Licence to Let - Short-Term Let Licensing Lead Generation Campaign
Project Link
Visit Live SiteClient
Licence to LetServices
Location
Edinburgh & ScotlandTimeline
2025–2026Tech Stack & Tactics
How Licence to Let generated qualified short-term let licensing leads in Edinburgh and Scotland at around £5 CPA, improving lead qualification, reducing manual follow-up time, and scaling conversion rates through Meta Instant Lead Forms and automated email workflows.
The Challenge
Licence to Let provides expert short-term let (STL) licensing and compliance support for property owners and host landlords across Edinburgh and Scotland. Following legislation requiring short-term let operators in Scotland to hold a valid licence, demand surged from property owners needing rapid guidance for both temporary (e.g. Edinburgh Festival letting) and full year-round licences.
Speed and clarity were critical. Property licensing regulations are complex, involving strict compliance documentation—such as Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR), Gas Safety Certificates, Portable Appliance Testing (PAT), Fire Risk Assessments, and Legionella Risk Assessments.
Paid social was chosen as the primary acquisition channel because Meta platforms (Facebook & Instagram) allowed targeted outreach to Scottish property owners, holiday let managers, and festival hosts.
The initial phase of the campaign proved highly effective at generating lead volume at an extraordinary cost of ~£5 per acquisition (CPA). However, as is common with low-friction native lead forms, a percentage of submissions came from under-qualified users or owners who did not yet have clear timelines for their applications.
The key challenge for Licence to Let was not merely generating volume, but building an automated filtering and qualification engine to ensure their specialist team spent maximum time speaking with high-intent property owners ready to apply.
The Solution
We engineered a multi-stage acquisition and qualification system combining targeted Meta Ads, optimized instant lead forms, and instant dynamic email automations.
1. High-Intent Meta Ads Targeting & Creative
We designed targeted ad sets across Facebook and Instagram focusing on Edinburgh owner-occupiers, property investors, and Scottish holiday let owners. The creatives emphasized key pain points: regulatory deadlines, complex paperwork faff, speed of application preparation (2–3 business days), and maximizing seasonal revenue (such as peak festival earnings).
2. Smart Lead Form Qualification
To raise lead intent without inflating CPAs unnecessarily, we replaced generic short lead forms with a multi-step qualified form structure. The form captured essential operational insights:
• Property location (Edinburgh, broader Scotland, or London)
• Licence type needed (Temporary licence for festival/seasonal use vs Full year-round licence)
• Current compliance status (EICR, Gas Safety, PAT, Fire Safety documents held vs needed)
• Urgency and target go-live date
This added friction filtered out casual browsers while giving the Licence to Let team immediate visibility into each lead's compliance readiness.
3. Dynamic Email Automation & Lead Bucketing
We connected Meta Instant Forms directly to an automated email flow using webhook triggers. Leads were automatically categorized into distinct follow-up tracks:
• Immediate Application Track: High-urgency leads with ready documents received immediate booking links to schedule an onboarding call or start their application online.
• Compliance Assistance Track: Property owners needing safety certificates (EICR, PAT, Gas Safety) were sent targeted compliance checklists and partner contractor referral details.
• Educational & Nurture Track: Early-stage landlords received comprehensive guides breaking down council requirements and STL licensing timelines.
This automation ensured every inquiry received a personalized response within seconds of submission, while prioritizing warm, ready-to-convert opportunities for the sales team.
The Results
The acquisition funnel transformed Licence to Let's lead pipeline into a highly predictable, automated customer acquisition system.
Key outcomes achieved:
- Highly Efficient Lead Costs: Maintained cost per lead (CPA) around £5 across initial acquisition phases.
- 3.5× Increase in Sales-Qualified Leads: Qualifying questions eliminated low-intent submissions, allowing the team to spend 80%+ of call time on viable applications.
- Sub-60-Second Follow-up Speed: Automated email workflows delivered relevant information immediately upon form submission.
- Boosted Application Conversions: Improved alignment between ad messaging, form qualification, and follow-up resulted in higher conversion rates from lead to paid application service (£299 / £399 packages).
- Scalable Foundation for Regional Expansion: Created a repeatable paid social blueprint ready for deployment across new council areas as short-term let licensing legislation expands across the UK.
By combining high-converting Meta Ads, intelligent lead form qualifying criteria, and instant email automations, Licence to Let turned complex regulatory requirements into a seamless, high-growth customer acquisition model.