This is a step-by-step guide for Outdoorsy RV owners looking to bring more traffic to their listing. It includes tips about how to post your RV rental on Craigslist, why it’s important to do so, and what you’ll get out of it. So where did this idea about posting on Craigslist come from? It started with feedback from you, our RV owners. Since Outdoorsy is still a new platform (we’re just a year new), we often hear the following: “I love Outdoorsy, but I want more leads from the site.”
Owners may not realize that a great way to drive leads is by listing their RVs on Craigslist. Potential renters are looking on Craigslist for RV rentals, and can find your rig there (Craigslist also has incredible SEO, or search engine optimization, which means people can find things Craigslist quickly through Google).
Here are the best practices to use when posting your rig on Craigslist:
Step 1: Choose your location, then your category
There’s no exact fit in terms of which category to choose. There is a category under “RVs for sale”, that can attract the those searching for a particular rig or for the “Try before buy” crowd. There is also a “Vacation / Travel Services” section that attracts travelers.
Each Craigslist is a little different. For best results, post in several categories daily. Some owners even post twice a day so that the post never leaves the top of the search results.
Step 2: Hit Post, then Log in or Create an Account
You’ll be asked to choose your category again. As a starting point only choose “For sale by owner” (though obviously not the perfect fit) and “RVs by owner” since there is no perfect fit.
At this point, you’ll have the opportunity to create your posting. While photos are the #1 most important part of your posting, how you frame the rest of your posting (the words) do matter too.
Step 3: Create Your Posting
Make sure to avoid:
- Direct callouts to Outdoorsy. That can raise the moderating flag.
- A description that doesn’t include details about your specific RV or special add-on opps.
- Posting without great photos. Photos are crucial!
Step 4: Confirm Posting, then respond to people.
Once you’ve confirmed your posting via email, your posting goes live. The next step is correspondence with potential renters.
Since you haven’t used an Outdoorsy link in your posting, the best way to work with people is to create a quote to send to them.
You do that in your dashboard:
You add details about the trip–as much as you know at this point:
You review the quote and send it off (you’re looking at the screen of someone who is about to send me a quote at this point. Just keeping you on your toes since it says Meredith Arthur in both places).
Once your renter has received your quote, the two of you are now in communication via Outdoorsy.
So that’s it! Since Craigslist postings do expire every week, you may need to relist weekly if you’re finding success via this avenue. But once you’ve streamlined the approach you should find that an easy process.
