For businesses, particularly small businesses, Craigslist is a valuable marketing tool. Even after years of existence, Craigslist remains the go-to site for millions of potential customers. Ignoring Craigslist as an effective marketing tool would be a mistake.
That said, Craigslist is not without its challenges. In order to get the right message across, reach suitable target users, and generate sales, you need to know how to take advantage of Craigslist’s unique characteristics. These next four tips will help you get started with mastering Craigslist for the benefits of your small business.
Target by Location
One feature that makes Craigslist very popular among its users is the way the site organizes ads by state and city. This means users can easily find products and services near them, giving them the ability to get in touch with the sellers and complete their transactions easily.
This is a strength that you can use to target your local audience. If you cater to customers in certain cities or states, be sure to place your ads in the right subdomain that best represents that target audience.
Location is everything. Users can do a Craigslist search by state, so targeting the right subdomain (or subdomains) will help you reach the right potential customers and maximize your conversion rate.
Craft Your Title Carefully
There is no room for boring titles on Craigslist. The most successful ads in the site’s history all have catchy titles that really stop the audience in their tracks. You want the title of your ads to have the same amount of stopping power for the ads to be effective.
Don’t be afraid to rely on creativity a little bit. You can play around with funny and catchy titles to make your ads more attractive. You can even use puns for a bit of extra fun.
Creative Product Descriptions
If you think playing around with titles and creating funny ones is exciting, you will certainly love crafting the description for your products and services. Similar to creating catchy titles, you have plenty of room for creativity and wit when writing product descriptions for Craigslist.
There is no need to be formal; you don’t even have to be straightforward. All you need to focus on is capturing the audience’s attention. This is best done with creative product descriptions that stick in a potential customer’s minds.
Link to Your Product Page
On Craigslist, letting customers know how to best contact you is important. You want them to be able to pick up the phone or send you a text message to make a purchase. However, Craigslist ads can still be seen years after they were placed. Adding a link to your product page to provide a more up-to-date information is also crucial.
Don’t forget to add a strong call to action to the product page URL too. You can funnel more potential customers to your site or social media pages using this method. Just make sure you don’t spam your Craigslist ads with links to avoid getting banned.
With these simple tips, attracting potential customers through Craigslist is very easy. All you have to do now is get started with your own Craigslist marketing efforts.
