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.