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Jan 27
2009
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When Is Free Not Really Free? Why, When It's Craigslist of Course!
Posted by: Lisa Trosien on Jan 27, 2009 01:00 Tagged in: Property Management , Multifamily , Craigslist , Apartment Marketing , Apartment Leasing , Apartment
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Because in the same breath, everyone always says the SAME THING:
ohmygodwelovecraigslistitgetsussomanyleasesanditsfree!!!
Hey, guess what? It's far from free. And before you argue with me (and I am sure you will argue with me, which is totally okay), hear me out, okay?
1. Labor: Someone's got to put in those Craigslist ads. It takes time. And if you're ‘refreshing' and changing things up to get around the TOS (terms of service)you're putting up those ads pretty regularly. You're also going online to check them to see where you are on the pages. I know you want to be as high as possible. So tell me the truth...you go on and look when you aren't even adding an ad. You're also checking out the competition. I'll let that time slide.
2. Copywriting, photography, getting your floor plans digitized and more. Hmmm...that takes time, too. And if you don't have the right photos and you need more taken, that takes time and it might even take money to pay a photographer. And digitizing those floor plans? You probably didn't do that in-house.
3. Using VFlyer, Postlets or an advertising agency to post your ads.Last time I looked, all of those cost money. And with VFlyer and Postlets, you still have to upload your materials, so see #1 above. And having an ad agency do it for you? Great! Their Craigslist ads are beautiful, but those most certainly weren't created for nothing. Cha-ching!
4. Last but not least: Opportunity cost. Please, please track your prospect calls, emails and visits accurately. Make sure you really KNOW what is working for you. Why do I say this so emphatically you ask? Read on...
In a terrific presentation at last year's Apartment Internet Marketing Conference, Todd Katler of Level One presented on ‘Lead Accuracy'. Now Todd's stats were dead on; they were take from recorded Level One Multifamily Call Center calls and had been accurately tracked via the toll free numbers provided for each ad. And even with all of this amazing reporting, sites still recorded the originating ad source incorrectly 67.4% of the time. And guess which source was the most ‘over reported'? You guessed it: Craigslist, receiving credit for almost 41% more leads than it generated to the site.
I'm not telling you to stop using Craigslist. But I am telling you to make sure you have a handle on the cost of doing business. Carefully evaluate your cost per lease and cost per lead. Be careful of scammers; Craigslist is full of them and several properties have passed along stories to me about them. Smart marketers know what their costs truly are; please examine your costs and remember, Craigslist is not free.
So, come on..let me have it! Tell me of your love affair with Craigslist! I really do wanna hear about it. And I want to know if you've figured your costs. I'd love to hear about it!
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It makes the world happier. And I agree. CL is NOT free, and it's a misconception that people should be aware of.
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(I'm also assuming that even if the results are overstated, that Craigslist still does provide a significant amount of traffic to justify the stereotype.)
1) Let's say that you do "refresh", although we don't condone that sort of behavior, of course!
But let's say you have to create multiple ads to cycle through. That will take some time, but you have to spread that time cost over a significant amount of postings - If we say 40% turnover (generous) on a 300 unit property, that's 120 postings without reposting multiple times in ONE year. The initial time cost may be relatively high, but once you get those templates set up, the actual posting time is very minimal even including the allocated share of the setup time cost. 2) These are things a community should have anyway, whether they use Craigslist or not. You even mentioned the need for digitized floorplans in your last blog when you didn't mention Craigslist. I don't see how this cost can be applied just to Craigslist when these items will be used more and more with all marketing endeavors.
3) Can't really comment on this one - don't have enough experience with those services.
4) If opportunity cost is an issue with Craigslist, then that means there is an even more cost efficient marketing method than Craigslist that we are passing up on - So if there is, spill the beans! We want to know what it is!
So those are my two cents, although they may not be worth that much!
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I do agree that Craig's List is far from free, and hopefully folks do not buy into that myth that it is free, because it is not.
I disagree with you on the effectiveness, and believe Craigs List to be a very effective apartment marketing site, at least in the Mid West where we market our apartments.
Simply put, I believe it is where the prospects are looking first and hanging out. Do I think they are also looking at the major ILS, yes, but that doesn't mean you need the major ILS or need to pay for your advertising there. By the way, I have nothing against the ILS sites, I just don't believe you need them, and I think that if you have an effective SEO plan, you will get the prospects to your web site.
Locally, we come up on apartment searches on Google page one higher than most of the ILS sites, so I just don't think you need them. Further, as we started dropping traditional marketing, we did not see a traffic decrease.
We post 3-5 Craigs List ads per day, seven days a week. They are formatted ads, and look pretty cool. I wouldn't date Craigs List, But I sure do Love them!
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And the results of the Level One study speak for themselves. It was the most overreported source in the study, so clearly, we as an industry need to track better and try not to 'fall in love' with a source.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
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You are absolutely correct! We remind our customers regularly that labor should be included in their cost analysis of any media placement, including classifieds and ILS's.
Because there is no real way to accurately assess the results of craigslist ads, we use CallSource numbers to track incomming calls. This can be an expense anywhere from $10-$25 per month. It does help us keep track of the bogus inquiries and record the conversations for training and reporting, and gives us the ability to follow-up with prospects who might not have provided us with contact information.
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As with any marketing resource, you need to keep your ads FRESH so they POP.... Have you redone the landscaping? Have you painted the exterior? Have you added a new amenity? Are you rehabbing any units? That means new pictures!
For the most part, once the pictures are done (with digital cameras, these can be redone by anyone with a good eye; you could hire a photography student if you need); and the floorplans are printed (these can be scanned and made into JPG files to be added to any print or online ad or brochure). The hard lifting has been done. That done, then it is time to create several different ads that can be used for almost any online outlet. If you have a community college nearby, this could be an opportunity for a graphic arts/marketing student to create them for you to add to their portfolio. You can even use these ads as email responses when someone specifically requests information via email.
If you have your own property website; you can add the link to your signature line of all your outgoing email messages.
The trouble with cl is the fact that there are so many people out there that are trying to perpetrate all kinds of scams on the posters; that is why you may not want to have replies to those posts via email. Use your phone number for replies, or direct them to your property website for more information. I do find 'Casual Encounters' and 'Rants and Raves' to be hilarious and at times entertaining, but that is just me on my personal time.
When it comes to marketing, I like to take a cue from a friend of mine with an online motorcycle accessory business (5 domains, plus a retail sales and service shop in South Orange County, CA), with an INTERNATIONAL customer base. He does not place large full page layouts in the motorcycle magazines as part of his marketing: he puts a small business card sized ad in the back, he puts larger ads in CLUB newsletters (sometimes in color, depending on the newsletter and whether or not it is the newsletter for the national organization, as opposed to a local chapter); and the remainder of his marketing dollar is used so that his sites come up on searches as "sponsored links" when someone is searching for something by keyword. Have any of you looked into the cost to appear at the top of the search results when someone goes to For Rent and searches for an apartment that meets their criteria? Or when someone searches Google for apartments in your zip code?
In this economy, it's all about spending your pennies wisely; and saving where you can.
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