You probably just found out you could sell stuff on jiji.com and OLX, very easily I might add. The popular websites unlike Jumia, are not an online shops, they are simply a place you post free classifieds or ads (advertisements) and hope someone sees it. There are thousands of people trying to sell the same product, and it is highly likely you want to do the same. So there is a fair amount of competition, but you could be ahead of everybody and make people view your product first simply by following these guidelines.

Here are 7 tactics to draw the crowd to your ads, by employing these simple guidelines, you should be able to sell seamlessly in jiji and Olx

1. Use A Descriptive Title:

Describe precisely what you want to sell, namely whether it is big or small, black or white, used or new. Be straight forward in your title and bold (I don’t mean by font, they wouldn’t let you do that anyway), don’t be afraid to use up the whole space in the title.

An example of a good title is like saying to a class mate “I have a fairly used Samsung Galaxy 3 duos, would you like to buy?” and a bad title would sound like “I have a Samsung, would you like to buy?”. When posting on jiji though you just write “Fairly Used Samsung Galaxy 3 Duos”

2. Correct Spelling And Language Usage:

People tend to like a person that uses the language more proficiently than one that does not. The correct use of verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech makes for a good advertisement. If a customer comes across your ad and there is another similar ad, the customer will usually read briefly through both before deciding which one to click. Customers will always avoid the ones with grammatical and spelling mistakes. Besides, the Search Engine relies on correct spelling to find your classifieds.

3. Cramp As Much Details As You Can In The Product Description:

Your customers would like to know as much as possible about your product before purchase, and in as little time as is possible. Which leaves you with a limited window to describe your product in such a way that at the end of the day very little or no question is left about your product in the mind of the prospective buyer. Try writing up to a 100 words, but ideally 150 words or more to describe your product.

4. Repeat You Location And Contact Detail:

When filling the form for posting a new ad on jiji, there is a field for location to choose from, and a field for contact number. But still write out your location/address and phone number in the description field again. It helps a lot.

5. Be Honest:

If there is something wrong with your product, tell your customer about it. If the product is a fairly used device for example with a broken screen, point that out clearly in the description or when he/she calls you. There is a better chance a person will buy it like that than later if he finds out. The buyer could reject it later afterwards when you meet up.

6- Use Search Friendly Words:

What I mean by that is, think of words that you will use when trying to find what you want to buy. For example, you want a black sport’s shoe, if you type ‘Shoe’ you will get stilettos, Italian, women’s, kids’ shoes etc. Too many irrelevant results, but if you type in ‘Sports shoes’ most of the results will be what you wanted. So when writing an ad for a product you want to sell, use ‘key words’ when describing it. And use as many as are possible in the title too.

7- Share On Your Social Media Accounts:

Promote the heck out of the ad you posted on your social media accounts, be it twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Weibo, Wechat, Whatsapp, Google+, and so on. Share the links to the classified you posted on jiji and/or Olx for your friends and followers to see. Social media has proven time and again it drives sales up.

By Hafiz Mukhtar Mahmud