Make the Most of Free Classifieds

Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 12:48 pm

Classifieds have been increasingly popular as one of the free Internet advertising methods. While you spent hundreds to thousands of dollars to place ads at the traditional media like TV, radio, and newspaper, classifieds just cost few pennies to run. For start up businesses, classifieds have provided new media for effective advertising. The theory is far or less the same like with other marketing techniques. Keep in mind that classifieds are made for generating leads. You need to convince people to read, and then to feel interested to find further information by contacting you or the website address provided. But since there is limitation on how many words you can write, the art of wording matters a lot here. How to make the ads effective with just few words? Try to do the following:

1. Specify the market target. What kind of audiences you want to target. Write down the profiles to set the market segment. This is important to create list of words that will grab their attention. You may target specific age group, gender, race, lifestyle, or other criteria. Match the keywords with your product features and arrange them into a short and appealing title.

2. Write down the words in sentences. It does not have to be short and simple at the first because you need to make sure all important points are included in the message. After you have finish, re-read again and again to get rid of the scratch and unnecessary clutters. The words should be really efficient to capture all without coming in bulk.

3. Add words that make difference from other ads. Without aiming to be exaggerating, add some marketing words that will attract people’s attention without overwhelming the reality. Highlight the benefits and/or free item, if there is any. Make it sound good, either with the product or service. If there is currently a special offer, you know how to make it works. Interesting information will work faster, for sure.

4. Find high ranking classified ads sites to post your ads. Since they lead the most visitors, you do not need to waste time with those sites that appear on the second, third, and other pages of top search engines. The top ones are already enough to target your market. It is not just about posting ads on at too many classifieds, but also about the time wasted on less performing sites.

5. Prepare for responding further contacts. If you are busy or if the business will run for long term, consider setting an automatic response. Or, prepare complete information on your site such as frequently asked question, term of service, product description, and else. Now interested audiences can do the favor themselves. However, building customer relationship is also critical with the high level of competition in the industry. Spend time to build attachment based on your product characteristics.

6. Analyze if your ads are working. You can do this by observing the generated leads, the conversion rate, and the time spent vs. the growth or sales incurred. Some products may not work with classifieds, or your business strategy may not suit the audience characteristics. If the ads are not working, leave it and find others.

Alex Wu operates a free classifieds website that lets people advertise, build groups, and connect. He hopes to create an active environment for businesses to place their job listings.