Ep #123: What's Working Now With Facebook Ads and How to Partner With Agents for Lead Generation

Grant Wise breaks down what's actually working with Facebook ads in 2019, covering targeting, budgeting, ad structure, and the critical role of retargeting and video. The second half covers a specific strategy for loan officers to run Facebook ads that get real estate agents to book appointments on their calendar. Best for LOs who want to generate leads and/or attract agent partners through paid social.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Run a 'free list of homes' lead ad targeting a specific ZIP or neighborhood: write copy like 'Attention [Neighborhood] residents — free report of homes priced under $[median price]. Some qualify for special financing. Click to get the list instantly.' Use the local MLS median sale price from the last 90 days to set the price point.
• Structure every Facebook campaign as 4-6 ads, not one: (1) one lead generation ad using a lead form, (2) two to three retargeting video ads to warm up leads who engaged, and (3) one to two call-to-action ads ('Book an appointment' or 'Send me a message') shown only to people who watched 25-50% of your videos.
• Run a 'fish in a barrel' listing ad: shoot a 3-5 minute video in the neighborhood where your buyer wants to move, tell that buyer's story, and run the ad targeted to residents of that specific subdivision. People will DM you with seller leads or tag neighbors who want to sell.
• To vet real estate agent partners without wasting time, require agents to complete a 24-question intake form covering their production, goals, pain points, and marketing history before booking a call — only serious, motivated agents will finish it.
• Set your Facebook ad budget at $10-20/day to start. Most successful campaigns run on $300-600/month. Reinvest 20% of revenue back into ad spend as you grow. Judge campaigns by cost to acquire a customer (cost of acquisition), not cost per lead.
• Let a lead form ad run 24-48 hours before evaluating. If you spend $5-15 without getting a lead, something is broken. Do not judge by click-through rate or CPM — track only cost per closed customer.

The playbook

1. Step 1: Define your ideal client by lifestyle, not just demographics — where they shop, what they read, what they watch, what income bracket they're in. Enter those attributes into Facebook's targeting.
2. Step 2: Pull the median sale price from your local MLS for the last 90 days in your target area.
3. Step 3: Launch a lead form ad offering a free list of homes at that price point, called out by neighborhood name in the headline.
4. Step 4: Retarget everyone who engaged with that lead form ad with 2-3 short videos of you in the community — building brand and relationship through repeated exposure.
5. Step 5: Retarget people who watched 25-50% or more of your videos with a call-to-action ad — 'Book a call,' 'Send me a message,' or 'Schedule a showing.'
6. Step 6: Track cost per acquisition (not CPL). Once you know your number (e.g., $72 spent = $6,000 commission), scale spend accordingly.
7. Step 7 (Agent partnership version): Build a landing page and calendar integration. Run a Facebook ad targeting agents in your market promoting your value proposition (lead gen help, partnership). Require a 24-question application before they can book time on your calendar.

Worth quoting

“Every dollar they put in the machine they're getting eight back — that's powerful stuff.”

“When I focus my time on building relationships I don't have bad customers. When I spend my time finding customers I lose all my great relationships.”

Best for

LOs who want to generate buyer leads on Facebook or use paid ads to get qualified real estate agents booking meetings on their calendar — without cold calling.