How to Generate Quality Leads with Facebook Ads

Scott Schang walks through the exact Facebook ad system he built to generate and nurture buyer leads on behalf of real estate agent partners — covering ad format, spend thresholds, landing page optimization, ISA follow-up via Verse.io, and Homebot engagement. Best for LOs who want a data-backed, tool-specific blueprint for running consumer-direct Facebook campaigns that also double as an agent attraction strategy.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Set Facebook ad daily budget to $15–$20 minimum (not $1–$5) so the algorithm exits the learning phase faster; run at least 5 days before judging performance. For evergreen first-time buyer or rent-vs-buy campaigns, budget $400 for 30 days.
• Switch from native Facebook Lead Ads (5 data points, auto-fill) to a LeadPops landing page that collects 15 data points including purchase timeline, down payment amount, and credit score range. This alone roughly doubled Scott's qualified contact rate (8% → 22%) with similar ad spend.
• Add these specific Facebook interest-targeting categories to your housing ad sets: Trulia, Zillow, home insurance, listing services, renters insurance, apartments.com, and renter-related interests — these signal early buyer intent without violating Fair Housing targeting rules.
• Connect your lead form to Verse.io (formerly Agentology) via Zapier so a live agent calls every lead within minutes, 24/7. Scott's stats: 51% of leads responded, 20%+ were qualified (verified real person, confirmed intent). Note that 49% of leads came in after hours — human ISA coverage captured those.
• Dump all captured buyer leads into the agent's Homebot buyer account automatically via Zapier. Scott found ~50% open rates on Homebot buyer digests and 70–90 clicks per month from leads he wasn't actively working — providing agent value with zero manual effort.
• Use this as your agent pitch: 'I'll build, run, and optimize your Facebook ads. 100% of your ad spend goes to your campaign. I cover the ISA follow-up cost. All you do is take the hot transfers.' Then show them the lead quality spreadsheet (credit scores, price ranges, down payment data) — 93% of leads in Scott's analysis were not yet working with an agent.

The playbook

1. 1. Create a Facebook ad (rent-vs-buy or just-listed format) with interest-based targeting: Trulia, Zillow, home insurance, renters insurance, apartments.com, listing services.
2. 2. Set spend at $15–$20/day; run for 30 days for evergreen ads (~$400 total). A/B test 2–3 images and cut underperformers within 24 hours by monitoring cost-per-click.
3. 3. Send ad traffic to a LeadPops landing page (not a native Facebook Lead Ad). Enable the 'super footer' feature. Collect 15 data points: zip code, timeline, down payment, credit score range, pre-approval status, etc.
4. 4. Zap each new lead simultaneously to: (a) Verse.io for immediate live ISA outreach, (b) your CRM for long-term nurture, (c) the agent's Homebot buyer account for ongoing engagement.
5. 5. Verse.io calls the lead within minutes using their default scripts. Qualified leads (live person, confirmed interest) are hot-transferred or emailed to the agent.
6. 6. Monthly, pull the lead data into a spreadsheet. Analyze credit scores, price ranges, down payment answers, and agent-relationship status. Use this report as proof-of-value when recruiting or retaining agent partners.

Worth quoting

“I will not invest in a tool that puts data on an island that I can't access.”

“Half of our leads came in after hours — and because Verse is following up 24/7, we still got them.”

Best for

LOs who want to run Facebook ads for real estate agents as a lead-sharing strategy but have struggled with low lead quality or poor follow-up conversion.