You open Google Ads and see:
- 10,000 clicks
- 500 conversions
- $30 cost per conversion
Looks good.
Now the only question that matters:
How many of those turned into paying tenants?
If you don't know, you're not optimizing — you're guessing. And you're almost certainly wasting money.
The Core Problem: Google's "Conversion" ≠ Your Customer
Google optimizes for what it can see.
You care about what actually pays rent.
What Google calls a conversion
- Form fills
- Phone calls over 60 seconds
- Button clicks
- Page views
What actually matters
- A move-in
- A tenant who pays rent
- Ideally someone who stays more than one month
A form fill is not a customer. A phone call is not a customer. A "Reserve" click is definitely not a customer.
The Real Math (This Is Where Budgets Go to Die)
Here's what those 500 "conversions" usually look like in reality:
500 reported conversions
↓
300 real inquiries (spam, repeats, wrong numbers removed)
↓
150 reservations
↓
100 move-ins
↓
75 tenants who stay past month one
Your dashboard says:
- $30 per conversion ($15K ÷ 500)
Reality:
- $150 per move-in ($15K ÷ 100)
- $200 per quality customer ($15K ÷ 75)
That's a 5–7× gap between what you think you're paying and what you are paying.
This gap is where most ad budgets disappear.
The 5 Tracking Gaps Costing You Money
Gap #1: No Offline Conversion Tracking
The problem Google knows about clicks and form fills. It has no idea who actually moved in.
So it optimizes for leads — not tenants.
The fix Upload move-in data back into Google Ads.
How it works
- Someone clicks your ad → Google assigns a Click ID
- They fill out a form → you capture that ID
- They move in → recorded in your PMS
- You upload that move-in tied to the Click ID
- Google now learns which clicks become tenants
Once this is live, Google stops chasing junk leads and starts chasing lookalike customers.
This alone often cuts acquisition cost 30–50%.
Gap #2: Phone Calls Tracked Like It's 2010
40–60% of storage conversions happen on the phone.
Most operators:
- Don't track calls at all, or
- Track "calls over 60 seconds" and stop there
A 60-second call could be:
- Someone asking about gate hours
- A wrong number
- A vendor
The fix Use real call tracking:
- Unique numbers by source
- Call recording (with consent)
- Call outcomes (reservation, inquiry, wrong number)
- CRM / PMS integration
What you actually need to know
- Did this call reserve a unit?
- Did that reservation move in?
- Which ad / keyword / page drove it?
If you don't know this, phone calls are just noise in your data.
Gap #3: Leads With No Follow-Through
A form fill happens.
Then:
- It hits an inbox
- Someone follows up… maybe
- No one tracks the outcome
You're paying for leads and letting them decay.
The fix You don't need fancy software. You need discipline:
- Centralize leads (CRM or spreadsheet)
- Fast follow-up (minutes matter)
- Track every step: inquiry → contact → reservation → move-in
- Report conversion rates by source
This is how you learn which ads create real customers.
Gap #4: Attribution Confusion
A typical path:
- Clicks Google ad
- Leaves
- Googles your brand
- Comes back and reserves
Who gets credit?
- Last-click: brand/organic
- First-click: Google Ads
Both are wrong.
The fix
- Know which attribution model you're using
- Review assisted conversions
- Consider data-driven attribution
- Focus on directional truth, not perfection
Attribution will never be perfect. Blind optimization is worse.
Gap #5: No Revenue Data in Google Ads
Google knows your cost. It doesn't know your revenue.
So it optimizes for volume, not profit.
A $150/month 10×10 and a $50/month 5×5 are treated the same — which makes no sense.
The fix
- Tie conversions to unit size and rent
- Assign values to conversions
- Upload revenue data
- Enable value-based bidding
Now Google optimizes for better tenants, not just more leads.
How the REITs Actually Win
Large operators don't have magic ads. They have better measurement.
They know:
- Cost per move-in by market
- Cost per move-in by keyword
- Lifetime value by source
- Which campaigns look good but lose money
They use:
- Offline conversion tracking
- Call intelligence
- CRM + ad platform integration
- Revenue-based bidding
This is why they acquire customers for $40–60 while many operators pay $300–500.
The advantage isn't spend. It's visibility.
A Simple 5-Step Setup (No Buzzwords)
Step 1: Call Tracking (Week 1)
- Implement CallRail or similar
- Dynamic number insertion
- Recording + source tracking
- Connect to Google Ads
Step 2: Offline Conversions (Week 2)
- Capture Click IDs
- Connect PMS / CRM
- Import move-ins weekly
- Test before scaling
Step 3: True Cost Dashboard (Week 3)
Track:
- Spend
- Move-ins
- Cost per move-in
- By campaign / market
Google Sheets is fine.
Step 4: Let Data Accumulate (Weeks 4–12)
- Minimum 30–50 move-ins before decisions
- Don't overreact to weekly noise
Step 5: Optimize on Reality
- Kill high cost-per-move-in campaigns
- Scale efficient ones
- Test intentionally
- Let Google learn from real outcomes
What Operators Usually Discover
Once tracking is fixed:
- 50–70% of spend is waste
- A few keywords drive most move-ins
- Some "low volume" campaigns are extremely profitable
- High-click campaigns are often the worst performers
The dashboard didn't lie. It just measured the wrong thing.
The Questions You Should Be Asking
Whether it's your team or an agency:
- What is our actual cost per move-in?
- How is that tracked?
- Which campaigns produce the cheapest move-ins?
- How are phone calls qualified?
- What % of leads turn into tenants?
If they can't answer these, optimization isn't happening.
Key Takeaways
- Google conversions ≠ customers
- The real gap is often 5–7×
- Without offline tracking, you're optimizing blind
- Phone calls are revenue — track them properly
- REITs win because they see the full funnel
- Measurement fixes waste before optimization ever starts
Fix measurement first. Then fix performance.