The 7 Metrics Your Ads Manager Should Report Every Time
A good ads manager doesn’t overwhelm you.
They clarify.
Especially if you’re running campaigns to generate:
Listing appointments
Home valuation leads
Buyer inquiries
Developer or investor interest
You don’t need a 12-page PDF full of screenshots.
You need answers.
Specifically:
How much did we spend?
And what did we get?
If a report can’t clearly answer that, it’s noise, not insight.
Here’s what you should expect in every report.
1. Spend
How much money went out this week or month?
This is the foundation.
No strategy discussion matters if you don’t know:
Total spend
Budget pacing
Whether you're under or overspending
First question:
What did we invest?
2. Impressions
How many people saw the ads?
This tells you if your brand, listings, or valuation offers are actually being shown in your target market.
If impressions are low, reach is limited.
If impressions are strong but leads are weak, the issue isn’t visibility, it’s performance.
Platforms like Meta and Google report this clearly.
3. Clicks
How many people were interested enough to visit?
Clicks show interest.
If someone clicks your:
“What’s My Home Worth?” campaign
New development promotion
Buyer guide ad
It means your message created curiosity.
But clicks alone don’t pay commissions.
They’re movement, not results.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
What percentage of viewers clicked?
CTR tells you whether your messaging is clear and compelling.
Low CTR usually means:
The audience isn’t well-defined
The offer isn’t strong
The headline isn’t specific
For real estate agents, clarity is everything.
“Thinking of Selling?” is vague.
“Homeowners in [Suburb], See What Your Property Could Sell For Today” is specific.
CTR answers:
Is the message landing?
5. Conversions
How many people completed the action you wanted?
This is the real performance indicator.
Conversions might be:
Valuation form submissions
Appointment bookings
Buyer registrations
Property inquiries
If clicks are healthy but conversions are low, the landing page or follow-up process needs attention.
This answers:
What did we actually generate?
6. Cost Per Result
How much did each conversion cost?
This metric connects marketing to business reality.
If a seller lead costs $30 and you close one in ten, that’s powerful.
If a buyer inquiry costs $150 and rarely converts, adjustments are needed.
This answers:
Is this sustainable?
7. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), If Applicable
For some campaigns, especially developer marketing or paid buyer funnels, revenue tracking is possible.
ROAS answers:
“For every dollar spent, how much came back?”
Not every real estate campaign can track revenue directly. But when it can, this metric matters.
These Seven Tell the Story
Spend
Impressions
Clicks
CTR
Conversions
Cost per result
ROAS (if applicable)
Everything else is context.
Helpful later, but not core.
If your ads manager is sending long reports filled with:
Heatmaps
Engagement breakdowns
Screenshot collages
…but you can’t answer:
“How much did we spend and what did we get?”
Something is wrong.
How Often Should You Get Reports?
During active testing:
Weekly updates make sense.
Once campaigns stabilize:
Bi-weekly or monthly reporting is reasonable.
Daily updates?
Overkill, unless you’re spending thousands per day.
Ads need time to gather data (especially during the learning phase). Constant daily reactions often hurt performance.
Final Thought
You don’t need more data.
You need clarity.
A strong ads manager makes performance simple:
Here’s what we spent.
Here’s what we generated.
Here’s what we’re improving next.
That’s partnership.
And that’s how real estate advertising becomes accountable, not mysterious.
