Whether to include the price of your listing in the ads is a common debate among realtors. While the answer isn’t always black and white, there is a right answer for you and your business.
Consumers want to see the price, but it’s easier to get leads without the price in the ad. Withholding the information forces them to opt in. Whenever this debate happens, it’s rarely done without including numbers.
Our real estate digital marketing agency, Just Sell Homes, is uniquely positioned to get this data. We can test listings across Canada and price points at the same time. So, that’s exactly what we did.
Over seven days, we took 15 listings across the country and did an A/B Test. For every listing, we did two variations of the ad. Each variation was the same from image to copy. We included no price for one variation and put it in the second line for the other— there were no other differences in the ad versions. Targeting was the same: housing category, 15 miles around the address, and no interests selected.
The results were very clear:
Cost per lead with the price – $7.54
Cost per lead without the price – $4.18
*Note: There was a unique listing in the group with an expected higher cost per lead. It skewed the results. If we removed that listing from the group, the average cost per lead would be about $0.70 cheaper.
If you include the price, a lead, on average, will cost you an extra $3.36. You can get almost double the leads withholding the price.
Now that you know the numbers, it’s time to make a decision. Withholding the price usually leads to less friendly calls with consumers. They don’t like having to opt in to get the price. Keeping the price in, from a brand-building perspective, is better. It puts the consumers’ interest first over your own.
You need to make the decision for your business; what do you value more? More leads to follow-up with or giving the consumer a better experience?
Most clients at Just Sell Homes prefer to pay more for leads and include the listing price. There’s less negativity in the ads. The follow-up conversations lead to a higher conversion rate in the long run. Even though you’re paying more for the leads, they convert more with the price in.
My recommendation: put the price in your ads.
Test it out for yourself. See what works best for you.
What do you think about price in vs. price out? Let me know in the comments.
Andrew Fogliato is the owner and publisher of Real Estate Magazine. A real estate agent turned marketer turned publisher, he founded the marketing agency Just Sell Homes and has spent more than a decade helping real estate professionals across Canada and the U.S. make sense of marketing, technology, and what’s actually next. He also speaks at real estate conferences and events across North America.
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I absolutely agree. Include the price. The amount of hate comments and complaints from consumer is huge when it’s withheld. Better to give a better experience and get the best right leads who can afford the property
Thanks, could you screenshot? We’re trying to recreate the error and can’t get seem to.
In my biz, it’s all about the customer experience and to make that better I put the price in. I do not want a bunch of leads that are starting off on the wrong foot complaining about the marketing – it’s just too much to win them over. Leads that know the price and like the house, well those are worth the extra $$
Post it!!!! It’s good for prospective buyers and realtors working with qualified buyers. Sure we can pull it up on stratus BUT when I’m on the go this helps…not sure what the big secret is 😂
I agree – price in! We are in an industry of serving people and in the long run we will grow larger businesses if we do. If I was to creat “opt in” ads I would do it with a non branded landing page, I wouldn’t want my brand associated with ads that are negative to the consumer.
Price in. I believe quality of lead is better and quite often the lead will pass you by if you have no price, engage in conversation with another agent that had the price and mention liking your property listing and having that agent pull the information.
Interesting work. Would be nice to see one more stat, lead conversion. If no price produces more leads, does it lead do more conversions in the end?
Rick DeLuca (a great real estate trainer imho) used to include the address as well. He used ads as a lead qualifying process. If they called him, he knew that they knew the price and had already driven by the property so he got a lot less calls but when they did call, he knew they were serious.
Definitely something to think about
Include the price for sure! Agree with all comments! It’s all about efficiency for the consumer experience.