Craigslist Marketing Basics

Craigslist is the small real estate investor’s dream come true. It is ideal place to find investment properties, materials for renovating properties, and even sell your renovated properties. Millions of people search Craigslist daily. Best of all, it’s completely free to list items for sale, and you can list items all over the world. All you need is a Craigslist marketing plan.

Before you do anything else, you need to know Craigslist’s posting guidelines. They have rules, and they take them seriously. For example, you cannot post the same advertisement within 48 hours, and you cannot spam people through their system. This is all explained on their website. Follow the rules because Craigslist users are quick to flag advertisements that don’t follow the set guidelines.

Like any successful marketing strategy, Craigslist marketing must be targeted to the people most likely to buy a property from you. Fortunately, Craigslist made this very easy for you: just choose the city (and nearby cities) where the property is located. You can also advertise a property in an area where you know recent buyers have lived. Just make sure you create different advertisements for each city.
The ad itself doesn’t have to be flashy or contain much HTML. In fact, the most effective ads on Craigslist are the ones with simple text and photographs. All you really need to do is give detailed information about the property and upload a few good photographs. Make sure you include keywords, like the property’s location and property type. Search results are listed first by the date and then by keywords.

Your Craigslist marketing plan isn’t complete without a way to build credibility and trust. You do this by becoming a member of the Craigslist community. Users prefer to buy and sell to people who are part of the community rather than those who just use the free advertising for their own profit. The website’s forums are extremely active, and it’s the perfect place for you to interact with potential clients and fellow investors.