Podcast episode description with the help of AI
Why "Top of Funnel vs. Bottom of Funnel" Is the Wrong Conversation
Steve Olson breaks down a debate that's followed him since 2012, when he first started running Facebook ads: is a Meta lead worse than a Zillow lead? Is top of funnel worth your money compared to bottom of funnel?
His answer: stop asking that question entirely.
The real number that matters is this. One out of every 35.4 people will transact real estate this year. That's it. That's the whole game. Once you internalize that stat, your strategy stops being about which platform or which funnel stage a lead comes from, and it becomes about one thing: how do I get in front of as many people as possible so I can find my one out of 35?
Steve breaks the market down into two groups. The people who know you, and the people who know them. Your job isn't to be the most famous agent in town. It's to over-communicate what you do, why you do it, and who you do it for, so consistently that the people who know you send you the people who know them.
He also runs the math on paid social. At roughly $2.50 to $4 CPM on Meta, $15 a day can put your message in front of 5,000 people. Multiply that out and you're looking at 150,000 impressions a month for less than the cost of a few coffees a week.
The bigger point underneath all of it: if you're good at what you do and you're not telling everyone about it, you're not just leaving money on the table. You're making it harder for people who need your help to find you. Steve compares it to knowing the cure for a disease and choosing not to share it.
His closing challenge: stop debating funnel stages. Start asking how many people you can get in front of, how you convince them you're their best option, and how long you're willing to keep showing up before it compounds. Because once you commit to that, the top-funnel-vs-bottom-funnel argument disappears for good.