A lot of private auto sellers use Craigslist to find buyers and facilitate their transactions. It makes sense: Craigslist is a good, low-hassle way for car sellers and buyers to connect, without all the overhead you encounter on other sites.
For the same reasons, Craigslist is a good sales and marketing tool for used car dealerships. Indeed, we encourage dealerships to regularly advertise their inventory on the site—and in this post, we’re going to explain why.
5 Reasons Why Dealerships Should Use Craigslist
Craigslist is where the buyers are.
The first and foremost benefit of Craigslist is that it’s simply the best place to be if you’re looking to find a highly motivated buyer. The people who browse Craigslist are there for one reason and one reason only: To find their next vehicle. They want to close. In fact, statistics prove that Craigslist buyers tend to convert much more quickly than buyers you find anywhere else, and on average they’re willing to pay a little bit more. Now doesn’t that sound like the kind of forum where your dealership should have a presence?
Craigslist allows you to boost your inventory.
You probably don’t want to advertise every single vehicle you have on Craigslist. It’s important to be judicious. With that said, it can be an effective setting for bumping up the cars you really want to move—whether that’s hot, new items or some lingering inventory that you’re really eager to clear.
You can get website hits, too.
Of course, every dealership wants to see its website traffic increase—and when you advertise your cars on Craigslist, that’s bound to happen. Maybe a buyer doesn’t like the particular vehicle they see in your ad…but if you can win them with your professionalism, it might be enough for them to visit your website and see what else you have on the lot.
Using Craigslist, you can enhance your brand.
Along the same lines, when you post to Craigslist, you’re not just advertising vehicles. You’re also advertising the dealership itself. It can be a powerful way to highlight some of the distinctives that set your company apart, whether that’s superior customer service, warranties, a service center, awards, or something else.
A Craigslist strategy can be incredibly affordable.
We’re not saying it’s free; if nothing else, there’s the time investment of creating Craigslist ad copy. With that said, the threshold for getting involved on Craigslist is quite a bit lower than the cost of comparable channels and platforms. Plus, when you use the SaaS technology of Get My Auto, you can largely automate the process—really minimizing that time commitment!
Are You Ready to Get Started on Craigslist?
These are just a few of the reasons why we think every dealership should be active on Craigslist—but you don’t just have to take our word for it. Contact us directly to ask us questions or to learn more about the benefits of using Craigslist for your dealership. Reach out to Get My Auto today.