During my recent trip to MultifamilyPro’s Brainstorming in Houston, I spoke with Allison Crabtree of Bell Partners on the topic of Craigslist. There was one question that was asked repeatedly by attendees:
Should we hire a 3rd party Craigslist posting service?
3rd party posting is the action of hiring an agency to post craigslist ads for a property. Many property management groups, locators, brokers, and individual properties hire 3rd party posters. The fees range from cents per post to hundreds per month.
There are pro’s and con’s to 3rd party posting services:
Pro’s
- Reporting
- Consistency in posting
- Branding/professional appearance
- Reduction of human resources required to post ads
Con’s
- Expired ads
- Data/Photo sharing with 3rd party
- Over-posting/under-posting
- Incomplete or incorrect ads posted
- Marketing expense
- 3rd party posting is against the terms and conditions of using Craigslist
The most common reason for hiring a 3rd party agency to post Craigslist ads is to reduce the amount of time onsite staff needs to post. Many communities and property management groups are stuck in the ‘We need to post multiple times per day, in order to remain on page 1″ theory. However, users have become accustomed to searching the Internet using price, keywords and location information. The “Page 1″ theory causes over-posting of ads and consequently the flagging, removal and blocking of ad placement on Craigslist.
Regardless of the posting method chosen, a Craigslist strategy is critical to success. Before posting ads, know in advance the target audience, their preferred search criteria, and establish professional ad templates. When formatted properly, a single ad per property/ per day can be more effective than multiple ads per property/per day.
If an organization decides that a 3rd party solution is required, my advice is to request links to the posted ads, CallSource numbers and tracking of ad impressions to determine the effectiveness of the ad program. Additionally, review posting agreements each month rather than signing long-term contracts.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Charity about something that I see debated often.
This is the biggest con in my book “3rd party posting is against the terms and conditions of using Craigslist”. I don’t think it is ever a good thing when you are breaking the T&C’s of a site. When you hire these 3rd party Craigslist posting services, you are hiring companies that are willing to break the Craigslist terms and you are becoming a willing participant. I also agree with what you said here: “However, users have become accustomed to searching the Internet using price, keywords and location information. The “Page 1″ theory causes over-posting of ads and consequently the flagging, removal and blocking of ad placement on Craigslist.”
@RentShout – Thank you for commenting! If we can get the word out that properties can be successful using Craigslist with fewer posts, perhaps we can reduce the use of 3rd parties while also eliminating duplicate ads.
Duplicate ads crowd the system, making it more difficult for the users of Craigslist to find the homes they are seeking consequently increasing the frustration aimed at properties over-posting.
I KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN REAL PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE HACKING IN TO CRAIGSLIST! PEOPLE ARE STEALING OTHERS PASSWORD THEN SENDING OUT MESSAGE THAT THEY WERE ROBBED AT GUN POINT AND ALL WERE IN NEED OF $3,500 to RETURN HOME… SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE!
We post ourselves with assistance from a free site called postlets.com. Its super easy and our ads are attractive!