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Advanced Recruiting with DCB

Nicole Wissbaum
Updated
DCB: Advanced Recruiting Automation

Advanced Recruiting with DCB

Use Meta's targeting power and Side's enriched agent database to grow your team efficiently.

Who Can Use Recruiting Ads

DCB's advanced recruiting and automation features are available to Founding Partners and DCB Admins. Standard agent accounts do not have access to these blueprints.

Feature Founding Partners DCB Admins Standard Agents
Agent Recruiting Ad (Side's list) ✅ ✅ ❌
Database Recruiting Ad (own list) ✅ ✅ ❌
Automatic Listing Ads ✅ ✅ ❌
Listings on Social Automation ✅ ✅ ❌
Standard listing & brand ads ✅ ✅ ✅

If you need admin access to run these features on behalf of your team, see Getting a DCB Admin Account below.

The Two Recruiting Blueprints

Both blueprints run ads on Facebook and Instagram, using Meta's lead generation capabilities to reach agents with compelling recruitment messaging. They differ in one key way: where the target list comes from.

Use When You Have a List

Database Recruiting Ad

Upload your own list of agents you want to target. Best for:

  • Agents you've identified as strong fits for your brand
  • Attendees of an event or conference you participated in
  • Agents from a specific brokerage you're recruiting from
  • Any custom list you've built through your own research
Use When You Don't Have a List

Agent Recruiting Ad

Uses Side's pre-built nationwide agent database. Best for:

  • Teams just starting their recruiting efforts
  • Broad market recruitment without a pre-defined target list
  • Reaching a high volume of qualified, active agents quickly
Tip You can run both blueprints simultaneously — for example, running the Agent Recruiting Ad for broad outreach while also targeting a specific shortlist with the Database Recruiting Ad.

About Side's Nationwide Agent List

When you run the Agent Recruiting Ad, you're tapping into a database that Side has built and maintains specifically for partner recruiting efforts. Here's what's in it:

Attribute Detail
Size Hundreds of thousands of active agents nationwide
Data sources Multiple verified third-party data sources
Enrichment Side has scrubbed and enriched the list to verify or append contact information
Production filter Includes agents with production up to $10M — targeting agents most likely to be interested in joining as associates
Geographic targeting You define the geography — the list is filtered to your target area

The $10M production cap is intentional. Agents above that threshold are typically already well-established and less likely to be actively considering a brokerage change. The list is optimized to find agents at a career stage where the Side model is most compelling.

Setting Up a Database Recruiting Ad

If you're using your own list of agent contacts, here's how to prepare and upload your audience for the Database Recruiting Ad.

Step 1: Prepare Your Audience File

Your audience file must follow this exact format — any deviation will cause the upload to fail.

Email
agent1@example.com
agent2@realty.com
agent3@brokerage.com
  • One column only — no additional data fields
  • Column header must be exactly "Email" — not "Emails," "email address," or anything else
  • One valid email per row — no blank rows or non-email text
  • Save as .csv format before uploading
Upload Failing? Open your file in Google Sheets, verify the column header reads exactly "Email" with no extra rows above it, then re-export as a .csv. Numbers on Mac and Excel on Windows sometimes add hidden formatting that causes upload errors. Google Sheets is the most reliable tool for producing a clean .csv.

Step 2: Upload Your Audience in DCB

  1. In DCB, navigate to the Audiences section.
  2. Click "Upload Audience" and select your .csv file.
  3. Give your audience a descriptive name (e.g. "Q1 2026 Recruiting List — Bay Area").
  4. Save the audience — it's now available to attach to any campaign.

Step 3: Launch the Database Recruiting Blueprint

  1. Select the Database Recruiting Ad blueprint from the blueprint menu.
  2. Select your uploaded audience from the audience picker.
  3. Set your geographic target and budget.
  4. Configure your ad creative — messaging, logo, and contact details.
  5. Review and submit.

Understanding Your Audience Match Rate

After uploading, DCB will show you a "potential size" that's smaller than the number of contacts you uploaded. This is normal. Meta can only serve ads to users it can match to a recognized account by email address — a ~50% match rate is expected and healthy. A lower match rate may indicate outdated emails or contacts without Facebook/Instagram accounts.

Adding New Contacts Later Audiences cannot be edited after upload. If you want to add new contacts to an existing campaign, either create a new audience file containing everyone (original + new contacts) and update your campaign, or upload the new contacts as a separate audience and point your campaign to both simultaneously.

Automatic Listing Ad Automation Founders & Admins Only

In addition to recruiting, Founding Partners and DCB Admins have access to two powerful listing automation tools that remove the need to manually create a new ad every time a listing goes live.

Feature How It Works Best For
Automatic Listing Ads Runs a continuous carousel ad on Meta featuring all of your team's active listings. The platform automatically shows the most relevant listings to each viewer. Always-on brand promotion. Generates general buyer leads not tied to a specific property.
Listings on Social Automation Automatically creates a new individual ad for each listing that meets your criteria (e.g. status = active, above a price threshold). Each ad is fully independent with its own budget. Property-specific lead generation. 100% of the budget goes toward each individual listing.

These two ad types serve different goals and can be run simultaneously — Automatic Listing Ads build broad awareness, while Listings on Social Automation drives property-specific leads.

Setting Up Listings on Social Automation

  1. In DCB, find the Listings on Social blueprint.
  2. Click the gear icon next to the blueprint name to open the automation settings.
  3. Define your criteria — choose the listing statuses, price thresholds, locations, or other filters that should trigger an automatic ad.
  4. Save your automation rules. New ads will be created automatically whenever a listing meets your criteria.

Getting a DCB Admin Account

If you're a marketing staff member or TC who needs to manage campaigns and access advanced features on behalf of agents on your team, you can request a DCB Admin account.

  1. Get verbal or written approval from your Partner (the brand owner).
  2. Email help@side.com requesting a DCB Admin account.
  3. CC your Partner on the email — this is required and ensures timely processing.
  4. Complete the DCB Admin training on Continu once your account is set up.
Important Admin account requests without a Partner CC'd will be delayed. Including your Partner in the original email is the fastest path to getting access.

What Admins Can Do

DCB Admins can create and manage ad campaigns on behalf of agents on their team — including launching recruiting ads, setting up listing automations, and running co-marketing campaigns. Admins have the same feature access as Founding Partners for campaign management purposes.

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