1. Objective

This SOP defines how a Virtual Assistant (VA) sets up, monitors, and reports on paid social media advertising — so listings reach beyond the agent's organic following, and lead generation campaigns run within an approved budget without requiring the agent to manage the platform day-to-day.

Paid ads extend what organic posting cannot: they reach buyers and sellers who don't follow the agent, who live in the target neighborhood, and who match the demographic profile of the agent's typical client. The VA manages the setup, monitoring, and reporting. The agent controls the budget, approves the creative, and makes all strategic decisions.

Non-negotiable: No ad runs without the agent's explicit approval of the budget, the creative, and the targeting. The VA never launches an ad independently.

Where this SOP starts: Agent confirms that paid advertising is part of the marketing strategy and provides the first budget authorization.
Where this SOP ends: Ad completes its run, results are reported, and the agent decides on next steps.

Success looks like: The agent knows exactly what every dollar spent on ads produced — impressions, clicks, and leads — without having to log in to the ads manager themselves.

2. Your Role & Boundaries

2a. What you handle independently

• Setting up individual ads in Meta Ads Manager per agent-approved brief
• Monitoring active ads every 48 hours — flagging performance issues to agent
• Pausing ads that are materially underperforming with agent notification (not without notice)
• Updating ad creative when a listing status changes (price reduction, under contract, just sold)
• Routing leads from Facebook Lead Forms into the CRM per New Lead Intake & CRM Setup
• Preparing the monthly ad performance report

2b. What requires agent approval before acting

• Every new campaign — budget, targeting, creative, and objective
• Every creative asset before it goes into an ad — same brand approval process as all other marketing
• Any budget increase or decrease
• Pausing an ad for any reason beyond routine "completed run" (alert agent before pausing)
• Any change to targeting after a campaign has launched
• All lead-generation ad copy — specifically for Fair Housing compliance review

2c. What you never do

• You never negotiate on the agent's behalf under any circumstances.
• You never provide pricing, legal, or strategic opinions to any party.
• You never sign or initial any document on behalf of the agent, client, or any party.
• You never communicate directly with the other party's client.
• You never launch an ad without the agent's explicit approval of budget, creative, and targeting.
• You never run an ad that has not been checked for Fair Housing compliance — see Fair Housing Marketing Compliance Review.
• You never use special ad category targeting for housing in ways that restrict the audience by protected class.
• You never spend beyond the authorized budget without a new authorization.

Fair Housing and Ads: Meta has a "Special Ad Category" for Housing ads that restricts certain targeting options (age, gender, ZIP code targeting, look-alike audiences). All real estate ads must be set to the Housing Special Ad Category. Failure to do this can result in account suspension and Fair Housing violations. This is non-negotiable. See Fair Housing Marketing Compliance Review for the full compliance guide.

3. Schedule & Trigger

Trigger: Agent confirms paid advertising is part of the marketing strategy for a specific listing or campaign, and provides the budget authorization.

Not every listing uses paid ads: This SOP applies only when the agent has confirmed paid ads are part of the strategy. Confirm at the start of each listing.

Recurring: Monthly ad performance report is compiled on the last week of each month.

4. Platform: Meta (Facebook & Instagram)

The primary platform for real estate paid advertising is Meta (Facebook and Instagram), managed through Meta Ads Manager.

Access: The VA needs access to the agent's Meta Business Suite and the Ads Manager account. Confirm this access during onboarding — the agent must grant the VA access as a Business Manager user; the VA should not use the agent's personal login.

Campaign structure:
- Campaign level: Sets the objective (Traffic, Lead Generation, Conversions)
- Ad Set level: Sets the audience, budget, schedule, and placement
- Ad level: The specific creative (image/video + copy)

5. Per-Listing Ad Setup

For every paid ad, the agent provides the brief (or approves the VA's brief) before any setup begins.

Ad brief template (VA prepares, agent approves):

Listing Ad Brief — [Address]

Campaign type: Just Listed / Open House / Price Reduction / Lead Generation
Objective: Traffic to property website / Lead Form
Budget: $[X] total / $[X] per day
Duration: [X] days (suggested: 7 days for Just Listed; 3 days for Open House)
Audience:
  - Geographic radius: [X miles from property / city/zip codes]
  - Age range: [25–65 — Housing Special Ad Category restricts under-18 and over-65 automatically]
  - Homeowner status: Homeowners + Renters (for seller leads: Homeowners only)
Creative: [Approved photo or graphic from campaign folder]
Headline: [Draft — agent approves]
Ad copy: [Draft — agent approves]
CTA button: [Learn More / Request Info / Sign Up]
Lead destination: [Property website URL / Facebook Lead Form]

After agent approves the brief: Build the campaign in Meta Ads Manager exactly as specified. Do not deviate from the brief.

6. Ad Creative Standards

Image Specs (Meta requirements)

• Facebook/Instagram feed: 1080×1080 (square) or 1200×628 (landscape)
• Instagram Stories: 1080×1920 (vertical)
• Minimum resolution: 1080px on the shortest side
• Text overlay: keep text under 20% of the image area (excessive text reduces reach)

Copy Standards

Headline (25 characters max for feed ads):
- "Just Listed in [Neighborhood]"
- "New to Market: [City]"
- "Open House [Day, Date]"

Body copy:
- Lead with the strongest selling point (what stops the scroll)
- Include address (optional — confirm with agent)
- Include price (optional — confirm with agent)
- Include CTA: "Learn More" or "Schedule a Showing"
- Keep under 125 characters for best mobile display

No Fair Housing violations: Every piece of ad copy must be reviewed against the prohibited language list in Fair Housing Marketing Compliance Review before it is submitted for agent approval. Real estate ads are under heightened Fair Housing scrutiny on Meta. When in doubt, leave it out.

7. Special Ad Category — Housing

This step is mandatory for every real estate ad on Meta.

When building the campaign:
1. Under Campaign → Special Ad Categories → select Housing
2. Confirm the Housing Special Ad Category is selected before saving any targeting or ad settings

What this restricts:
- Minimum age range is fixed at 18 and above (cannot exclude any age group)
- Cannot target by gender, ZIP code, or neighborhood
- Cannot use look-alike audiences based on existing customer lists
- Can target by radius from address or city/region — this is permitted

Failing to select the Housing Special Ad Category for real estate ads violates Meta's policies and may constitute a Fair Housing violation. No exception, no workaround.

8. Lead Capture and Routing

Two options for where leads land (agent confirms per campaign):

For Facebook Lead Forms:
- Build the form in Meta Ads Manager (Instant Form)
- Required fields: Name, Email, Phone (optional — confirm with agent)
- Thank-you screen: "Thanks! [Agent Name] will be in touch shortly."
- Route leads via CRM integration (if available) or manual export to CRM within 24 hours
- See New Lead Intake & CRM Setup for lead intake protocol

Speed to lead: Leads from paid ads should be routed to the agent within minutes. Configure the CRM notification or the Ads Manager notification so the agent knows when a lead comes in. The faster the response, the higher the conversion.

9. Performance Monitoring

Check every active ad every 48 hours in Meta Ads Manager.

Key metrics to track:

If an ad is materially underperforming at the 3-day mark:

Hi [Agent Name] — flag on the [Address] paid ad.

Current performance (day 3):
- Spend: $[X] of $[X] budget
- Impressions: [X]
- Clicks: [X] / CTR: [X]%
- Leads: [X]

[Specific issue: low CTR / high CPM / no leads]

Options: pause and adjust creative, adjust targeting, or let it run through the full duration. What's your call?

[VA Name]

Do not pause the ad without notifying the agent first.

10. Monthly Ad Performance Report

Compile at the end of each month and send to agent:

Paid Ad Performance — [Month Year]

Campaigns run this month: [X]
Total spend: $[X]
Total impressions: [X]
Total clicks: [X] (Avg CTR: [X]%)
Total leads: [X]
Average cost per lead: $[X]

Per-campaign summary:
| Campaign | Spend | Impressions | Clicks | Leads | CPL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Address] — Just Listed | $[X] | [X] | [X] | [X] | $[X] |
| [Campaign 2] | ... |

Notes: [Any standout campaigns — what worked / what didn't]

File the report in Marketing / Paid Ads / Performance Reports.

11. Checklist

Per Campaign — Setup
- ☐ Agent-approved ad brief on file (budget, targeting, creative, objective)
- ☐ Housing Special Ad Category selected — confirmed before any other settings saved
- ☐ Creative assets approved and match Meta image specs
- ☐ Ad copy reviewed for Fair Housing compliance (Fair Housing Marketing Compliance Review)
- ☐ Lead destination confirmed (lead form or landing page)
- ☐ Lead routing to CRM configured
- ☐ Campaign live — ad ID and campaign link saved to file

Monitoring (every 48 hours)
- ☐ Spend, impressions, CTR, leads checked
- ☐ Performance flags sent to agent if metrics below threshold
- ☐ Any pause or adjustment approved by agent before executing

Post-Run
- ☐ Final performance data logged
- ☐ Leads entered into CRM (if not auto-routed)
- ☐ Agent notified of results

Monthly
- ☐ Monthly performance report compiled and sent to agent

12. Escalation Protocol

Escalate to the agent immediately in any of these situations:
- A live ad campaign has been paused, restricted, or rejected by Meta — ad spend may be stopped without warning and the listing promotion is interrupted
- A lead comes in from a paid ad with a time-sensitive inquiry (same-day showing request, direct question about offer terms) — route to agent immediately; do not respond
- The monthly ad budget has been reached more than 10 days before the end of the billing period — flag before overspend occurs
- The Special Ad Category (Housing) was not applied to an ad that is already live — pause the ad immediately and flag to agent; Fair Housing compliance requires this
- A campaign targeting setting is flagged by Meta's algorithm or the agent suspects the audience is being filtered in a way that may violate fair housing rules

Hi [Agent Name] — paid ad issue needs your immediate attention.

Issue: [Ad paused by Meta / lead inquiry requiring same-day response / budget overrun risk / Special Ad Category missing / targeting concern]
Campaign: [Listing address or campaign name]
Status: [Ad running / paused / rejected / budget status]
Needed: [Restore campaign / respond to lead / adjust budget / relaunch with correct category]

[VA Name]

If the agent is unreachable: Pause any ad that is missing the Special Ad Category (Housing) — a live Fair Housing violation cannot wait. For paused or rejected ads, document the platform message and attempt the agent's secondary contact channel. Do not respond to any leads from the ad campaigns.

13. Tools & Access