Most real estate agents still rely on inconsistent prospecting rather than a permanent lead-generation system.

In this episode, Ray Wood explains why generating leads on autopilot is becoming essential for agents who want to build a more predictable and scalable business.

Ray breaks down how AI Ad Machine creates and tests dozens of property ads across Facebook and Instagram, automatically directs the budget toward the strongest performers, captures qualified leads, and begins the follow-up process immediately through automated text messages and emails.

He also explores why owning your own lead data is far more valuable than paying expensive lead companies that may charge high lead fees and take a percentage of your commission.

You’ll discover:

• Why property listings are one of the most powerful lead-generation tools

• How AI can create, test, and optimize 40 to 50 ads at once

• Why some Ad Machine campaigns generate clicks for under 10 cents

• How automated follow-up helps build trust with buyers and sellers

• Why owning your database gives you a long-term business asset

• How one recent campaign generated 27 leads in only four days

• Why consistent lead generation can place you among the top-performing agents

Ray’s message is simple: the agents of tomorrow are building automated lead-generation systems today.

Set up a demo call with Ray here

Transcription 😎

"Hi, and welcome back to the show. Ray Wood here. Thank you for tuning in.

I want to get into something pretty important today. I don’t have a definitive statistic for this. I’ve done a fair bit of research, and I’ve spoken to real estate trainers, coaches, and agents. I also speak with agents every day about the percentage of agents who have a permanent lead-generation process in place.

What is generating leads for agents while they’re asleep, at the gym, dropping the kids at school, on holiday, doing a deal, holding an open house, or simply living their lives?

I maintain that the percentage of agents who have a permanent lead-generation method in place is less than five percent.

Let’s call it five percent. I can’t see any evidence that the figure is much higher.

As you can probably tell, this is another episode from the road, and the road is a little bumpy. In any case, I’ll soldier on.

One of the things that astounds me about that estimate is that generating leads is the number one thing every real estate business needs.

When a real estate business goes broke, it’s usually because it doesn’t have enough listings, it has too many expenses, or both.

If you’re running a business with a lot of expenses, the fix is relatively straightforward: reduce your expenses or increase your number of listings and sales. It’s much easier to do when you know what actions to take.

At AdMachine.dev, we’re working with hundreds of agents, primarily in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.

We work with amazing agents, teams, business owners, and marketing professionals to help them generate leads on autopilot.

Let me quickly explain how it works.

The first thing we do is create a campaign around a property for sale.

We’ve tested free appraisals, free evaluations, upsizing, downsizing, niche marketing, and many other ideas. Nothing has the power of a property listing.

Nothing has the same credibility, reach, marketing impact, or profile as a property for sale.

When you promote a property for sale, you’re showing people what you do. You’re marketing your services without begging for business.

So why not capture leads from those ads?

The first thing our clients do inside Ad Machine is create 40 or 50 ads. It takes approximately two or three minutes to set them up.

We have some incredible AI prompting working in the background. Our system is powered by several AI platforms, including Anthropic and OpenAI.

Ad Machine essentially does two things.

First, it creates 40 or 50 ads and launches them simultaneously across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

Most of these campaigns operate on a total budget of only five to ten dollars a day. That’s not five or ten dollars per ad. That’s the budget for the entire campaign.

The second thing the AI does is monitor all of those ads around the clock.

It quickly identifies which ads are attracting attention. It then directs the budget toward the best-performing ads and reduces or eliminates spending on the worst-performing ads.

Meta doesn’t necessarily do that for you. As long as you continue spending money, Meta isn’t particularly concerned about whether you’re getting the best possible results.

That’s why many agents are paying one or two dollars per click, while more than 90 percent of the clicks our clients receive cost less than ten cents.

That is the power of AI, and that is the power of modern marketing. It’s happening right now.

The next stage is lead generation.

Someone sees the advertisement and wants to learn more about the property. They complete a short questionnaire. We’re having a lot of success using Meta lead forms.

They provide their first name, last name, email address, and phone number, along with answers to a couple of qualifying questions.

Those questions are important because they help qualify the lead.

Without them, you may attract more tire kickers and people who waste your time. These leads ultimately need to be followed up, which is probably another conversation for another day.

The lead then enters our backend CRM, and that’s when the automation begins.

Let’s say a new lead comes in. As soon as they hit Submit, they receive a text message thanking them for completing the form and letting them know that someone will be following up.

It’s a highly scripted response that we’ve been testing for the past 12 months, and it’s working brilliantly.

Additional text messages and emails follow, so the nurturing process begins immediately.

The system also begins building trust.

Success in real estate often comes down to a seller saying, “Mary, would you please come and list my house for sale?”

That decision is based on trust.

By responding promptly and following up diligently, you demonstrate that you’re serious and professional.

All of this is happening while you’re doing something else.

I know there are many agents using professional lead-generation companies. There are dozens of businesses selling leads, and I’m not a fan of that model.

Obviously, I’m promoting Ad Machine, so you might say, “Of course you’re not a fan of it, Ray.”

However, I don’t particularly care whether you use our service. What matters is that you use a system that allows you to own the lead, keep the full commission when you make a sale, and retain ownership of the data.

Advertising on social media is incredibly powerful, but if your advertising stops tomorrow, you can lose those connections because you don’t own the audience on Facebook or Instagram.

When someone opts in and gives you their name, email address, and mobile number, you have the permission, platform, and opportunity to begin marketing directly to that person.

You own that data.

Some lead companies charge 30, 40, 70, or more than 100 dollars per lead. Many also ask for 20, 30, or 40 percent of your commission when a transaction closes.

Perhaps you’re using a company like that. Maybe it’s working exceptionally well for you.

However, the pricing charged by these companies is only likely to increase.

I maintain that you can do exactly what they’re doing, or do it even better.

I know many of these companies aren’t using systems like Ad Machine to create 40 or 50 ads. They’re often creating a single advertisement and generating leads from that.

Why not own the data from the beginning?

We estimate that the fully loaded cost per lead through Ad Machine is approximately five or six dollars.

That includes the subscription and the social media advertising costs.

Instead of paying 40, 50, 70, or 100 dollars per lead, you may be paying only six dollars.

That is the advantage.

When you become an agent who automates lead generation and generates leads on autopilot, you accomplish two important things.

First, you move into the top five percent of agents who are actively doing this. The most successful agents have systems for generating leads consistently. I know that because I speak with them every day.

Second, you own the data and continue adding new contacts to your database every day.

Imagine bringing in one new lead every day. That’s 365 leads a year.

Bring in ten leads a day, and that’s 3,650 leads a year.

Here’s an interesting example.

We recently brought on a new client who started marketing a single property for sale. They’re spending ten dollars a day.

They’re now into their fourth day and have already generated 27 new leads.

Every one of those leads is being automatically followed up and nurtured.

Four days earlier, they had no leads being generated on autopilot. Now, they’re averaging almost seven leads per day.

That is the power of automation.

That is the power of AI.

And that is the power of combining these systems with platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

I know many agents have a love-hate relationship with social media. You may feel like there aren’t many alternatives for marketing.

The truth is, there really aren’t.

What are you going to do instead? A letterbox drop?

Letterbox drops can work, but they’re difficult to scale, they take a lot of time, and they’re often more expensive than the system I’ve just described.

It will probably cost you more than six dollars to generate one lead from a letterbox drop.

You know your numbers. You’ve probably tried it, as most agents have.

Newspapers are largely dead as a marketing channel. Magazines are struggling. Billboards are difficult to measure and easy for people to ignore.

Most people have their eyes on their phones.

In 2026, I don’t believe we have many scalable marketing alternatives to social media.

It’s funny how quickly the world has changed.

My argument is simple: let’s use it.

Let’s put down the weapons in our battle against Zuckerberg and company. Instead, let’s view these platforms as marketing partners and leverage what they offer to help grow our businesses.

With a platform like Ad Machine, you can multiply the number of ads you place into the marketplace, dramatically reduce your cost per click, and significantly increase your reach.

If you’d like a copy of my new book, Leads on Autopilot, reach out to me.

I haven’t created the official download link yet because I’m preparing to release the book on Amazon. In the meantime, I’ll send you the PDF.

That’s my message for this episode.

It isn’t a long episode, and it doesn’t need to be.

I’m urging you to jump in and take action.

If you’d like to know more about Ad Machine, let’s set up a call. I’ll give you a demonstration and show you how our live campaigns are working.

By this time next week, you could be generating leads on autopilot.

And don’t forget: the best time to join the agents of tomorrow is by getting started today.

Cheers, and take care.