Real Estate Investor Marketing: How Digital Ads Raise Capital with Jason Fishman
Key Takeaways
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In real estate investing, having a great investment opportunity is only part of the equation. You also need people to know about it. Without effective marketing, even the strongest investment opportunities can struggle to attract investors, generate leads, and secure funding.
In this episode of the Most Wonderful Real Estate Podcast Ever, host Dwan Bent-Twyford speaks with Jason Fishman, founder of DNA (Digital Niche Agency), about how digital advertising and investor marketing help real estate businesses raise capital and grow their investor networks.
With experience across more than 500 capital raises that have collectively generated nine figures in funding, Jason shares practical insights into investor targeting, marketing funnels, competitor research, retargeting, and building campaigns that deliver measurable results.
Whether you’re a new real estate investor trying to attract your first leads or an established business looking to expand its investor base, understanding these marketing strategies can help you build greater visibility and reach your growth goals.
What Is Investor Marketing and How Does It Work?
Investor marketing uses digital advertising, content marketing, and outreach strategies to connect businesses with potential investors.
According to Jason, these campaigns can use platforms such as Meta, Google, major media websites, mobile applications, LinkedIn, and email. The goal is to reach people who may be interested in a particular investment opportunity and guide them through a structured marketing funnel.
A typical investor marketing funnel may include:
- Pitch decks: Presenting the investment opportunity, business model, and relevant financial information.
- Video content: Explaining the opportunity and helping potential investors understand the business.
- Webinars: Providing an opportunity to discuss the investment and answer questions.
- Articles and educational content: Building awareness and explaining the market, asset class, or investment strategy.
- Email outreach: Maintaining communication with interested prospects and encouraging them to take the next step.
The advantage of digital marketing is its ability to target specific audiences and measure campaign performance. Rather than simply putting an advertisement in front of a broad audience, businesses can use data to understand who is engaging, which messages are working, and where potential investors are coming from.
Why Real Estate Investors Need to Market Their Businesses
One of the biggest misconceptions among new real estate investors is that marketing is only necessary for large companies.
Dwan explains that even beginners need an online presence. Whether someone is purchasing single-family homes, investing in apartment buildings, or pursuing other real estate opportunities, potential clients and partners need a way to discover and learn about their business.
For investors who specialise in working with distressed property owners, visibility can be particularly important. Their target audiences may include people dealing with foreclosure, bankruptcy, probate, divorce, unpaid property taxes, or difficult landlord situations.
Traditional marketing methods, such as sending postcards, can still generate responses. However, relying on one channel may limit how many people a business can reach.
A strong online presence can help investors build credibility through:
- A professional business website or Facebook page.
- Customer testimonials and success stories.
- Educational blog posts and real estate investment advice.
- Videos explaining services and investment strategies.
- Targeted advertising that reaches relevant audiences.
- Consistent communication with potential clients and investors.
The important point is that people cannot choose to work with a business they do not know exists. Marketing helps make that business visible.
Understanding the Numbers Behind Digital Advertising
Digital marketing is not simply about creating attractive advertisements. It is about understanding how much it costs to reach potential investors and what those advertising efforts produce.
Jason explains that his agency evaluates campaigns using measurable performance indicators, including click-through rates, cost per click, lead generation costs, and investor acquisition costs.
He shares several illustrative benchmarks from his experience:
- Click-through rate: Some advertising channels may produce a click-through rate of around 1%. For every 1,000 people reached, approximately 10 may click the advertisement.
- Cost per click: A click may cost around $10 on certain advertising channels.
- Cost per lead: Approximately $50 per lead can be a useful benchmark in some campaigns, although actual costs vary by audience, platform, and campaign.
- Investor acquisition cost: If one out of every 50 leads becomes an investor, the acquisition cost could reach approximately $2,500 under the example Jason describes.
For an investment opportunity with an average investment of $100,000, a $2,500 acquisition cost represents 2.5% of the investment amount.
Jason also notes that some campaigns can eventually bring investor acquisition costs below $1,000 after sufficient testing and optimisation.
These figures are examples from the discussion, not guaranteed advertising results. Actual performance depends on the investment offering, audience quality, advertising budget, landing page, and the ability to convert leads into investors.
The key lesson is to measure the quality and financial value of the leads rather than focusing only on how many people click an advertisement or submit a form.
The Eight-Point Plan: Start With a Marketing Strategy
Jason explains that his agency often begins with a strategy process called the Eight-Point Plan, which can be delivered over four weeks or through a more intensive workshop.
One of the important components he highlights is the competitor marketing audit.
Before launching advertising campaigns, real estate businesses should understand what other companies targeting the same investors are doing.
Potential investors are constantly exposed to investment opportunities through their mailboxes, social media feeds, search engines, and email inboxes. If competing businesses have stronger messaging, more visible brands, or more effective advertising, they may attract the attention and investment dollars first.
A competitor marketing audit helps businesses understand what is already working in their market and identify opportunities to improve their own campaigns.
What to Look for When Auditing Competitors
1. Review their social media activity
Look at which platforms competitors use, how frequently they publish content, and which posts receive the most engagement.
Pay attention to announcements, testimonials, conference appearances, podcast interviews, and updates about new investors or projects.
2. Analyse their website traffic
Jason recommends tools such as Similarweb to estimate competitor website traffic and understand audience demographics.
This can help businesses identify which competitors attract significant online attention and where their audiences may be coming from.
3. Research their search engine visibility
Tools such as Semrush, SpyFu, and Moz can help identify the keywords competitors rank for, the content attracting organic traffic, and the search terms they target through paid advertising.
This information can reveal opportunities to create more relevant articles, improve website content, and reach people actively searching for real estate investment opportunities.
4. Study their advertisements
The Meta Ads Library, commonly known as the Facebook Ads Library, allows users to view advertisements currently running across Meta platforms.
By searching for a competitor’s brand, investors can review its advertising creative, headlines, messaging, and calls to action.
They can also follow the advertisements to their landing pages to see how competing businesses present their investment opportunities.
5. Review their email marketing
Jason also recommends examining newsletters and email communications to understand how competitors stay in touch with their audiences.
The objective is not to copy another company’s marketing. It is to identify successful approaches, understand what resonates with potential investors, and develop stronger messaging for your own business.
Test, Optimise, and Scale Your Marketing Campaigns
Jason describes his marketing philosophy as Test, Optimise, Scale.
Instead of assuming that every advertising channel will work immediately, businesses should test different approaches and evaluate their performance.
A campaign may include several advertising channels, audiences, messages, and landing pages. Some variations may generate strong engagement and qualified leads, while others may produce little value.
The process involves:
- Test: Launch different advertising variations, audiences, and messages.
- Optimise: Identify which combinations generate the best results and improve weaker parts of the campaign.
- Scale: Allocate more budget to the strategies that consistently deliver qualified leads and investment opportunities.
Jason emphasises that launching a new marketing channel does not guarantee immediate results. It may take several weeks or longer to identify what works.
Stopping a campaign too early can mean losing the opportunity to discover a profitable audience or advertising approach.
Businesses should also look beyond the advertising itself. If leads are coming in but investments are not closing, the problem may be in the sales process rather than the marketing channel.
Recording sales calls, reviewing conversations, improving follow-up questions, and identifying where prospects lose interest can help improve conversion rates.
How to Start Digital Advertising With a $1,000 Budget
During the conversation, Dwan asks Jason what he would recommend to a beginner with an advertising budget of around $1,000.
Jason explains that smaller budgets can still be useful, particularly when businesses focus on building and testing a conversion funnel.
Rather than immediately spending heavily on multiple advertising channels, beginners should start by understanding their target audience and choosing a practical way to reach them.
1. Identify Your Target Audience
Before spending money on advertisements, determine who you want to reach.
For example, a real estate investor targeting multifamily opportunities in Denver may want to reach people interested in multifamily properties within that geographical market.
Understanding the audience helps narrow down the advertising platforms, keywords, and locations worth testing.
2. Start With More Affordable Advertising Opportunities
Jason explains that Google advertising costs can vary significantly. Some keywords may cost between $1 and $5 per click, while more competitive terms can cost $10 to $20 or considerably more.
He recommends being cautious with expensive keywords, particularly when a business has not yet established a reliable conversion rate.
Starting with lower-cost clicks can help investors test their landing pages and understand how effectively they turn website visitors into leads.
3. Build a Marketing Funnel
A marketing funnel moves potential investors through different stages of the decision-making process:
- Awareness: People discover your business or investment opportunity.
- Consideration: They explore your website, read your content, or watch your videos.
- Intent: They express interest, request more information, or take steps towards investing.
- Conversion: They complete the desired action, such as making an investment.
- Advocacy: Satisfied investors may share their experiences and refer others.
Creating content and advertising for each stage helps maintain communication with potential investors as they move through the process.
4. Use Retargeting to Reconnect With Interested Prospects
Retargeting is another strategy Jason recommends, particularly for businesses working with limited advertising budgets.
It allows businesses to show advertisements to people who have already interacted with their website or digital content.
For example, someone may visit an investment opportunity page, review the information, and leave without submitting a form. Retargeting can help bring that opportunity back to their attention.
Jason also explains that businesses may upload their existing email lists to advertising platforms and target specific contacts who have not yet moved forward.
This can be especially useful when a potential investor has previously shown interest but has become difficult to reach through traditional follow-up methods.
Retargeting generally requires an appropriate tracking setup, such as an advertising pixel, and must be implemented in accordance with applicable privacy requirements and platform policies.
Why Competitor Research and Audience Targeting Matter
Choosing the right advertising platform is only part of the process. Businesses also need to understand where their target investors spend time online.
Jason recommends developing target audience personas before deciding which marketing channels to use.
For example, if your ideal audience regularly visits real estate websites such as Zillow, advertising placements on relevant property platforms may be worth investigating.
Geographical targeting can also help investors focus their advertising on specific markets rather than spending their entire budget reaching people across the country.
Search advertising offers another way to connect with people actively looking for information about particular investment opportunities.
The important consideration is matching the channel to the audience. A platform may generate plenty of traffic, but if those visitors are not interested in the investment opportunity, the campaign may not produce meaningful results.
How Jason Fishman Built His Investor Marketing Agency
Jason’s experience in marketing began in Southern California, where he initially worked as an action sports consultant.
He later moved into mobile advertising technology, working with major brands and Fortune 500 companies in product marketing and sales.
Eventually, he founded DNA, a growth marketing agency working with businesses across different industries.
During this period, he noticed that fundraising was a recurring requirement for many of the companies he supported. He began helping businesses with the marketing components of their fundraising strategies, including business plans, pitch decks, and advertising campaigns.
His work eventually led him into investor marketing, particularly campaigns involving Regulation D Rule 506(c), which allows eligible issuers to use general solicitation when offering securities to accredited investors, subject to applicable requirements.
Jason explains that his advertising experience and access to audience data helped his agency launch an early capital-raising campaign that generated approximately $2.83 million.
As his experience grew, he expanded his work to include other fundraising frameworks, including Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) and Regulation A+.
During the interview, he describes the different fundraising opportunities associated with these frameworks and how digital marketing can help businesses reach potential investors.
Jason also shares that his agency has developed a first-party audience database containing more than 1.8 million people interested in these types of investment opportunities.
His agency has worked on more than 500 capital-raising campaigns, helping businesses connect with investors through targeted advertising and outreach.
Importantly, DNA focuses on the marketing side of these opportunities. Jason clarifies that his agency does not operate its own real estate syndications or investment funds.
Why Consistency and Patience Are Essential in Marketing
One of Jason’s biggest points is that marketing requires time, testing, and commitment.
A business may launch an advertising campaign and see little immediate return. However, that does not automatically mean the channel is ineffective.
There may be opportunities to improve the campaign by changing the audience, adjusting the creative, refining the messaging, or improving the landing page.
It is also important to examine what happens after someone becomes a lead.
If potential investors are responding to advertisements but not completing an investment, businesses should investigate their follow-up process and sales conversations before abandoning the campaign.
Marketing performance depends on more than the advertisement itself. It involves the entire journey from the first interaction to the final investment decision.
Jason believes that businesses that commit to continuous optimisation can identify opportunities to improve their results and expand their reach over time.
Building a Team to Support Long-Term Growth
Dwan and Jason also discuss why business owners eventually need support from other people.
As a real estate business grows, managing every responsibility alone becomes increasingly difficult. Investors may need to handle lead follow-up, bookkeeping, paperwork, marketing, property management, and closing processes.
Dwan shares how she eventually delegated digital advertising rather than continuing to manage every campaign herself.
Jason agrees that teams often achieve larger goals than individuals working alone. Even businesses that appear to be built around one person usually have a team supporting their operations.
Bringing in people with specialised skills allows business owners to focus on their strengths while ensuring important areas of the business receive proper attention.
For real estate investors, building the right support system can make it easier to manage more leads, pursue additional opportunities, and grow sustainably.
Growth: Jason Fishman’s Word of Wisdom
At the end of the interview, Dwan asks Jason to share one word of wisdom with the audience.
His answer is simple: Growth.
Jason describes growth as forward momentum. Businesses and individuals have limited time, and remaining stagnant can eventually mean falling behind.
He believes that consistent effort, focus, and determination are what separate market leaders from businesses that disappear or lose relevance.
Growth does not necessarily mean expanding at the same speed or pursuing the same goals throughout life. It can also involve building a legacy, strengthening family relationships, or creating generational wealth.
For real estate investors, this means thinking beyond individual transactions and considering how today’s decisions can contribute to long-term financial stability and opportunities for future generations.
Final Thoughts: Make Your Real Estate Business Visible
One of the biggest lessons from Jason Fishman’s conversation with Dwan Bent-Twyford is that even the best investment opportunity needs effective marketing to reach the right people.
Digital advertising gives real estate businesses the ability to identify potential investors, build brand awareness, measure campaign performance, and improve their marketing strategies over time.
However, success does not come from simply spending money on advertisements. It requires understanding your audience, researching competitors, creating a conversion funnel, testing different channels, and consistently improving the results.
Whether you’re just getting started with a $1,000 advertising budget or managing a business with an established investor network, the principles remain the same: test what works, optimise your approach, and scale when the numbers support it.
As Jason puts it, growth is about maintaining forward momentum. And in real estate investing, making sure the right people know who you are can be an important part of that journey.
About Jason Fishman
Jason Fishman is the founder of DNA (Digital Niche Agency), an investor marketing agency based in Marina del Rey, California. He has worked on more than 500 capital raises across advertising, content marketing, and outreach channels. His work focuses on helping businesses connect with potential investors and generate funding through measurable digital marketing strategies.
Website: https://digitalagency.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@digitalnicheagency
About Dwan Bent-Twyford
Dwan Bent-Twyford is a real estate investor, educator, author, and host of the Most Wonderful Real Estate Podcast Ever. Through Dwanderful, she provides resources designed to help investors understand real estate, explore financing options, and make more informed investment decisions.
Her free Real Estate Lingo book explains essential real estate terminology, while Five Pillars of Real Estate Investing shares practical knowledge and strategies for building a strong investment foundation. For those interested in distressed properties, her LEVEL 1: Complete Foreclosure Investors’ Choice Program teaches foreclosure investing strategies, and Foreclosure Fortunes helps investors identify potential foreclosure opportunities and avoid common pitfalls. The Fed Up Program focuses on helping homeowners experiencing financial distress while creating opportunities for investors.
Dwan also offers resources covering other real estate strategies, including How to Sell a House When It’s Worth Less Than the Mortgage, which explores options such as short sales and subject-to strategies, and Short-Sale Pre-Foreclosure Investing, which covers opportunities involving short-sale and pre-foreclosure properties.
If you’re still exploring your next investment move, try the Dwanderful quiz game. It takes less than a minute and helps you discover how you could potentially generate six figures in the next six months, whether you’re considering your first investment property or looking for your next opportunity.
