Another rule for using Craigslist:

Craigslist has decided to block posts that include the URL shortened links from Bit.ly. In retrospect, it was only a matter of time before Craigslist caught on. When Craigslist makes a change, they don’t explain why. Did they want to prevent tracking/reporting? Were there issues with image visibility? Or is it something else? I have never experienced an image visibility issue, so I’m inclined to believe that Craigslist is trying to prevent tracking.

There is no clear statement within the craigslist terms of use which indicates that tracking ad views is not allowed. In fact, not much within the terms of service is clear. This is my favorite line within the Craigslist terms of use regarding 3rd party posting agents: “…except with express permission or license from craigslist.”

I once requested verification on this specific term and my response from Craig was “I cannot parse your email.” Which basically means “I don’t understand your email explaining that you don’t understand our terms of use.”

Why track views/impressions on Craigslist?

When you run an ad in a local paper you can request the circulation numbers to determine if your ad will be cost-effective or how many impressions you should expect to receive. By understanding how many views/impressions are counted per Craigslist ad, it is possible to improve future ad posting titles, content, and formatting. After Craigslist forced vFlyer to stop tracking and reporting, many of us were doing our own with the use of URL shorteners. With the removal of Bit.ly it may not be long before other URL shorteners are blocked. Tracking will still be possible, but no longer as simple.

My 2 cents:

Craigslist doesn’t really care about the people advertising on the site. Those of us that post are all slaves to the system and to the hyper-sensitive Craigslist forum pack. If you’ve not seen the forum on Apartments, you should scan through it. Although many properties receive more traffic from Craigslist than any other source, it is my hope that eventually people will move on to another site to seek their new homes. Until then, I will strive to continue the improvement of ads posted.

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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.

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MultifamilyPro’s Brainstorming Session: Uncover the Secrets to Using Craigslist and Other Classified Sites

For those who couldn’t attend or if you attended and need more information, below is the Prezi that Allison and I presented today at 10:30 in Houston, TX.

The only thing not included in the presentation is my biggest statement: Only post 1 time per day per property!

A special thank you to everyone who waited patiently in the hall until we could open up another room! Be on the lookout for a recap of the event, from my perspective!

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I’m speaking with Allison Crabtree, the (Director of Marketing at Bell Partners) this year at Brainstorming in Houston on November 19th. Our topic is “Uncover the Secrets to Traffic Generation Using Craigslist and Similar Sites“. Now, you can go to any and all of the links I’ve posted here, but there’s one thing these links won’t tell you…

We’re giving away 3 copies of Tribes by Seth Godin after the presentation!

Win This Book!

That’s right! All you have to do is pay attention to the presentation (which should be very easy to do!) and the first person to answer one of the three questions correctly wins. Honestly, I don’t know if we could make it any easier!

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a “how to post an ad to Craigslist” course for your Grandma (although we do love Grandma). This session will go deep into the questions you’ve been asking, like how to design ads that will stand out from the crowd!

Some of our content will include:

• Site-specific user demographics to help target your audience on the sites they are using.
• Known benefits and challenges of various sites.
• Various ways to track results and WHY you need to track.

I guarantee our presentation will be different than any presentation you’ve seen at Brainstorming before! We look forward to seeing you at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 19th!

(If you’re NOT attending, you SHOULD! It’s only $525 per person. Check it out!)

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Be Unique, Make Your Ads Stand Out!

How do you appeal to renters without using rent concessions?

How are you writing your apartment community craigslist ad titles? Are you using rent concessions to drive traffic to your property? What if you don’t have any promotions? What content are you posting to your Facebook and Twitter pages? Are you just posting your rental rates and promotions? Did you know that more than half of American adults are attempting to save money?

A new Harris Poll shows interesting statistics regarding ways adults are trying to save money:

• 36% have switched to tap water and refillable bottles instead of bottled water.
• 21% have cancelled or cut back on their cable TV service.
• 20% have stopped buying coffee in the morning.
• 14% have been carpooling or using mass transit.

Let’s face it, not every community can compete with ever-increasing rent promotions and concessions. Sometimes, the rent cannot get ANY lower. How do you differentiate your ads and your content from competitors when the properties are so similar? Try this: if your community offers something of value, highlight that feature in your ads, in your Facebook Page content, and occasionally in your Twitter feed. Please understand: I don’t mean use a long list of amenities. Frankly, that’s boring and exactly what everyone else is doing. Use the statistics above to create ad titles/headlines that are unique for your community.

Below are a few examples of ways you can turn your apartment community features into a call-to-action.

Your community offers-

Free water and trash services.
“Save $50 a month with our FREE water and garbage service!”

Free cable.
“Thinking of canceling cable to save money? If you lived at “XXX Apartments” Cable would be FREE!”

Excellent location.
“There’s no need to carpool to work when you live a block away!”

Free morning coffee to residents.
“Why buy expensive coffee? Get yours free every morning before you head to work, just bring your own cup!”

Free theater room.
“Date nights are expensive! Book our FREE theater room for a cozy night out, just bring your own goodies!”

Fitness center.
“Cancel your expensive gym membership and workout for FREE in our community fitness center!”

Community room (magazines, movies, games, coffee)
“Magazine subscriptions are expensive! Save money and read your favorite magazines for free in our community center!”

Don’t forget to rotate your new headlines, I’m sure there are many other ideas just waiting for you to discover.

How have you used your community features to appeal to potential renters? Please share some of your examples with us!

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When viewing ads on Craigslist, do you prefer HTML or Text?

Please click on the image to cast your vote. It only takes a minute!

Thank you for participating. I will highlight the results here and share them with everyone on Facebook and Twitter.

Can you click on the link and vote please?

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In 2007, the total cost of internet fraud was around $240 million in the U.S. There are many types of rental scams. HotPads.com and Craigslist warn against trusting “to good to be true” ads.

Some of the warning signs of possible fraud are very obvious, some are not. A few of the warning signs mentioned by ForRentByOwner.com are:

1. Emails are overly polite, very poorly written or express excessive eagerness to rent without having inspected the property.

2. Tenant does not send funds as promised or delays providing requested information.

3. Email is sent from another country or the tenant claims to live in one country but email is sent from another with inadequate explanation.

As a property manager listing your properties on various MLS(s) you should read the examples and postings on RentalScams.org in order to avoid making mistakes that could get your property accidentally placed on warning lists.

Please contribute additional indicators of spam emails or best-practices by commenting.

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I went to an Internet and Social Media Marketing class today, at Kennesaw State University. Their COLES (college of business) program offers various courses on topics related to small businesses.

ReachLocal was there, to give a little information regarding Internet advertising. Brandon, the speaker, said that ReachLocal is the largest Internet advertiser in the world with 25 offices and about 7,000 employees. What is interesting to me is that there are articles about their success in CNN Money, Kelsey Group, Business Week Online, Chicago Tribune and more. Even more interesting is that everything I’ve been told by other companies regarding search engine optimization isn’t entirely true. With ReachLocal you DON’T need multiple landing pages (microsites), you don’t need long research periods for “keywords”, and you don’t need to overhaul your whole webpage for their program to work.

Basically, it’s a unique program, a pay-per-cycle program that let’s you determine how much you want to invest. The auto-generated system also includes time-stamping that moves keywords up everytime your site is visited or a call is made through their links. How cool is that? The more it’s used, the more it’s seen!

Here are some of their claims:

• Within 90 days, there is an 85-90% success rate.
• No charge for seeing leads, contacts, reports or listening to the call records.
• No charge for SEO PAID placement.
• Auto-ROI tracking with online login to view results.

I thought this was pretty awesome, and when I’m talking about Internet advertising with our customers, I will refer them to ReachLocal.

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According to survey results conducted by VHT, Inc. and PropertyPreviews.com -article is posted here.

With this in mind, it makes one wonder why all apartment communities haven’t invested in a quick video tour of their property, and tours of various floorplans? In addition, the survey suggests that the respondents were seven times as likely to visit a home in which advertising included professional photography.

Even on craigslist, there is no excuse not to display photographs or video links of your property; otherwise you’re just wasting your time.

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