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Advanced Craigslist Listing Techniques
HTML Usage Contrary to popular belief, you can use HTML. In fact you can build a simple webpage consisting of graphics and simple html tags to give your ad a more "ad" look. From my experience this does not help, in fact it may hurt you. Make sure all of your text is real text and read my section above titled "Conversion." Here is a guideline:
Traditional processing, no HTML: If you include a URL in the text, make sure you also include the http:// in front of the URL or our system will not recognize it, and will not make it an active link. You can use HTML in the posting body If you want, you can use HTML sparingly. We don't try to wrap HTML around your URLs if we see HTML tags including <a>, <li>, <p>. We just pass through your HTML unchanged. Please use only the HTML you'd use in the <body> of a document, no <title> or anything like that. We can't support JavaScript, applets, Flash, or other embedded non-HTML content. *Note: If you use HTML in any part of your posting you must use it throughout the entire body of your posting.
Tracking: Treat your ad on Craigslist like an e-mail campaign. You know you have only limited space to entice the user to click or inquire, so use it to get them to that point, not always at the buy now stage. You will capture more leads by focusing on getting their attention first.
There are typically 3 ways for someone on Craigslist to reach you e-mail, website and telephone. As an advertiser you will need to set up tracking for whichever mediums you choose to use. Each has its own set of ways; here are some tracking tips for each:
E-mail: This is by far the most popular form of inquiry on Craigslist since it is built into the system. When you set up your listing you can choose to make the e-mail show up as anonymous. Choosing to keep yourself hidden may or may not be a smart move for you.
When it's Smart · When your website url is part of your e-mail · When you are selling something as a vendor the obvious ad · When you are building brand
When it's Not · When you place multiple ads with different prices · When you want to remain hidden
Either way there is one great way to track which of your ads produced the most inquiries via e-mail. Simply set up alias or forwarding e-mail accounts at your hosting provider. These e-mail accounts will come in handy later if you plan to multi-list, but also give you the tracking you need to know which ads are producing the best results. Alias and forward e-mail accounts are great because they do not require that you set a whole different e-mail box, but feed into your main one. Check with your hosting provider on how to set up an alias.
Website: With this form of tracking you may lose a few people who hate to click on links, but gain the ability to close the sale with very little interaction required. Links are also easily tracked via your web statistics. The best way to increase conversion for your ad, while using a website to track it is to create a landing page. We often use landing pages in marketing to deliver a succinct and targeted message to a specific group of people, clicking on a specific link. You will not only be able to track how many clicks you received at that link, but also deliver a message on the landing page that will back-up your Craigslist ad. If you lack the resources to create a landing page, but have web stats to track your referrers then place a small snippet of code to reference the link, such as:
http://www.craigslist-guide.com?=websitetracking
Every time someone clicks on that link I will know they came from that specific ad on Craigslist. I did not have to create a new page or touch a piece of code to create the tracking url. I simply put ?="tracking code name" after my url. Keep in mind that Craigslist does not like typical affiliate links. Therefore, use rewrite to make your affiliate links friendlier and you should not have a problem using them in an ad.
If you have good stats with excellent marketing tools or e-commerce capability you can utilize some advanced tracking methods, such as setting up each ad as a campaign in your stats to track where each user went on your website after they clicked on the link and if they purchased. If you have e-commerce capabilities you can offer a promo code in your ad. This allows someone to take advantage of a special offer while giving you an extra layer of tracking down to which offers produced more results.
Not everyone needs this much tracking for a Craigslist ad, but if you intend on becoming a Craigslist power seller, it is very important.
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Multi-Listing: Posting a similar ad in categories throughout multiple cities is strictly prohibited on Craigslist. However, you can fool the system effectively by modifying the copy enough to trick the automated bot into thinking it's a different listing. The biggest obstacle you will have is convincing the system that your ads are not duplicates. This can easily be solved in two ways:
1. Set-up a number of regular aliases in your hosted e-mail account which all forward to one main e-mail box for easy management. Rotate the addresses as you post so you won't get red flagged. 2. Create varied content so diverse that there is no way of telling the ad originated from the same seller.
In an effort to maintain its focus on authenticity and user trust, Craigslist places a priority on protecting its user's privacy. How then does a marketer deliver the intended message without violating Craigslist ordinances? Be Active in the Community - place a focus on participation, whether it's joining discussions or answering wanted ads, communicate with those people and casually mention how your product or service will benefit them. The importance of trust is heightened on Craigslist and should not be treated lightly. By gaining your customer's trust and delivering a product to meet their needs, the likelihood of a positive referral, and more importantly, a well-received reputation on Craigslist, will snowball into future business opportunities and market expansion.
Re-listing Craigslist postings are listed by date and time. It seems as if a new listing appears every minute, which can be discouraging for other sellers who see their ads fall further and further down the page. While an error-free, catchy posting title will continue to grab attention despite its placement, sellers can re-list their postings as well to maintain a first page posting. The following chart details the waiting time to re-list an item.
Posting Type Metro* All Other Cities Classifieds 7 days 45 days Resumes 30 days 45 days Jobs 30 days 45 days Gigs 30 days 45 days Events Until posted event date range expires
*Metro - Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Sacramento, SF Bay Area, Washington D.C.
Sellers have the greatest advantage of re-listing every seven days and improving their chances of remaining on the first page of listings, which in any classified medium optimizes sales potential. Sellers can monitor their ads for response effectiveness, as well as the exposure gained from placement in certain categories or cities.
In any marketing campaign, the timing and delivery of the message greatly contributes to sales success. By playing with ad placement and gauging the time that the ad is re-listed, one can develop an effective schedule.
Earlier in this article advanced listing techniques were discussed in detail, and with that the ability to quantitatively assess activity directed at an advertisement. Both freelance and professional sellers can track data gathered from their posting. Data evaluation is integral to maintain a marketing edge on Craigslist and is at users' disposal if they know how to look for it.
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