Using SPS and Property Marketing tools like Single Property Websites can speed up your process of marketing individual properties on Craigslist.

But, to get the most out of your efforts, you need to be  clear about why you are marketing your real estate on craigslist rather than just going through the motions!

Many Realtors  I speak to believe that marketing on craigslist is about getting exposure for their property and picking up potential buyer leads. Well, this is sort of half right. What you need to remember is that craigslist is essentially trawled by a lot of desperate folks, late at night, who are searching for a deal.

Of course your property might well be exactly what they are looking for. However, this is unlikely!

A far better approach is to recognize that your opportunity is to save these ‘deal searchers’ from having to actually search on craigslist. In other words,  use your property tactically, to attract attention on craigslist, but your REAL call-to-action is going to be expressed in the ‘links’ that you put in your craigslist ad, that pull people to your main website.

Your main website has hopefully been designed to maximize lead capture…!

Here’s an example: Say you have a short sale home. Create a craigslist ad and post it, make it very attractive with a great photo too. Make it look professional. Now place additional links on the ad that speak to the person looking for a short sale – e.g “Get a daily email alert of all new short sales’, or ‘Sign up for a free daily report on the latest bank owned properties’.
The links you create should of course land straight on the appropriate page in your website – NOT your home page.

This type of approach will dramatically improve the click-through’s to your main website  from your craigslist ads.

Generating targeted traffic to your main website is precisely the point of marketing real estate on craigslist!