Follow Up Boss integrations connect your lead sources to the CRM through four paths: native integrations with portals like Zillow and Realtor.com and with IDX website vendors, lead parsing of forwarded email notifications, connector tools such as Zapier, and the Follow Up Boss Open API. The best setups use native integrations where they exist and the API for everything custom, with one source naming standard across all of them so routing and reporting stay clean.
This guide walks through how Follow Up Boss takes leads, then connects website forms, Meta lead ads, Google Ads, IDX sites, dialers and texting, Action Plans and Lead Flow, step by step, and finishes with sending closed deals back to the ad platforms.
What Follow Up Boss is.
Follow Up Boss is a real estate CRM focused on speed to lead and agent accountability, now owned by Zillow. It does not include a website. Instead it is designed to receive leads from wherever a team generates them, route each one to the right agent instantly, and drive follow-up through calling, texting, email, Action Plans (automated sequences of emails and tasks) and Automations (rules that act on stage, tag and activity changes). Plans are sold per user in tiers named Grow, Pro and Platform at the time of writing, with the higher tiers adding more automation, reporting and API capacity. Check the vendor's pricing page for current details.
The four ways leads get into Follow Up Boss.
Native integrations. Follow Up Boss has built-in connections with major portals and many IDX and lead generation vendors. Zillow and Realtor.com leads can flow in directly with the source set automatically, and many IDX website vendors send registrations, saved searches and property views.
Lead parsing by email. Every account has a unique lead parsing email address. Forward any source that sends lead notification emails to it, and Follow Up Boss reads the email and creates the person. It is quick to set up, but it depends on the sender's email format staying the same.
Connector tools. Zapier and similar tools can move leads from forms, Facebook lead ads and spreadsheets into Follow Up Boss without code. Good for low volume, easy to break silently.
The Open API. The Follow Up Boss API lets you create people, events, notes, tasks and deals, and to subscribe to webhooks for changes. For new leads, Follow Up Boss recommends posting to the events endpoint with a type such as Registration or Inquiry, because an event is what triggers Lead Flow, Action Plans and new-lead notifications. Creating a person directly can skip those steps.
Connecting each source, step by step.
Dialers, texting and Action Plans.
Follow Up Boss includes built-in calling and texting, with calls and texts logged to the person's timeline. Teams that use a power dialer or a separate texting platform should connect it through its native integration or the API, so every call and text is logged as activity. If calls happen outside the CRM, accountability reporting is fiction.
Texting from Follow Up Boss numbers requires A2P 10DLC registration and documented consent on your forms. Action Plans are marketing automation design, not a template library, so build them per source and intent: a Zillow buyer inquiry, a seller valuation request and an open house sign-in each deserve a different first week. Keep Action Plans short and personal, and use Automations to pause them when a lead replies or changes stage.
“Most Follow Up Boss accounts do not have a lead problem. They have ten sources named twenty different ways and no idea which one closes.”
Sending closed deals back to the ad platforms.
Follow Up Boss tracks Deals through pipeline stages, so the data to prove which ads produce closings is there if you capture the source and click IDs at the start. The loop has three parts. Capture the gclid or fbclid on the person record at creation. Subscribe to Follow Up Boss webhooks for stage and deal changes, such as appointment set, under contract and closed. Then send those events to Google Ads as offline conversions keyed on the gclid, and to Meta through the Conversions API with hashed email and phone. We explain the Google side in our guide to Google Ads offline conversions from your CRM.
Two details decide whether this works. First, the click ID must be written to the person record when the lead is created, because it cannot be recovered later. Second, the upload must match on the same conversion action names every time, and it should run on a schedule with error alerts, so a failed upload does not quietly starve the bidding algorithm of data for a month.
With that loop running, bidding optimizes toward people who set appointments and close, instead of people who fill in forms and disappear.
| Path | Best for | Triggers Lead Flow | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native integration | Zillow, Realtor.com, major IDX vendors | Yes | Source values you cannot fully control |
| Lead parsing email | Sources that only send email notifications | Yes | Breaks when the email format changes |
| Connector tools | Low-volume forms and lead ads | Yes if sent as events | Silent failures and task limits |
| Open API events | Websites, landing pages, custom sources | Yes | Needs development and monitoring |
| Open API people | Bulk imports and record updates | No | New leads sit with no agent or plan |
What usually goes wrong.
- Custom forms create people instead of events, so no agent is notified and no Action Plan starts.
- The same portal is connected natively and by parsed email, creating duplicates and double messages.
- Source names drift across integrations, which splits reports and sends leads to the wrong Lead Flow rule.
- Zapier connections fail silently after a password change or task limit, and nobody notices for weeks.
- Click IDs are never stored, so paid campaigns cannot be judged or optimized on closings.
- Deals are logged without linking them to the original person, so closed volume never ties to a source.
Where the software stops and the work begins.
Follow Up Boss gives you excellent plumbing. Someone still has to design the source standard, build the API connections from the website and ads, configure Lead Flow and Action Plans per lead type, register texting, monitor integrations for failures, and send closed deals back to Google and Meta. That is the integration and automation work we build for real estate teams and brokerages.
What integrates with Follow Up Boss?
Follow Up Boss integrates natively with Zillow, Realtor.com, many IDX website vendors, dialers, texting tools, transaction management platforms and lead generation services. Anything else can connect through lead parsing email, connector tools like Zapier, or the Open API. Check the integrations page inside the Admin area for the current list of native connections.
Does Follow Up Boss have an API?
Yes. The Follow Up Boss Open API lets developers create and update people, events, notes, tasks and deals, and subscribe to webhooks for changes. For new leads, use the events endpoint rather than creating people directly, because events trigger Lead Flow routing, Action Plans and agent notifications.
How do I get Facebook leads into Follow Up Boss?
Connect Meta lead ad forms through a native lead ads connection or a connector tool, and send each submission to Follow Up Boss as an event with a consistent source such as Meta Lead Ads. Map the campaign and ad names into custom fields so you can report on which ads produce appointments and closings.
What is lead parsing in Follow Up Boss?
Lead parsing is a unique email address in every Follow Up Boss account. When you forward a lead notification email to it, Follow Up Boss reads the contents and creates the lead automatically. It is useful for sources without a native integration, but it can break if the sender changes the email format, so monitor it.
Can Follow Up Boss send conversions to Google Ads?
Not by itself in a complete way. You need to store the gclid on each person record, listen for stage or deal changes through webhooks, and upload those events to Google Ads as offline conversions. The same approach sends closed deals to Meta through the Conversions API so both platforms optimize on real transactions.