If you are like many management professionals, you have been using a handy dandy website, or if you are lucky, have something built into your management software that allows you to post quickly and effectively to Craigslist. Well as of today those easy buttons are as useless as last-years fruitcake.
Craigslist, for reasons known only to Craigslist, have
changed their terms of use so that you can no longer use any type of automated
posting.
So what to do now? If
you have been managing property for a while, you will remember back
when we had to post the old fashioned way on CL. It’s a pain and it takes time. For many of our newer staff this will be a
learning experience.
How do you post an effective ad under the new terms of use?
- The most important Craigslist leasing tool is pictures. Take some great pictures and upload them to your Craigslist ad. If you are posting for an apartment community, I suggest taking at least one exterior shot. People want to see where they are going to live.
- You’ve got to have a good tagline. Something that is going to make folks want to look at your ad. Something that will stand out among the sea of apartment ads posted that hour. The best way to create one is to check the ads for other cities. Which ads drew your attention?
- Create a marketing template. If you are planning multiple postings per day, your ads must be unique enough to not be flagged by Craigslist. Per Craigslist terms of use you may only post the same ad every 48 hours. Create templates for each vacancy. I recommend my staff have at least three unique ads for each floorplan. Save them as a document to your desktop and cut and paste as you post. This will take a little time upfront but it will save you time on the back end when you or your staff are trying to get your ads up.
- Information. Make sure you are providing your prospect with all of the information regarding your vacant unit. Square footage, price, amenities, parking, screening criteria, pet policy, deposits and application fees. The more information that is available in your ad the better. Put yourself in your prospects position. Would you call on an ad for a place that didn’t list the price?
- ASK FOR THEIR BUSINESS! I can’t believe how many ads I have seen that do not ask the prospect to call or to apply. Give your prospects easy access. Offer them your phone number or your website. Leave them a way to contact you other than responding to the Craigslist ad. The main reason for this is building trust. I mean seriously, how many of us have had our ads hijacked by someone for the purpose of scamming our prospects? If your prospects believe that the company or person posting the ad is legitimate, the more likely they are to contact you.
Craigslist has been frustrating at times to work with but it
isn't going anywhere and it is a necessary evil for leasing so we've just got
to work within the boundaries that they establish. That doesn’t mean that
we cannot make this easier on ourselves.
Have an idea? I would
love to hear from you!!
Athena Barnhart
VP Operations
Mission Real Estate & Property Management, Inc.
