Published , updated by XLR8 Media

Many agents who come to XLR8 Media have tried Facebook or Instagram ads, usually a "free appraisal" or "what is your home worth" campaign. Some got listings from it. Many got a list of names who did not pick up the phone. The difference between that experience and a Google search campaign is not the quality of the platform. It is what the person was doing when they saw the ad.

Intent versus interruption

A Google search ad appears because someone typed a search such as "real estate agents [suburb]". They have told Google, in words, what they want, and they are looking at a list of agents to choose from. A Meta ad (Facebook and Instagram) appears in a feed because the person matches a targeting profile while they are doing something else. One is a decision moment; the other is an interruption that might start one.

That is why the two channels tend to produce different enquiries. A search enquiry usually comes from an owner who is thinking about selling and wants to compare agents. A feed enquiry often comes from someone curious about a price, which can be a fine start to a long conversation but is a different thing from an appraisal request.

Where Meta is the right choice

  • Brand: showing your face and your results to home owners in a suburb, again and again, before they ever search.
  • Staying in touch: following up people who have already visited your profile.
  • The long game: staying in front of owners who are years away from selling.

If your plan is to be the best-known agent in a suburb over several years, social ads can belong in it.

Where Google search is the right choice

  • You want to be in front of owners at the moment they search for an agent in your suburb.
  • You want the vendor to land on your own profile page or ring you from the ad.
  • You want a suburb that is yours alone among the agency's clients (XLR8 Media works with one agent per suburb).

How to compare them fairly

Do not compare the channels on the number of names collected. Compare them on appraisals booked and listings won over a few months, because the two lose people at different points. Keep a note of where each enquiry came from, and look back after a few months.

Running both

Plenty of agents run both, and it works when each is judged on its own job: social ads on reach and staying in touch, search on vendors who are actively looking. Ask for separate reporting for each, so the numbers are never blended.

XLR8 Media runs Google search only, for one agent per suburb, with plain-English reporting on impressions, clicks, click-through rate, position on the page and calls. If you are weighing the two channels, start with your suburb: send it through the suburb availability check and we will tell you how often vendors search there.