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Most high-ticket businesses don’t struggle to generate leads.

They struggle to generate the right leads.

They collect plenty of form fills, export long Excel files, and label people as “interested,” yet sales teams still complain, calls go unanswered, and deals don’t close.

That’s rarely a Meta Ads problem.

It’s almost always a funnel problem.

And real estate is a perfect example of this.

Case Study: Lead Generation for a Real Estate Developer

We used multiple Meta Ads lead generation methods for a real estate developer selling pre-sale apartments (before construction).

Most lead gen fails not because of Meta but because businesses expect immediate sales.

High-ticket products like apartments require: multiple touchpoints, trust and time.

Project Snapshot

Industry: Real Estate

Goal: Generate qualified leads for pre-sale apartments

Market: Romania

Audience:

  • Buyers in Romania

  • Romanian buyers working in the Western Europe

Key Results:

  • 1,400+ leads generated

  • ~20% sales-qualified, ready-to-buy leads

  • ~15% interested buyers planning to purchase via bank credit (possible only after construction is finished)

  • 700+ active email subscribers (~50% of all leads, consistently reading monthly project updates)

  • 64 total units

  • ~50% sold before construction was finished

What This Shows: Lead generation isn’t just about leads that convert now.

It’s about:

  • building future demand

  • qualifying intent over time

  • creating a database that compounds

The sales funnel and qualified database matters more than the quantity of leads.

What Lead Generation Methods We Tested

1. Website Contact Form

We added qualifying questions with mandatory answers.

Result

  • high friction

  • low volume

  • decent intent

  • hard to scale

2. Landing Page Catalog Download

Landing page asking only for:

  • name

  • email

  • phone

Lead magnet: full apartment catalog (plans, sizes, layouts, pre-construction prices)

Results

  • lower friction

  • users self-qualified by interest

  • stronger intent

  • CPL dropped 50–70%

This changed everything.

3. Meta Instant Forms + Catalog Offer

This became the sweet spot.

Why it worked

  • no landing page required

  • users stayed inside Meta (Facebook & Instagram)

  • fast submission

  • strong intent signal

  • scalable volume

Meta captured the lead then redirected users to the catalog.

Simple funnel flow.

What Performed Worse

  • direct phone call campaigns

  • lead forms with no offer

  • “just fill the form” ads

These generated leads but mostly price-curious, low-intent users.

The Real Lesson

You need the right balance of friction.

Enough friction to confirm intent.

Not so much that you kill demand.

Meta Ads didn’t magically improve lead quality.

Testing did.

Different lead methods attract:

  • different intent levels

  • different buying stages

  • different outcomes

This is where most lead gen campaigns fail.

What many marketing agencies a DIY business do

  • launch one lead campaign

  • export a spreadsheet

  • send it to the client

That’s not lead generation. That’s lead delivery.

Conclusion

For real estate and other high-ticket products:

  • lead quality beats lead volume

  • friction must match buying intent

  • offers matter more than targeting

Not all leads are equal.

And Meta Ads shouldn’t be used the same way for every business.

The Future of Shopping? AI + Actual Humans.

AI has changed how consumers shop, but people still drive decisions. Levanta’s research shows affiliate and creator content continues to influence conversions, plus it now shapes the product recommendations AI delivers. Affiliate marketing isn’t being replaced by AI, it’s being amplified.

Download the full report

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