Craigslist Advertising: The Biggest Bargain in the World

Any business who wants to sell more of their products or services should look into Craigslist advertising. No matter if the products are being sold through web sites or brick and mortar stores, Craigslist can still be very profitable. Except for job posting and housing posting in some markets, advertising on Craigslist is free. Because of this there is little monetary risk in placing your advertisements and you can experiment without worrying about the cost. The only thing you'll have to worry about is agreeing to the Craigslist terms of service and following the specific guidelines when posting.

A major reason for advertising with Craigslist along with the free ads is the huge number of potential customers you'll be able to reach. According to the Craigslist fact sheet they get more than 9 billion page views per month and have ten million new images each month. More than 30 million people including more than 25 million in the US alone use Craigslist each month. At present there are 450 Craigslist sites in all 50 US states, and in over 50 countries. I have to say these kind of figures really support the claim that Craigslist advertising is the biggest bargain in the world.

With mind boggling figures like Craigslist has, you would think any kind of ad you post would be a winner but not so. You still have to have an attractive ad with a perceived good value in a place where people are looking for it. If you don't you won't be successful no matter how many people come to the site. The huge numbers are great but you still need targeted traffic to be successful no matter what you're selling. With as many different sites as they have you can pinpoint your ads to the exact geographical site you want along with the exact category for your product. Marketers know that a small well targeted audience that is interested in your product will make you more money than a huge audience who is not that interested.

One of the keys to marketing to your target customers on Craigslist is to place your ad in the best location on the overall site. Craigslist has specific sections for different types of business to advertise in. If you feel your ad should in more than one section or area then you need to write another variation of your ad so you don't get flagged.

Even if there is not a section for your business or service you still have some options such as placing the ad in the advertising section for small business. There is a chance that someone doing a search in this area might find it, but a better option, if you can't find a good category to advertise in, is to ask Craigslist to add your category. They might accommodate you if they feel it warrants it. Having your own category to your self for even a little while could turn out to be a real winner for your business.

Advertising on Craigslist is fantastic but spamming is not cool or is it tolerated. Do not under any circumstances run the same ad on more than one category or in more than one location. If you want to run more than one edition of the same ad you must rewrite it so it doesn't appear to be spam to readers or the spam watchers on Craigslist. Spam may not only cause your potential customers to boycott your ads if they see them all over the place, but you may get all your ads deleted and even possibly be banned from advertising in the future. Play by the rules set forth by Craigslist and you won't find a better advertising bargain anywhere.

Source:

Craigslist Factsheet Found on Google Oct. 2, 2008