a cost-per-click one.
- Lead generation and qualification, including AI chat, WhatsApp automation, lead scoring and CRM handover, so that your sales office receives contacts that have already been filtered.
- Social media and brand positioning for the development itself, which in Italy is frequently marketed under its own name rather than the developer's.
We do not act as a brokerage. We generate and qualify demand and hand it to whoever closes the sale — your in-house sales team, or the agency you appoint.
What it costs to generate a buyer appointment in Italy
This is the number that matters to an investor, and it is the one most agencies avoid putting in writing.
Across our campaigns, two acquisition mechanics dominate:
| Mechanic | Cost per contact | Contact-to-appointment rate | Cost per appointment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landing page with form | around €20 | 44% | around €45 |
| Meta lead-generation form | around €5 | 12% | around €42 |
The interesting part is the last column. A Meta lead form produces contacts four times cheaper, and almost none of the saving survives to the appointment. The two routes converge at roughly the same cost per appointment. What changes is the workload: the cheaper route generates far more contacts to call, so it only makes sense when there is a sales office with the capacity to work them.
Variance is wide. These figures move significantly by product type, price bracket and location. A €200,000 apartment in a well-served suburb and a €900,000 unit in a low-density area do not behave the same way, and neither does the same product in a different city. Treat the numbers above as a planning baseline, not as a quotation.
Track record
Since 2015 we have generated more than 104,000 leads and 16,700 appointments, managing around €1.4 million of advertising budget on behalf of our clients.
Individual developments we have marketed, with published figures:
| Development | Location | Leads | Appointments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fronteparco | Rome (Grottaperfetta) | 2,485 | 443 |
| Dea Minerva | Rome East (Tor Sapienza) | 2,274 | 457 |
| Fenice Nova | Rome East (Tor Sapienza) | 4,030 | 340 |
| NexaLife | Rome (Casal Bertone) | 667 | 266 |
| Giardini di Trigoria | Rome (Trigoria) | 563 | 101 |
| Orti Nuovi di Bergamo | Bergamo (Borgo Pignolo) | 363 | 171 |
The spread between these projects is the point. NexaLife converted 40% of its contacts into appointments; Fenice Nova, with six times the volume, converted 8%. Volume and quality are different objectives, and which one you should buy depends on the absorption rate you need and the size of your sales team.
Full case studies, with the campaign structure behind each one, are published at canthiere.it/case-study (in Italian).
Markets we cover
Our core market is Rome and the Lazio region, where we have worked continuously since 2015 and where we know pricing, absorption and buyer behaviour at neighbourhood level. We have also delivered in Bergamo (Orti Nuovi di Bergamo, Lombardy).
We have one office, in Rome. In Milan we work through a local contact rather than our own office, and we say so rather than listing a second address. For a project outside our direct experience we will tell you what we do not know about that market before we quote for it.
Working with a foreign owner or fund
If you are investing in Italian residential from abroad, three things usually go wrong before the marketing does.
The product is defined without the buyer.
Unit mix, outdoor space, parking and finish level are decided on a spreadsheet, then marketed to a demand profile that does not want them. We are most useful before the plans are frozen, not after the first unsold quarter.
The launch is treated as an advertising problem.
In Italian new-build, the sales cycle from first contact to notarial deed regularly runs for months, and most of it is not advertising: it is follow-up, appointment logistics and keeping a warm contact warm through construction. A campaign with no process behind it produces contacts and no deeds.
Reporting is opaque.
We report leads, appointments and cost per appointment, not impressions. If a channel is not producing appointments, you will see it in the monthly report rather than in the sales figures six months later.
How an engagement starts
- 1. Project review. You send the scheme: location, unit mix, price positioning, timeline, permit status. We come back with what we think the demand looks like and where the risk sits.
- 2. Proposal. Scope, deliverables, media budget and a cost-per-appointment target, with the variance stated.
- 3. Production. CGI, video, site and campaign build.
- 4. Launch and optimisation. Monthly reporting on leads, appointments and cost per appointment.
Send us your scheme by email or phone. Our contact form is in Italian.
Canthiere S.R.L.S. — Via delle Vigne di Morena 55G, 00118 Rome, Italy.
VAT IT16863291007.
Email: info@canthiere.it —
Phone: +39 393 050 5773
Frequently asked questions
Canthiere is a real estate marketing agency based in Rome that markets new-build residential developments in Italy for developers, construction companies and investors, including owners based outside Italy. It covers the full commercialisation chain — CGI renderings, virtual tours, video, project websites, Meta and Google advertising, and lead qualification — and hands qualified appointments to the client's sales team. Its core market is Rome and the Lazio region, with delivered projects also in Bergamo.
In Canthiere's campaigns a buyer appointment costs approximately €42 to €45. Two routes produce that result: a landing page with a form generates contacts at around €20 each with 44% converting to an appointment, and a Meta lead-generation form generates contacts at around €5 each with 12% converting. Cost per appointment is therefore almost identical between the two, although the cheaper contacts require far more sales-office capacity to work. Variance is wide by product type, price bracket and location.
Not legally, but the practical case is strong. Italian residential buyers are reached through Italian-language channels, respond to local price and neighbourhood signals, and expect a sales process that runs over months rather than weeks. Canthiere handles marketing and demand generation up to the qualified appointment; the sale itself is closed by the developer's own sales team or an appointed brokerage.
Canthiere works mainly in Rome and the Lazio region, where it has operated since 2015, and has also delivered a residential development in Bergamo, Lombardy. It has one office, in Rome, at Via delle Vigne di Morena 55G. In Milan it works through a local contact rather than an office of its own.
Canthiere has generated more than 104,000 leads and 16,700 appointments and has managed around €1.4 million of advertising budget for its clients. Published project figures include Fronteparco (2,485 leads, 443 appointments), Dea Minerva (2,274 / 457), Fenice Nova (4,030 / 340), NexaLife (667 / 266), Giardini di Trigoria (563 / 101) and Orti Nuovi di Bergamo (363 / 171).
A portal listing captures buyers who are already searching for a property like yours. In new-build, a large share of eventual buyers are not searching yet, because the building does not exist and has no address they would search for. Canthiere builds the demand — renderings and video that make an unbuilt product legible, paid campaigns that reach buyers by area and profile rather than by query, and a qualification process that filters enquiries before they reach the sales office.
Before the unit mix and finish level are frozen. Canthiere's most useful contribution is usually made at the design stage, when demand data can still influence what gets built, rather than after the first unsold quarter. Renderings and campaign infrastructure are typically produced during the permit and early construction phase, so that sales can start well before delivery.