Craigslist Has Rules
In recent months I have seen an increased amount of interest from dealers wanting to learn more about posting used inventory on craigslist, and rightfully so. Craigslist is an incredible vehicle for generating leads, IF you play by the rules. If you DO NOT...you might as well not even show up to the party, because the Craigslist Police are going to take you down.
Dealers are not the only people at the party either. Showing up are a number of companies, a few that are ethical and unfortunately some who are just trying to make a fast buck. Like drug dealers trying to sell a "dime bag", they are promising dealers an incredible high, some even go as far as telling dealers they can post 100% of their used inventory to craigslist every day. I am telling you right here, right now, this cannot be done, so like your momma told ya, "Just Say No".
Like many of the other marketing platforms available today, craigslist has rules. They are not hard to follow, but if your dealership, or the company you put your trust in to post your inventory breaks the rules, the end result...your vehicle posts get 'Ghosted'. For those unfamiliar, 'Ghosting' is the term applied when you make a post on Craigslist, and the system tells you that your post has been published, however your post never appears in a Craigslist search. There are two main actions that cause vehicle posts to get ghosted. The first is would be 'Flagging'. This is done by end users and something you cannot control. However, this is not the norm and nothing to be concerned with. The second is 'Over Posting'. This is when your vehicles are being posted far too often or by posting the same vehicles in multiple locations. Over posting will get you ghosted faster than a fart in a windstorm, and once your ip address is marked for ghosting, the only option you have to start posting again is to setup a new account with a new ip address. Who wants to deal with that?
As I mentioned in the beginning, Craigslist is an incredible vehicle for generating leads, IF you play by the rules. If you are using an in-house posting solution and have a dedicated staff to handle the posts, make sure they know the rules. A good rule of thumb is to post your vehicles in a four day rotation and always delete the older posts before posting the new ones, because you want to avoid having any duplicate posts. If you are using a vendor, make sure they are following the rules, and also go to Craigslist and do a search yourself to make sure your vehicles are being posted.
Dealers are not the only people at the party either. Showing up are a number of companies, a few that are ethical and unfortunately some who are just trying to make a fast buck. Like drug dealers trying to sell a "dime bag", they are promising dealers an incredible high, some even go as far as telling dealers they can post 100% of their used inventory to craigslist every day. I am telling you right here, right now, this cannot be done, so like your momma told ya, "Just Say No".
Like many of the other marketing platforms available today, craigslist has rules. They are not hard to follow, but if your dealership, or the company you put your trust in to post your inventory breaks the rules, the end result...your vehicle posts get 'Ghosted'. For those unfamiliar, 'Ghosting' is the term applied when you make a post on Craigslist, and the system tells you that your post has been published, however your post never appears in a Craigslist search. There are two main actions that cause vehicle posts to get ghosted. The first is would be 'Flagging'. This is done by end users and something you cannot control. However, this is not the norm and nothing to be concerned with. The second is 'Over Posting'. This is when your vehicles are being posted far too often or by posting the same vehicles in multiple locations. Over posting will get you ghosted faster than a fart in a windstorm, and once your ip address is marked for ghosting, the only option you have to start posting again is to setup a new account with a new ip address. Who wants to deal with that?
As I mentioned in the beginning, Craigslist is an incredible vehicle for generating leads, IF you play by the rules. If you are using an in-house posting solution and have a dedicated staff to handle the posts, make sure they know the rules. A good rule of thumb is to post your vehicles in a four day rotation and always delete the older posts before posting the new ones, because you want to avoid having any duplicate posts. If you are using a vendor, make sure they are following the rules, and also go to Craigslist and do a search yourself to make sure your vehicles are being posted.
If you have any questions regarding Craigslist or you are in need of a Craigslist compliant posting solution, give me a call or visit http://autodealertarget.com/cl.
Massive Success Always,
Tom Kain
President
AutoDealerTarget
p. 606.657.0277
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Comment
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Comment by Stephanie Young on September 26, 2011 at 1:34pm
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Tom, we do not recommend using Craig's list for recruiting. In fact, we do not use it for our own campaigns. It just does not reach the right audience. I will certainly pass along the hello for you.
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Comment by Tom Kain on September 23, 2011 at 11:04pm
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Michael, You are absolutely right. The rules do change every few months and it takes a dedicated team to stay on top of the changes. Just another great reason for dealers to choose the right company for their Craigslist posting needs. Thanks for the comments!
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Comment by Tom Kain on September 23, 2011 at 11:01pm
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Thanks Stephanie! I've never tried Craigslist for recruiting, so I'm not sure how well that would work. It does drive a lot of traffic for our dealers posting used inventory. Tell Rick I said hi.
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Comment by Michael Abrams on September 23, 2011 at 12:59pm
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If a company that provides posting service is worth anything, they stay on top of these rules. As you know, these rules change from time to time to keep everyone honest.
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Comment by Stephanie Young on September 23, 2011 at 9:29am
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Great post, Tom. I run into this quandary when our clients want to use Craig's list for employment ads. I am still not convinced that Craig's list is the right place to be recruiting professional and career minded people. I think I will stick to using Craig's list for selling my old computer desk.
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Comment by John Miller on September 22, 2011 at 7:06pm
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Nice Tom. You're Everywhere today!! AutodealerTarget
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