For used car dealerships, Craigslist can be an invaluable resource. It provides a direct way to engage with highly motivated auto buyers in your own neighborhood. But if Craigslist can be a blessing, it can sometimes be a curse, as well. Strategy is essential, and without the right approach, your ads can simply drain money without reaching the intended audience.
Hopefully, your dealership believes in the power of Craigslist, and has already found great success connecting with local buyers. But if not, don’t lose hope. There are some basic tweaks to your Craigslist ads that could make them far more effective.
How to Make Your Craigslist Ads More Effective
Here’s a quick primer.
When a
clicks on one of your Craigslist ads, it’s with the expectation that they’ll find some easy-to-digest information about the vehicle in question. What they want is a sense of narrative; the story of the car, if you will. Make sure that’s what you’re giving them, and not just a cloud of gobbledygook.
Spend some time thinking about the essential selling points of the car in question, then organize them in a way that makes sense. A blur of facts and figures can seem overwhelming, so provide your buyers with something more linear and more structured.
You’d be amazed how often we see
vehicles without mentioning the year, or without offering an exact odometer reading.
Nobody’s going to buy a car from you if they feel like you’re hiding something… and when you withhold key details, that’s exactly how it comes across. Ensure that each of your ads includes the make, the model, the year, and the mileage. Avoid generalities in favor of specifics whenever you can; saying the car “handles great” is okay, but noting it has 4WD is better. Likewise, stating that the car has excellent fuel economy is one thing, but giving a specific mpg rating from the manufacturer is more effective still.
If you’re running a lot of Craigslist ads, it can be tempting to use standardized, boilerplate copy… or worse, to just steal copy from a manufacturer website.
It’s a lot more work to make your
unique, but that work can pay off in a big way. Basically, the more you’re willing to make your ad feel distinct rather than by-the-numbers, the more it’s going to entice potential buyers.
Learn More About Writing Powerful Craigslist Copy
There’s definitely an art to writing strong Craigslist sales copy. If you’re ready to learn more, we encourage you to contact
today.
You might also ask us about some of our SaaS options for independent dealerships. We even have a
that makes it easier than ever to manage your advertising campaign, and to automate the process in a way that frees you to focus more time on selling. Reach out today to learn more.
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