How to Create Viral Ads on Craigslist

If you’re like other successful business owners on the Internet, you already know the power of advertising. Influencing your target audience to visit your website through well-designed, professionally written classified ads is just one way to enhance your marketing position. When people are familiar with your brand and your image, they are more likely to remember you when they’re searching for information or products.

That makes classified advertising on Craigslist extremely attractive since the advertising is basically free! Setting up an account and starting your ad campaign takes just a little time and effort and it is definitely worth it.

The real works begins when you’re preparing your ads. Deciding what type of ad to use is important. You have to consider your audience and what they would like to see and how they will respond to certain ads. Engaging your target audience is your first priority so don’t just go after every person who browses Craigslist. Go after your target audience who is likely to be searching for your products or website and who are most likely in a buying mood already.

What you really want to do is create ads that go viral on Craigslist. Viral ads are those unique ads that people find interesting, engaging, entertaining, or informative. They are ads that people talk about. They are ads that people will forward to their friends and community and the ads will race through the Internet to your targeted audience – but only if they are engaging and unique!

As you prepare your classified ads in an attempt to have them become viral ads, consider the following tips:

Appeal to your audience’s emotions – demonstrate your understanding of their needs and desires and give them something of value that stirs feelings and emotions with the ad content and the graphics or pictures

Make your ads unique – one way to create a unique ad is to provide your audience with something they didn’t expect to see or hear. Create an ad that is different from your competition, yet attracts the target audience. Turn it around and mix it up when you’re considering graphics that attract attention and that cause people to forward your ad to others.

Don’t sell products – you are trying to get people to come to your website. Don’t focus on selling a product, rather focus on promoting your brand and image. Tell a story with just a few words and a picture. Demonstrate value in your content so people will click on your hyperlink. Once you get them to your website, you can focus on selling. To make an ad go viral, it must be interesting and have an unusual or powerful message.

Include humor – depending on your business and your audience, you may want your ad to include humor. Humor is a great method of encouraging people to promote your ads to their friends. People love to see humorous things that relate to a particular niche, product, or business. But be sure you do it in good taste always remembering the importance of integrity and professionalism.

As you’re creating your ads for Craigslist, consider the impact of engaging ads that can go viral. Take a look at some of the successful ads that have been passed around the Internet to get an idea of what people find worth sending to others in their community.

Your classified ads on Craigslist will live on long past their posting if you take the time to create engaging, interesting, and compelling ads that tell a story.