Craigslist is not the right place to advertise for every business, but for most, it can be a extremely cost effective method for generating qualified leads. In most cities, there is no cost to post an ad, so in my opinion, I think all businesses should post there. Since you control your own listings, it allows you the ability to craft your message exactly how you wanted in order to drive leads while keeping your brand intact.
Here are a couple of tips that should be used to get the most out of Craigslist advertising:
Repost Regularly - The design and layout of Craigslist is not very attractive and will probably not change anytime soon. With the current design, the listings are in simple chronological order meaning that the last business to post will be at the top of the listings. Depending on the city that you are advertising in, you could be on the second page within a few hours. The terms of service for Craigslist state that an ad can be posted every 48 hours. You should post at least this much. You can post more often, but you need to write a unique ad for each post that is less than 48 hours. So if you wanted to post every 12 Hours, you will need to create four ads. Should not take long to create and has the potential for huge benefits.
Be Creative With Your Offer – Just like every other form of advertising, your offer is very important. So take time to create an offer that will get people to respond. Remember that you are competing with many other companies on Craigslists and in many cases the prospect has seen several business listings before they made it to yours. Make an offer that will set you apart. A couple of possible offers are a free consultation, 50% off your first visit, entry in to a raffle for game tickets, t-shirt, etc. You get the idea, but make an offer that you can afford that will entice people to contact you.
Use Catchy Headlines -Which sounds more compelling to you, “Landscaping Service” or “$25 Off Your Landscaping Service?” Depending on your business, you can get much more creative than that, but don’t get so creative that the prospect has no idea what your business does. The goal here is to use a headline that differentiates your listing from the rest and compels a prospect to view your ad. Something simple that states more than your company name or your industry should do.
Include your real e-mail address – Craigslist give you the option of showing a real address or having your mail forwarded using an alias e-mail address that is assigned to your ad. Disguising your e-mail is good for most Craigslist listings, but using a real e-mail address creates trust with your prospects and lets them know you are a real business with a real person on the other end. When there is not a real address, the prospect really has no idea where there e-mail is going and who they should expect a response from. Using a real e-mail address prevents that and sets you apart from your competitors.
Include a phone number – Much like that address, a phone number included in your ad builds trust with your prospect and provides them with a way to contact you rather than just e-mail. Many times, prospects are looking to talk to someone to help them make a decision about what service they want to choose. Give all the options that you have available that makes it easy for them to get in contact with you.
These are just a few of the techniques that should be used when posting ads to Craigslists that will help to set your ads apart and increase the chance of a prospect responding to your ad. Tomorrow, I will publish part 2 of techniques for generating ads on Craigslist.
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