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Managing Craigslist Ads for Car Dealer

by PaulintheSticks
5 replies
I need to come up with a proposal for offering this service by next week. I know how to create good ads but I'd like to outsource the posting and I'm guessing as with any media, there usually are plenty of tricks and pitfalls to watch out for.

Anyone know of a good ebook or articles on the subject? Good outsourcer?

Thanks!
#ads #car #craigslist #dealer #managing
  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    Paul, there have been many threads here about advertising on Craigslist.

    My observation and a little experience shows
    it's a very difficult beast to make work.

    The ones that do get it to work seem to keep their outsources
    hidden.

    Those that advertise they can do it, fail has been my experience.

    Just seems a high risk activity to base yours and client's income on.

    Those that have mastered it have most likely invested heavily in
    beating the system.

    Sorry I can't be any more positive on Craigslist.

    Best,
    Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author richie311
    I do a lot of real estate posts. Not to advertise or anything but I can probably post for you. Let me know and well work out a reasonable price thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    Paul I'd insource it vs. outsource and what i mean by that is hire someone locally as an employee to handle this.

    If you will be doing multiple dealerships you will want multiple IPs and to create an account for each.

    You'll also need a way to match the inventories up to be able to remove things that are sold and list new things.

    Also for most dealerships listing all the inventory is a bad idea. Focus on say 10 to 20 units per day and rotate over 3 to 7 days.
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    Aaron Doud - Sales & Success
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  • Profile picture of the author RickDuris
    Unfortunately, by the time you're done reading this post, you're probably not going to want to propose.

    1. CraigsList is getting VERY aggressive in making service providers wish they'd had followed their TOS rather than try to game them. It doesn't seem they are going after all of them, but they have gone after enough of them to cause a stir in the industry.

    They have gotten domains shutdown for abuses.

    2. Ghosting occurs 70% or more of the time.

    3. It is VERY competitive. Other dealerships routinely flag their competitors ads for no reason.

    4. There are limitations which CraigsList imposes which they don't openly discuss.

    If you're still excited by the opportunity, and I haven't made you think twice, go for it.

    - Rick Duris
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  • Profile picture of the author MobileMarketSolutions
    Have you looked at integrating a mobile marketing campaign into the listings ? Cars are not out primary vertical but we do have features in out platform that help market cars. Just a thought. Like I said, not my vertical. I never sold cars. Hell, I live in NYC and do not even drive but I do know marketing. ANY edge helps !

    Edit: Another benefit is that you are able to convert all interested parties to a landing page and a lead list. So if your ad gets flagged, you have the interested party's contact info and you can contact them directly to gauge interest !
    Signature
    Mobile Market Solutions Is HIRING !

    Please follow the instructions EXACTLY as written ! If even ONE character is off, you cannot follow directions, and you will not work out for us. Also PM for NYCs VIP List.
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