The short answer
The Thousand run listing ads and brand ads together, not one alone
The Thousand run a mix, not a single package. Most pair a listing ad package with a brand ad package instead of picking just one, and they lean on the venue-based add-on when a listing calls for it. The pattern is about combining tools, not chasing one silver bullet package.
What patterns show up across The Thousand
The Thousand are the ~90 Compass agents that appear in the Real Trends The Thousand list, placing them among the top 1,000 agents in the country. When you strip out names and addresses, a few habits repeat across that group. The biggest one is pairing, not picking. Instead of running a single listing ad package and calling it done, top agents tend to run a listing ad package on the active property and a brand ad package running in the background at the same time. The listing ad gets the property in front of buyers actively looking. The brand ad keeps the agent's name showing up to people who aren't ready to buy yet but will be eventually.
The second pattern is that tier choice tracks the listing, not the agent's ego. A starter-priced condo doesn't usually need the same package as a estate with a narrow buyer pool. Agents in The Thousand tend to match the package tier to what the listing actually needs, and they adjust up or down as their book changes, rather than running the same package on everything out of habit.
How you apply the same pattern to your own advertising
You start with HugoBot, the same intake bot every agent uses to set up a package, and you tell it what the listing needs. If the property is high value with a narrow, specific buyer pool, that's when the venue-based add-on makes sense, since it lets you run ads near a short list of addresses you pick yourself, like a specific club or office building, rather than a broad area. If the goal is staying visible in a market long after a sale closes, a brand ad package running alongside your listing ads does that work.
Once ads are live, everything you check lives in one of two places. Hugo Hub is where you log in to see your listings, your audiences, your receipts, and any change requests, all in one place. The Traffic Report is what you forward to your seller so they can see how their listing is doing. The Pulse is the monthly report on the brand side that shows you how your own name is getting seen. None of these are interchangeable, and using the right one for the right audience is part of the pattern top agents follow without thinking twice about it.
What package do most top Compass agents run?
No single tier dominates. What shows up across top-of-book agents is a habit of running a listing ad package alongside a brand ad package at the same time, so the listing gets seen and the agent's name gets remembered past that one sale. Which specific tier, Starter versus Showcase versus Luxury, Growth versus Scale, depends on the property and the agent's book, and that varies agent to agent.
Do top agents use the venue-based add-on for luxury listings?
Often, yes, when the listing fits it. The add-on lets an agent pick a short list of specific addresses, like a country club or a corporate office, and run ads near those spots instead of a broad geography. It shows up most with Luxury package listings where the buyer pool is narrow and specific. It fits narrow, high-value listings best.
How do top agents track what their advertising is doing?
Two reports, used for two different audiences. Agents forward the Traffic Report to the seller so the seller can see the listing's activity, and they check The Pulse each month to see how their own name is showing up on the brand side. One report is for the seller, one is for the agent.