marketing with free classifieds

MARKETING WITH FREE CLASSIFIEDS

Dan Holperin

Peter Wensman

May 1, 2013

Marketing With Free Classifieds 2013

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Contents Historical Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 2

Reach and Scope ........................................................................................................................................... 2

Industry Example and Analysis - Northwoods Property Management (Attachment 1) ............................... 3

Industry Example and Analysis – Our Gulf Coast Properties (Attachment 2) ............................................... 3

Outside Industry............................................................................................................................................ 4

Expert Interview ............................................................................................................................................ 4

Staying Ahead of the Competition ................................................................................................................ 5

Business Impact ............................................................................................................................................ 5

Relation to Course Content ........................................................................................................................... 5

Our Opinion ................................................................................................................................................... 6

Attachment 1 - Northwoods Property Management ................................................................................... 7

Attachment 2 - Our Gulf Coast Properties .................................................................................................... 7

References .................................................................................................................................................... 8


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Historical Overview

In the past, renting out a vacation rental, apartment unit, or private home required advertisers to turn

to slow and expensive means of advertising such as television ads, radio ads, signage, and printed

classifieds. In today’s market, however, advertisers are turning to quicker and more cost effective means

of advertising. This is where businesses have turned to free online advertising with classified ads.

Computers have allowed for instant gratification and businesses can post free classified advertisements

in a matter of minutes and edit or remove them just as quickly

In the Classified News Blog on daype.com, Marjorie Dorfman wrote a post about the history of

classifieds. Dorfman notes that before handwritten notices appeared in 15th century England, public

notices were carved in stone. Later, in the 1600’s, the most common advertisements were for lost

property, while the first classified in America was in the Boston News-Letter dated 1704. Over the

course of United States History, classifieds have been used by slave owners to locate lost slaves, and

later by free slaves to locate lost family members. Today, classifieds serve a countless number of uses.

Classified advertisements sparked a number of marketing trends that continue today. Businesses began

using posters that were simple and to the point, much like a classified. They listed the name of the

company or product they were marketing, a price, and an image of the product. A strong branding trend

emerged later in the 1880’s. The branding trends used mainly by artists, furniture manufacturers, and

timber producers, were becoming more popular among businesses that were looking to set themselves

apart. Today, brands like Marriott, Nike, Microsoft, Verizon, and the NBA strive to stand out among the

competition.

Reach and Scope

In a competitive vacation rental market, it is crucial for property managers and hospitality personnel to

monitor pricing. By using classified advertisements, prices can be changed quickly and effectively in the

wake of new and unforeseen market information. In these industries, a high occupancy rate is essential

for success and with free online classifieds, businesses can advertise last minute deals to bring in extra

income and meet occupancy goals.

The trend of using free classifieds isn’t limited to businesses. Many individuals have discovered the

benefits of this free form of online advertising to buy and sell a number of different items, as well as to

find jobs, relationships, and community events. One of the most popular websites for these classifieds is

Craigslist. Users of Craigslist can select a city or area to advertise in, and add a catchy title, a description,

photographs, and links to external webpages.

Although free in most markets, Craigslist does have small fees for some listing categories in a few major

metropolitan areas. In New York City, for example, the company charges $10 to list an apartment rental

and in San Francisco the charge for posting a job listing is $75. The revenue that Craigslist generates


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each year has been increasing since the company began in 1995. In 2008, the company really started to

see the boom in revenue, increasing up to 20%. The company is now worth more than online auction

giant eBay, making the case that free classified ads were making a difference for businesses and

companies around the world.

Industry Example and Analysis - Northwoods Property Management (Attachment 1)

Northwoods Property Management is a small company located in Minocqua, Wisconsin. It manages a

number of vacation rentals ranging from cottages and cabins to homes and resorts. In addition to having

its own website, Northwoods Property Management has turned to Craigslist to aid in its adverting

efforts. The company’s classified advertisements on the Northern Wisconsin Craigslist page showcase

individual properties. While searching, the first thing the customer will see is the title of the company’s

ad. One example read, “$1395 / 3br - Pine Cove Cottage on Lake Katherine (Minocqua Area).” The

property ads have a brief description, a list of amenities, and a number of photographs of the property.

At the bottom of the classified ad, the company’s website is listed. Customers may then go there and

find more information about the company, the properties it offers, and reservation information.

This form of advertising is beneficial for Northwoods Property Management because it can be seen by

anyone with internet access all around the world. Although the company may get good expose through

this classified ad, it could use some improvement. The images are small and low quality. It would be very

beneficial for Northwoods Property Management to hire a professional photographer to take quality

images of their properties for use in advertising. Another feature that would improve this classified ad is

a map. When considering a Northwoods vacation rental, customers will likely want to know the

businesses proximity to downtown areas, as well as how secluded to property is. Although the title is

straightforward with a price, it may be more beneficial for the company to emphasize the property’s

features in the title, such as the number of bedrooms.

Industry Example and Analysis – Our Gulf Coast Properties (Attachment 2)

Our Gulf Coast Properties based in Gulf Breeze, FL takes a different approach to its classified

advertisements on Craigslist. Rather than using Craigslist to show the property, they utilize Craigslist as a

vehicle to bring web traffic directly to their webpage. What looks like a detailed Classified ad is in fact

just an image of the companies webpage for a particular property that has been hyperlinked to that the

company’s website. Clicking anywhere on the image, whether to make reservations or view more

images, automatically brings you to the company’s page for that property. Here, the customer can then

view well lit and professionally taken photographs of the property, amenities offered, availability

calendars, and the other properties offered and managed by Our Gulf Coast Properties.

This form of classified ad has both advantages and disadvantages. Opposed to Northwoods Property

Management, this as is far more eye catching. The page is filled with less white space and higher quality


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photographs. In a video on tizish.com, Josh Galvan emphasizes the importance of linking to a quality

webpage. The landing page should have all of the required information that someone would be looking

for without requiring them to search further. The disadvantage of this classified is the lack of

information on the classified itself, forcing users to the company’s webpage for more information.

Outside Industry

In addition to the hospitality industry, free online classifieds are used by a number of other industries for

marketing purposes. Small businesses in the automotive sales and repair industries utilize the marketing

power of craigslist by posting specials and advertising services that consumers may not know the shop

performs. Some common specials are reduced cost oil changes and buy three tires and get one free

deals. Other businesses using free classifieds are individuals that wish to market their services. These

individuals often have a skill they wish to sell in the form of music lessons or tutoring. Due to the nature

of these services, the individuals that offer them do not have substantial funds to spend on marketing.

Expert Interview

Eva Hatzenbihler is a property manager in Wisconsin’s Fox Valley area and works full time in the real

estate industry. Her and her husband currently own and manage a mix of single family homes, duplexes,

and triplexes for a total of 16 rental units. Since 2007 the couple has done 14 renovation projects and

they are currently working on mobile home rehabilitation and rent to own projects. In addition to her

own real estate endeavors, Eva is the Director of the Fox Valley Real Estate Group. In an email interview,

Eva answered questions about her marketing use of free classified advertisements.

Before Eva began using Craigslist to assist in her marketing efforts, she would advertise in the free

bulletin section of the newspaper, put a yard sign at the property, and put flyers up in local grocery

stores, gas stations, and restaurants. Since she began using Craigslist, the speed and ease of renting a

unit has increased dramatically. The time she waits for new applicants has dropped from months to

weeks. When selling a flipped property, Eva uses a realtor as well as listing the property on Craigslist.

Doing so has increased showings and open house attendance. Utilizing the internet for marketing has

allowed for costs to be cut and refocused. With her excess funds, she can now put more into her rentals

increasing her customers overall satisfaction.

Online classified advertisements help Eva maintain a competitive edge by increasing visibility. The fact

that Craigslist advertisements can be updated or reposted quickly and easily allows them to be posted

multiple days a week, opposed to the once a week she previously had while advertising in the

newspaper. Also, ads can be posted while a house is still under renovation or an apartment is nearing

the end of its lease without wasting money. If somebody inquires during that time, it is a benefit to her,

if they don’t however, she does not lose anything. In addition to a yard sign, Craigslist is the only means

of advertising Eva uses for her property management company. She estimates that 95% of all activity is a


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result of Craigslist. The only negative aspect of using free online classifieds that Eva noted was the ability

for competition to post as many advertisements as desired and at a high frequency, leading to

saturation in the number of classifieds.

Staying Ahead of the Competition

In order to stay ahead of the competition, businesses should follow a few basic ideas. In the article

Marketing Your Business on Craigslist, author Shanon Lewis claimed that what works best is the direct

approach with simple text ads that get to the point. She describes Craigslist’s search function, noting

that searches are based on keywords and displayed by date. For this reason, Lewis reminds businesses

to be sure to include important search words, as well as regional identifiers including a ZIP code, city or

community name. High quality photographs are another highly beneficial feature of classifieds.

Business Impact

With technology rapidly changing and evolving, businesses must do everything within their abilities to

stay current. Many companies have found that having a designated employee to post, edit, and update

classifieds has been effective. Other companies have turned to purchasing software designed to

automatically upload classifieds.

Consumers are relying more and more on classifieds to help them in their purchasing. Free classified

websites are especially useful in the hospitality industry because they allow consumers to find vacation

rentals in a specific area and compare options from a number of different companies. Another benefit

for consumers is the way that classifieds are arranged by date. With this arrangement, many last minute

deals can easily be found as available dates get closer and managers are looking to fill them.

Relation to Course Content

One of the most appealing benefits of advertising online is the number of different markets that can be

reached. In the article Marketing Vacation Rentals on nuwireinvestor.com, Rossi Giard suggests posting

an advertisement to several major cities located within a few hours of the vacation rental. For

destinations with more widespread appeal such as Las Vegas, consider posting in major cities

nationwide. This becomes rather easy to do on Craigslist because geographic segmentation is already

built into the website. Classified advertisements are separated by major metropolitan areas and users

can upload classifieds quickly and easily to many areas.

Target audience plays a key role in developing an effective classified advertisement. Many times, if a

consumer has found your classified advertisement, they already have an idea of what they want. For this

reason, classifieds should focus more on meeting consumer wants than the travel destination. For

example, if the target audience is young couples, the classified should highlight local entertainment and


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affordability. On the other hand, a classified that targets older retired couples should emphasize

relaxation and quality. Understanding a target market can increase chances of successful marketing by

meeting consumer wants.

In a market where many rentals have similar features, classifieds should help to establish differentiation

from their competition. This can be done by either addressing the ways in which a property is physically

better than others, or by the ways in which the company has superior service. Detailed classifieds that

look professional and contain proper grammar and quality photographs help to influence consumers’

perception of a property. A poorly constructed classified for a top of the line property can have a

negative effect on perception and hurt sales.

Our Opinion

We believe that marketing with free classifieds is a highly beneficial option for businesses. The ability to

reach a vast consumer base is unmatched by many other cost effective means of marketing. We believe

that Craigslist is only the beginning and many more websites that offer free online classifieds will

become popular in the future. We predict that this form of marketing will be incorporated into

businesses that need additional low cost exposure for marketing purposes. Many marketing outlets

such as television and radio are becoming dominated by large corporations spending thousands on

advertising. For smaller local businesses and businesses that need to start cutting budgets, free

classifieds can be a dramatic change. Based on the increasing number of craigslist users, we believe that

the trend of free classifieds is moving forward and becoming a dominant means of marketing. Having

the ability to edit, monitor and delete classifieds make this trend unique. It gives the owner an

advantage in creating the advertisement and displaying important information. Moving forward, this

fast paced marketing is going to take off and be changing the way people do business all around the

world.


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Attachment 1 - Northwoods Property Management

Attachment 2 - Our Gulf Coast Properties

http://northernwi.craigslist.org/vac/3739069432.html

http://pensacola.craigslist.org/vac/3747701454.html


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References

Craigslist. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites>.

Dorfman, Marjorie. "History of Classified Ads Part 1: Ancient World to the 19th Century." Classifieds

News Blog RSS. Daype Inc., 7 May 2009. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.

Giard, Rossi. "Marketing Vacation Rentals." Marketing Vacation Rentals. NuWire Investor, 24 Mar. 2008.

Web. 28 Apr. 2013.

Hatzenbihler, Eva. "Marketing With Free Classifieds." E-mail interview. 22 Apr. 2013.

Kotler, Philip, John T. Bowen, and James C. Makens. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism. Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.

Lewis, Shanon. "Marketing Your Business on Craigslist." Entrepreneur. Www.entreprenuer.com, n.d.

Web. 28 Apr. 2013.

"Northwoods Property Management, Minocqua, Wisconsin." Northwoods Property Management,

Minocqua, Wisconsin. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. <http://www.northwoodsvacations.net/>.

"Pensacola Beach Vacaton Rentals." Pensacola Beach Vacation Rentals. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.

<http://www.ourgulfcoast.com/>.

Real Estate Marketing On Craigslist Lead Conversion Tips. Dir. Josh Galvan. Tizish. N.p., 14 Sept. 2010.

Web. 27 Apr. 2013.