Hi Leigh & Dino,
Here's the wrap on Month 1 of Hidden Equity, with the plan locked in for Month 2.
Three leads at $65 each isn't the volume we'd ideally want, but it's a clean proof of concept for the sales appraisal angle. The audience exists, they're contactable, and Text Minimal was the format that converted them. The honest issue with Month 1 is that two-thirds of the budget went to creative formats (Lifestyle Image and Team Trust) that didn't land with that audience.
Worth being upfront that $200 a month is a small spend in Meta terms. It's enough to keep MVP visible to a tightly defined local audience and bring in a steady trickle of high-intent leads each month, but it won't push big lead numbers on its own. At this level my job is to make every dollar work harder than the month before, and Month 2 is built to do exactly that.
The pivot to rental appraisals means a different audience entirely (investors and landlords, not owner-occupiers), so the creative format learnings from Month 1 don't carry over. I'll be retesting three creative formats fresh for this audience to find what lands.
I tested three creative formats this month, Text Minimal, Lifestyle Image and Team Trust. Text Minimal carried the entire campaign. The other two were paused mid-month once it was clear the spend wasn't returning anything.
This is the most useful insight from the month. Every single lead came from one specific demographic, and every dollar spent outside it generated nothing.
Women converted at less than half the cost per lead of men. And despite serving thousands of impressions to under-55s, zero leads came back from that group. That's a clear signal.
Month 2 shifts the campaign from sales appraisals to rental appraisals, which means a completely different audience. The conversation is now with property investors and landlords, not owner-occupiers thinking about selling. The creative format learnings from Month 1 don't carry over cleanly here, so I'll be writing fresh copy built for this audience.
Different conversation, different audience. The reach this month is landlords who may have held a rental for a few years and haven't reviewed how it's tracking, a group that's typically older, often investors with a portfolio, and very different to the owner-occupier audience Month 1 was built for.
Investor demographics skew differently to owner-occupiers, so I'm widening the age range from Month 1. Targeting will layer Meta's investor and landlord interest signals on top of the suburb targeting. I'll watch performance closely in the first 7-10 days and tighten if a clear demographic emerges.
Lead forms are convenient for the user but they pull in everyone who half-fills a box, which is partly why follow-up on real estate appraisal leads can feel hit and miss. Messenger flips that. Instead of a form submission, the lead opens a conversation directly with MVP, which means the people who engage are warmer, more committed and easier to convert into a real appraisal booking. It also gives the team a chance to qualify the enquiry on the spot rather than chasing a cold form fill.
Text Minimal worked for the owner-occupier audience in Month 1, but landlords and investors are a different group that may respond to different cues. Rather than assume what worked before will work again, I'll keep the three-creative structure (so the ads stay fresh across the month) and use it to retest creative formats for this new audience. I've put three angles below for you to choose from. Pick the one that feels most aligned with how you'd naturally talk to a landlord, and I'll build three creative variations around it.
"Thinking about switching property managers? Slow responses, long vacancies, the wrong tenants, if any of that sounds familiar, it might be time for a chat."
"When was the last time anyone actually checked in on your investment property? We'll review how it's performing and let you know if there's anything we'd do differently."
"Sell it or keep renting it? With Perth values where they are, it's the question every investor is asking. We'll give you both numbers, sale price and current rental return, so you can make the call."
The campaign found its audience for sales appraisals, older homeowners, predominantly women, in the 55+ bracket. Every dollar spent outside that group generated nothing, and Text Minimal carried the entire result.
Month 2 is a deliberate pivot. The offer is shifting to rental appraisals, which means a different audience entirely, investors and landlords, not owner-occupiers. I've put three creative angles forward for you to choose from, and I'll learn quickly what this new audience responds to.