Real estate performance marketing uses Google Search to catch buyers looking at a location or project, and Meta to generate visual interest and lead volume. What matters is not the lead count: it is how many leads answer the phone, qualify on budget and visit the site.
How Google and Meta work together for real estate businesses
| Job | Meta | |
|---|---|---|
| Active buyers | Search by project, location and property type | Not the lead channel here |
| Lead volume | Demand Gen and YouTube walkthroughs | Lead forms and video tours, with quality questions on the form |
| Nurture | Remarketing, where policy allows | Project updates for people who viewed or enquired |
What makes this industry different
Property leads are famous for being cheap and useless. Instant forms can produce a low cost per lead with many wrong numbers, and buyers may take months to decide, so optimizing for the form alone misleads the platform.
What to track
- Feed CRM stages back to the platforms: contacted, qualified, visited, booked
- Follow up quickly and record the outcome of each call
- Compare lead sources by site visits rather than by lead count
The numbers we report on: Cost per qualified lead, cost per site visit, cost per booking and lead-to-visit rate by source.
Platform and legal rules to plan for
Housing ads face restrictions in some markets. On Meta, housing ads reaching the US, Canada or Europe must use the Special Ad Category, which restricts age, gender, location and detailed targeting and removes lookalikes. Google applies similar limits on housing in the US and Canada. Project registration rules may also apply locally.
Common mistakes
- Optimizing for the cheapest instant form
- Leaving leads uncalled for a day or more
- Sending several projects to one generic page
From our work with real estate businesses
Common questions
Why are my Meta real estate leads low quality?
Instant forms make it very easy to submit. Add qualifying questions, use a higher-intent form type, and optimize toward CRM outcomes instead of form submissions.
Can real estate ads target by age or income?
It depends on the market. Meta and Google both restrict housing targeting in places including the US and Canada. Outside those markets, check current rules before relying on them.
How long does it take to judge a real estate campaign?
Longer than most industries, as buyers can take months. Use site visits as the earlier indicator, then check bookings once enough time has passed.