Craigslist Marketing - my top 10 tips for CL newbies

[Michael Motley]

I use CL as a pretty regular source of marketing/traffic. Depending on how hard I hit them, i can usually generate 400+ daily unique visitors that are qualified and convert well with just about 10 posts on CL (usually of the same ad). Here are a few things i've learned that may be helpful to others. Let me preface this by saying I'm by no means a CL expert, but i've picked a few things up here and there.

1. If you use an autoposter, CL will probably shut your account down. Most autoposters work pretty much the same way and CL is pretty stringent on their anti-spam stance. When a new 'superautoturboposter' comes out, its good for about 30 days, then CL will catch on and everyone that buys after that is wasting their money.

2. Build yourself a list of ads to run. I keep a list of about 20 ads. I'll run each one of them, then i'll run #1 ad with every other, then #2 ad with every other, doubling the ads up. This lets you stretch your ad list farther and by the time you get down to the last ad being run with every other ad in your list, you can start from the top again. This lets you sort of keep track of what ads have been run before so cl doesnt shut you down. Also start up a little folder of relevant pics to throw in your ads at random

3. When you post, if you post too fast, you will get ghosted. Your ad will appear to go through, you'll get the confirm email, but you wont find that ad anywhere in CL

4. Dont be greedy. If you have a niche site that really only hits big in certain places, then dont waste your time or risk having your account canned because you're posting in places that wont be worth it to you. Some areas in CL get very little useage. Look where you're posting. If you see there hasnt been an ad placed here in 2-3 weeks, its probably not getting enough traffic. Think about the location. If you have a niche in something like air conditioners...spamming alaska's cl areas will probably do nothing but get you flagged.

5. Titles are your bread and butter. If you make the title interesting and eye catching, you'll get a better response. Dont just do all caps, add charachters like *** or //, something to make you stand out but not be obnoxious.

6. Everybody likes pics. Put relevant pics in your posts. Some people click ads they arent even interested in because it says 'pic'.

7. Don't do the deal on CL. You can't use affiliate links on CL. Do the sale on your own site, but make your introduction on CL. This also helps to sort of pre-qualify people.

8.Watch the time. CL has hot times and cold times. When you post the ad is directly related to how much traffic you'll get. The 'hot' times for CL are early in the morning (6am-8am local) or after work (5-8pm local). People surfing before and after work. If you post too early, you'll be pushed to the second page by the time the rush comes, post to late and well, you're too late.

9. An autoresponder +CL can make for a pretty effective automatic marketing system. Gmail has a decent autoresponder. If you set up your autoresponder message with your sales offer and start throwing your ad out on cl, the autoresponder will work as your sales person. Though you'll probably only do it a couple times before CL regulars start flagging you. So us it sparingly or in conjunction with your normal sales efforts.

10. The classified are not the only part of CL. The forums on CL for various subjects are actually pretty busy. If you work your way in there and then start dropping your link, you'll probably get a lot of traffic. But like every other forum you have to make yourself known and do a little schmoozing first. Some have time for that, some dont.


There are people here that have more knowledge than I do for CL that can add to this. Good luck!

[solchristopher]

Do you have an estimate of which cities, maybe up to 10, one should regularly post to, to get the most responses or even potential "views."

Great advice Michael!

[Marhelper]

I have noticed that ads get deleted almost right away in section after section. Is there more to what you have stated, IE: What section, niche(s), etc do you work in?

[Michael Motley]

A lot of it depends on what you are selling and the section. I am in a subsection of home improvement, so thats where i stay. If you try posting what i do in something like clothing it will probably get flagged quick.

As far as what cities, like i said, it depends on what you're selling. If you have something that is a big seller in the southwest, hit the big cities in the southwest. You can tell the 'big' cities because they are in bold. You will get a lot more response in these cities, but your ad doesnt last as long. Thats ok, because honestly, once they get off the first page, your ad is essentially dead. But cities like Los Angeles New York, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta are always great sources of surfing traffic

If you're selling something that isn't really affected by geography, just pick a section of the country to hit that day so you dont draw much attention from cl. If they start seeing your account blanket bombing the entire country every single day, you'll get blocked.

Most ads will last 7 days in big cities, in smaller ones it can be up to 45 days. Thats why you need different ads so that you can keep an ad in your cities. If you are using adwords or any other analytics system you'll be able to see what is working and what post cities are your big hitters.


Also, because cl's audience are their site's police, you can have people that are your competitors flagging posts. And there are CL 'vigilantes' that have nothing to do all day but flag posts that THEY think break the TOS. Dont waste too much time on them. Post and move on Then in a little while, come back and try another stab at it, maybe they got up to get a sandwich or something or just got bored and logged off

[J. David Rogers]

To find the top Craigslist cities by traffic, use Alexa. You can scroll down to the bottom of their page about Craigslist and it will show you the top cities under the Where people go on Craigslist.org heading.

craigslist.org - Traffic Details from Alexa

[Traffic-Bug]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with Craigslist and the success tips!

[alwilliams49]

This is some awesome advice. thankyou Michael for Sharing.

[Local Search]

Craigslist is just like a tonic for United states local businesses. craigslist user can advertise with it for targeted cities.

[alrealestate]

I have been looking for this data, thanks for the heads up. I have been posting in the major markets, but now I see there is a lost more towns and cities to include.