We had an awesome Craigslist webinar yesterday with great questions and input from attendees. For those who missed out, I will do a brief recap of the great tips given on how to maximize your Craigslist ads’ effectiveness. If you would like the recording or slide show from the presentation shoot an email to webinars@propertysolutions.com.
The Dos and Don’ts of Craigslist
Do . . .
Include your phone number on your ad. Prospects that are serious about leasing are more likely to call you, giving you more quality leads. If you have call tracking set up through Property Solutions, we can track phone call leads back to specific ads so you can see which are most effective.
Use keywords in your headlines. You want your headlines to be descriptive and distinct to your property. You want to avoid having keywords similar to competing properties in your area. It is also good to consistently change your headlines to reach a larger audience. WARNING: You don’t want to include too much information in your heading as it may disqualify you from having a prospect click through to your ad.
Make posting ads a habit. If you want your Craigslist ads to be effective, you need to be posting them frequently. Keep them updated and change them out every two days.
Delete old ads prior to posting your new ones. Doing so will keep you in Craigslist’s good graces and keep your ads up to date.
Don’t . . .
Post the same ad within 48 hours. Violates Craigslist’s Terms and Conditions. If you would like to re-post an ad, you must first delete your old one.
Sign in and out of Craigslist repeatedly. Signing in and out frequently will alert Craigslist that you may be a spammer. You don’t want to get blacklisted!
Hide your community. Many visitors to Craigslist are wary of fake postings. Make it as clear as possible that your property is real by adding photos,the property website address, and any other information you have.
HTML template ads Vs. Text-based ads
There has been much discussion on which one is better. A template provides a more professional feel while the regular Craigslist text-based post is more organic looking and sometimes what people are more attracted to in the Craigslist setting. Invest in some A/B testing to see what works better for your property and target audience. Because the two types of ads are so different, Craigslist doesn’t recognize them as being the same post. We suggest posting the same ad in both template and text-based forms and comparing which one is most effective for your property. Our robust reporting tools will make it easy to compare the two.
If you have any of your own Craigslist best practice tips, please share your words of wisdom. Keep an eye out for our newsletter that lists our upcoming webinars.
Oct 28, 10
Great tips! Except I have one comment on your “Delete old ads prior to posting your new ones” tip - I would recommend not doing this. Some users bookmark CL posts to refer back to them. If you delete them prior to their normal fall off date deemed by Craig, you risk loosing the interest of the prospect when they refer back to that listing.
Every CL post should have fresh content; make a library of 10 different descriptions, change up your list of amenities, create a massive list of posting titles, don’t just have 2 templates have 10 templates all drastically different and have a vast variety of photography. All of this will eliminate begin flagged by Craig and give prospects the illusion of fresh new listings with every click.
One comment turned into a few…
Oct 29, 10
Great tips! Didn’t think about prospects bookmarking your Craigslist ads–that would be a good reason not to delete them. Thanks for the comments