google ad grants: become a pro in 1 hour

www.mediacause.org/blog | @MediaCause, @GoogleAdGrants

Google Ad GrantsBeginner to Pro in 60 minutes

Eric Facas @EricFacas eric@mediacause.org

What is a Google Ad Grant?

A Google Grant is a $10,000 in-kind grant given to nonprofits EVERY MONTH for free advertising on Google.com. Get started IMMEDIATELY by signing up at Google.com/nonprofits

Benefits and Limitations

What’s your average monthly Google Ad Grants spend?

The average Google Ad Grants account spends

approximately $330 a month

96.3 %

$40K/mo - Free Google.com Ads

Existing Google Ad Grants recipients

Spent $9900/mo in at least 2 of the last 6 months

Account level click through-rate (CTR) of 1% or higher for the last 6 months

Must have Google Analytics conversion tracking installed

Someone managing the account on a bi-weekly basis

Grantspro is Back!

Roadmap

1. Beginner – Adwords/Grants

Fundamentals

2. Intermediate – How to Spend Your Grant

3. Advanced – How to Get the Most Value

4. Case Study

8

Getting Started: The Fundamentals

How are the Ad Positions Determined?

Max CPC x Quality Score = Rank Score Rank Score is calculated per keyword Quality Score is Comprised of the Following:

- Click through rate (CTR)- Quality of landing page- Relevance of ad text- Historical keyword performance- Other relevancy factors (machine learning)

You only pay the CPC necessary to have a rank score higher than that of the advertiser below you

Minimum CPC can be as low as $0.01

Relevancy is EVERYTHING!

Bad News You can’t run on

keywords if you don’t have the precise content the user is looking for

Good News You can build content to

make yourself relevant for anything

Search Is Only As Effective As Your Website

If your website doesn’t have a ton of content, inspire action, and give people an easy way to get involved, don’t bother investing in Google Ad Grants.

Vs

Your #1 Goal is Donation Acquisition…

There are two exceptions: Brand terms & Disaster relief

…but

No one is searching for a place to give their money away.

What Are People Searching For?

MEA

SURE

& O

PTIM

IZE

PERFO

RM

AN

CE

Monthly Google Search Volume

“About The Rainforest” – 5,000,000

“Deforestation” – 457,000

“Save the Rainforest” – 33,000

“Rainforest Charities” - 880

Interest

Intent

Donation

Awareness

Information!

Information based searches

- Email capture strategies

About the Rainforest

Deforestation

Save the Rainforest

Charities

Match Ads & Landing Pages to Mindset

Sign an online petition- Get email, social

engagement Get Involved, volunteer, share

Donations, membership

Optimization 101 – 3 Levels to Pull

Keywords

Create a robust keyword list. You never know what users will respond to

Leverage all variations of your organizations brand, services, programs, missions, etc., as keywords

Include issue and solution-oriented keywords

Ad Copy

Always run 3 variants at a time

Remove the poorest performer each month (lowest CTR & conversion rate)

Keep ads fresh, test test test.

Landing Pages

Send traffic to the most relevant pages on your website

Install Google Analytics and obsess of what people do when they land on your site

Test sending traffic to different pages, A/B test different messages and designs

INTERMEDIATE: 5 Account Optimization Tips for Unlocking Google Ad Grants’

Potential

58% of searches use between 2-4 words

Average Global Search Phrase Length

SOURCE: Experian Hitwise – Oct 2009

Tip #1: Build Your Keyword List w/ the Long Tail

Use a Google suggestions and a thesaurus to find keywords similar to the ones that are performing well

Add Keywords Without Hurting Relevancy

Quality score is calculated at the keyword level. Use all 4 match type options: broad match, “phrase match”, [exact match] & - negative to grow keyword list and increase precision.

Test different combinations of ad copy and landing pages if you think keywords with low

quality score are relevant. If that doesn’t work, remove them.

Tip #2: Relevancy is Everything

Ad Groups should have 15-30 similar keywords that align to a specific page on the website. The more focused the ad group, the

better the ad targeting.

Campaigns should align with goals: donations, volunteers, events, email collection

Tip 3: Account Structure Matters

Get Noticed

LOOK AT ME!I have 1.26s to grab your attentionand convince you to CLICK HERE!www.GetNoticed.com

Tip #4: Ad Text

Family Abuse Facts

22

Family ViolenceLearn More - Get the latest family violence facts here.www.futureswithoutviolence.org

3.32% CTR

Family AbuseGet the facts on family abuse here & learn how you can help stop it. FuturesWithoutViolence.org

5.56% CTR

23

Headline should be hyper relevant to the query – include the exact keyword

Include an informative and empowering call to action

Test 3-4 variations at all times

Remove the worst performer every month

3.32% CTR

5.56% CTR

Family AbuseGet the facts on family abuse here & learn how you can help stop it. FuturesWithoutViolence.org

Family ViolenceLearn More - Get the latest family violence facts here.www.futureswithoutviolence.org

How to Write Effective Creative

Digital Asset Optimization

24

Tip #5: Drop users on the most relevant & effectives page on your

site

Landing Pages

Conversion Rate = 0%

0 emails collected

Conversion Rate = 12.59%

1,000 + email address / mo

Homepage Vs Targeted Landing Page

Is all this information necessary at this point in the relationship?

Most users are reluctant to divulge personal information

4 fields is the ideal length

Conversion Rate = 50%

Conversion Rate = 74.6%

Keep Forms as Short as Possible

25% of Clicks

75% of Clicks

25% of Clicks

75% of Clicks

Official Google Adwords Certification(http://gcptransition.appspot.com/)

Google Ad Grants Help Forum(http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/grants)

Google Ad Grants Whitepaper by Media Cause (http://help.mediacause.org/google-grants)

Great Resources for DIY SEM

Want More? You’re Not Alone

Building Strong

Relationships

28

ProTips

PRO LEVEL TIPS: Email Capture and Community Building Techniques Transform Website Traffic Into New Donors

What is an Email Worth?

www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2009/11/11/whats-an-email-address-worth-just-calculate-it.html

Prominent Placement for Newsletter Signups

Tip: highly visible, above the fold; test different call-to-action messages and button colors

Footer Signups / Messaging Matters

Tip: Test alternative messaging for “newsletter signup”

Promote Petitions and Pledges Throughout

Tip: Encourage participation/email capture from your most trafficked pages.

Slide-Ins / Pop-ups for Engaging Content

Tip: Foster sense of community with email capture on your most engaging content pages (blog).

Tip: Use Adwords and Google Analytics to determine what content is the most popular.

Email Gate for Best Digital Content

Advanced Email List Building

Tip: Segmentation and precision targeting lead to greater success.

Case Study

#DoingItRight

Case Study – Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Previous Strategy

Googled “screech owl” and landed on the AllAboutBirds.org species account

Saw a picture, maybe listened to the owl call, then left

Community Building Strategy

Web VisitorsLeads w/

email Donors

• It’s all about email capture and turning anonymous traffic into supporters

• Create lead capture opportunities based on what visitors are looking for… pull them in for more information

Create Targeted/Segmented Offers

Landing Page

Download Page

Nurture New Supporters (Leads)

A “Welcome Series” triggered by filling out a form:• Immediate - thank you email, acknowledging their love for

Owls

• 3 days later – More Owl Sounds, Macaulay Library “Voices of North American Owls”

• 6 days later – NestWatch Build an Owl Nest Box, YouTube Eastern Screech Owl and Barred Owl videos

• 12 days later – Invitation to Join the Lab

Monthly communication:• New leads are added to monthly eNewsletter

• Fundraising campaign appeals and membership drives (periodic)

Community Building Strategy in Action

Google “screech owl” and land on the AllAboutBirds.org species account

Donate/Join for the first time via email

Begin receiving monthly eNews and email solicitations

Learn more about the Lab through triggered emails

See offer to download owl sounds in exchange for email address

Don’t forget to say THANK YOU!

Year One Results

• Increased email capture rate from 0.2% to 5.98%.

• Increased our email file by 56% (522k as of 4/1)

• Doubled online fundraising over prior year

• 60% of first-time donors are coming from online

• 54% of online revenue was in response to email solicitations

• Average “sales” cycle – 78 days from lead to donor

Eric Facaseric@mediacause.org@EricFacas

Thank You! Questions?

Media CauseMediacause.org/blog

@MediaCause@GoogleAdGrants