Craigslist can prove a good source of leads for your real estate business. Interestingly, however, some agents have success with it while others find posting to Craigslist a waste of time. What’s the difference? Having a plan for attracting prospects, creating attractive ads and implementing an effective monitoring method is key to a successful ad campaign.
Apply these tips to your next campaign:
Stand out From the Crowd
Focus your ad creation on being different. Writing headlines and crafting ads that are just like everybody else’s won’t help you stand out or generate leads. If you blend in, what reason do prospects have to call you over another agent? Instead, take your time with writing exciting, crafty ad headlines that make your prospects stop and click. Don’t be afraid to use humor or emotion to draw interest. As for the text of your ads, make them upbeat and descriptive to keep readers’ attention, and don’t forget to include a strong call to action.
Visually Appealing Ads
Though you can type your ad in plain text, click submit and finish up your posting in mere minutes, this isn’t the best route to take if you want to generate the most leads. Instead, use html to craft a post that is easy to read and understand. Use headings, subheadings, bulleted lists, bolding and italics to make the most important parts of your ad stand out. Insert images to ad to your post’s appeal.
Stay With It
Posting just once might get you a few bites, but getting the most out of Craigslist lead generation means planning a campaign and posting consistently. If you plan a month-long campaign, don’t give up midway through, as many prospects have to see your ad at least a few times before they will take action and contact you. Take care, however, with following Craigslist’s posting rules throughout your campaign. You risk having your ad flagged for removal if you post the same ad in more than one location or do not allow at least 48 hours to pass between repeat postings.
Track Results
You want to know which ad a prospect is responding to, so make sure you track the origin of your leads. Here are a few ways to track your Craigslist results:
- Use tracking links in your posts
- Use a different referral code in each of your ads
- Use a different email address for each ad
- Use a tracking program to monitor activity
- Ask your prospects where they heard about you
Remember, tracking results helps you determine what you’re doing right.
The Right Timing
You can post your Craigslist ads at any time of the day, but you may draw more attention at certain times. If you post during a slow time of the day, your ad may get buried before your target audience even sees it. Instead, post right at the start of the business day, at lunch time and after the dinner hours.
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