The challenge
This was the volume engine of the portfolio — the most accessible apartment product, and the largest spender. Its always-on prospecting ad set was spending PKR 3.65M and returning leads at PKR 1,845, while launch-window ad sets in the same project returned leads at PKR 243 to PKR 602.
What the numbers said
| Ad set | Leads | Cost per lead | CTR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interest + geo, launch window | 629 | PKR 243 | 0.86% |
| Pre-launch, interest audience | 780 | PKR 457 | 0.70% |
| Pre-launch, broad | 3,871 | PKR 501 | 0.65% |
| Grand launch, interest | 986 | PKR 506 | 0.91% |
| Grand launch, broad | 1,464 | PKR 602 | 0.81% |
| Demographic audience | 1,419 | PKR 651 | 0.61% |
| Always-on prospecting | 1,984 | PKR 1,845 | 0.58% |
| Project total (21 ad sets) | 23,011 | PKR 787 | 0.63% |
Sorted by cost per lead, the ad sets lined up almost perfectly by their distance from an event. The always-on set was not badly built; it simply gave nobody a reason to act this week instead of next month.
What we changed
- Rebuilt the calendar around three phases: pre-launch build-up, a concentrated window around each ceremony, and post-launch consolidation.
- Lifted daily budget during the unveiling window, then stepped it back down as the window closed.
- Reduced always-on prospecting to a maintenance floor whose job is to keep retargeting pools full between events.
- Added Google Search on top of Meta to catch the branded searches the launch was creating.
Budget should follow the calendar, not the spreadsheet. An even monthly split overpays in quiet weeks and underspends in the exact windows where leads are cheapest.