Dakar Property Firm: Cost per Contact €8.70 to €2.30

The challenge

A small firm helping people of the diaspora in France buy property in Dakar, Senegal. Brand new to paid ads, no website, and a long, careful buying decision: people want to trust you before they even ask a price.

What I did

Built a lead form with higher-intent settings and three qualifying questions: budget, timeline and financing, so the client knows who to call first.

Turned the founders' own phone video into a 44-second ad with a branded end card, and tested it against a carousel of project renders.

Set it up the compliant way for housing ads in the EU (special ad category, advertiser disclosure).

Gave the client a simple follow-up system (stages, timing, WhatsApp templates) so slow buyers don't go cold.

Results (first 2 days)

4 leads for about €28, around €7 per lead, all from the founders' video. The carousel barely got delivered: Meta picked the video straight away.

Every lead answered budget, timeline and financing before the first call. The first one was called the same day and is now looking at projects with payment plans.

Update after 2 weeks, new video

Over the first full week the cost settled at about €8.70 per contact (13 contacts), and many were not ready to buy. The team then filmed a project video on site, and I rebuilt the form around two questions: is the down payment ready, and when do you want to buy. Same budget, same audience.

Result: 14 contacts in two days at about €2.30 each. The team called all of them the same morning and booked 3 phone appointments that afternoon.

Timeline

Setup: lead form with budget, timeline and financing questions; the founders' 44-second video tested against a carousel of renders; EU housing special ad category.

Days 1–2: 4 leads for about €28 (around €7 each), all from the founders' video. Meta picked the video straight away.

First call: the first lead was called the same day and is now looking at projects with payment plans.

Week 2: on-site project video + down-payment question, cost per contact from about €8.70 to about €2.30, 3 phone appointments in one afternoon.

Takeaway: for a trust-heavy purchase, the founders on camera beat polished renders from day one.

Full write-up: loumads.com/en/case-dakar-diaspora