Anyone who’s ever placed an advertisement on Craigslist knows that online classified advertising can work. And Craigslist is just one among hundreds of free online classifieds websites that afford an opportunity to expose your product or service to a targeted audience. But not every product is well suited to this ad format. And indeed, a great deal of spam-type ads have begun to dilute these online classifieds platforms.

Things to consider for any online classifieds campaign:
• Not every product is well suited to the online classifieds.  Your typical luxury car buyer, for
example, probably isn’t looking in the free online classifieds.
• How much competition is there for your product or service? Will your ad stand out from all the
white noise?
• How frequently will you ad run? Studies have shown it can take as many as 8 exposures to the
same message before a typical consumer responds.
• What is the likely demographic of shoppers who visit the particular site? Are they bargain
hunters? Dominantly men or women, young or old?
• A bad headline will kill you ad. Write a good one and half the battle is won. Test different
versions.
• Try to write good, sincere, compelling content. Avoid exaggerated claims while at the same
time creating a sense of enthusiasm.
• Include a call-to-action. If your reader fails to act, chances are they won’t be back.
• Tracking is an absolute must when advertising not only in different online classifieds
publications, but when testing variations on the same headline and ad copy. All it takes is that
one winning headline to spark a successful campaign

Consider paying for online classified advertising.
It’s been said you get what you pay for. While there are certainly many great free sites, there are probably even more bad ones. There’s a reason that companies like Yahoo! and MSN get away with charging as much as they do: they can! Exposing your product to tens or even hundreds of thousands of targeted shoppers can pay big dividends. But there is a certain amount of risk as well. Try starting small, keeping in mind the aforementioned tips. If at all possible, try to test your ad on one of the free sites before going live on a paid online classifieds site.