Developing a Paid Ads Strategy: Tips for Nonprofits

While, hopefully, your nonprofit is taking advantage of the Google for Nonprofits program, there are also advantages to creating a paid ads strategy. While it may seem redundant to have two ad accounts, leveraging paid ads opens up a world of possibilities that you may be missing while relying on Google Ad Grants.

And, if you're really clever, you can use them together for maximum impact! 

Why Pay for Ads as a Nonprofit?

Paying for ads may seem counterintuitive when you're getting no-strings-attached ad dollars from Google. However, a paid ads strategy can not only compliment the ads you're already running but also help you fine-tune them for better performance. The Google Ad Grant program can help you capture leads on a regular basis and avoid missed opportunities. But, that free money comes with some restrictions and limitations that prevent you from creating targeted advertising. 

Here's what you get from a paid ads account that you're not getting in the Google Ad Grant program:

• A variety of ad types including search, display, shopping, video, and remarketing
• Bidding strategies beyond Cost Per Click (CPC), including Smart Bidding and bidding on high-value keywords
• Target branded keywords, competitor keywords, and other target keywords outside the scope of Ad Grants

Additionally, while your advertising through the Google Ad Grants program doesn't cost you anything, it also may not be displayed as frequently as you might think. In fact, your advertising will only appear if there is room left over after the paid ads have been shown. This means that if your nonprofit isn't differentiating itself or is in a crowded marketplace, your ads might get bumped by other nonprofits or for-profit businesses that are paying for ads.

Set Up Your Paid Ads Account

Setting up a paid ads account is actually easier and faster than getting validated as a nonprofit for the Ad Grants program. The first step is to set up a Google account if you don't already have one. Then all you need to do is enter some information about your organization, give them a credit card, and you're ready to go!

For security and to eliminate confusion, it's best to use a different Google account than the one attached to your Google for Nonprofits account. This will help to avoid getting the accounts mixed up on your end and will give you more options for creating a backup admin account in the event your primary account is compromised. 

Developing a Winning Paid Ads Strategy

Working with paid ads offers you much more freedom than the ads available to you in the Google Ad Grants program. But with the additional features and advertising options comes the need to have a clear strategy, or you risk floundering and wasting your hard-won budget dollars on ineffective campaigns. 

Define Your Vision

The first step to creating a winning paid ads strategy is to fine-tune your organization's vision. Hopefully, you've already done the work to create an impactful vision statement. If not, this is a great place to start. 

When doing any type of advertising or promotion, your words and images represent the essence of your nonprofit. It's essential that you choose them wisely. In your advertising, ensure that your tone and language reflect your nonprofit's brand and are consistent with your website and other content. Images, as well, should reflect what you do and whom you serve. 

Your content and keywords should also reflect the intention of the ad. In other words, tailor each ad to the keywords you are targeting. Include a call to action or otherwise inspire action in the target audience. 

Target Your Audience

While as a nonprofit, your primary goal may be to spread awareness for your cause or mission, targeting your audience can significantly impact ad performance and increase donations. Targeted ads allow you to move away from blanket statements toward directing your message at specific groups or demographics. 

By segmenting your audience and tailoring your ad messaging toward them, you can see greater interaction ad results. The A/B testing and specific keyword targeting available through paid ads give you the power and reach to get in front of an audience you want to attract but may be missing with Google Ad Grants. 

Create Ads that Speak to Your Audience And Your Goals

Creating a target audience or segmenting your target audience helps you to identify what interests them and the keywords they use. Put that information to use with ads that speak to your audience and inspire them to help you reach your goals. 

Here are a few common goals and how to create ads that help you achieve them:

• Fundraisers or other time-sensitive initiatives require a strong call to action. Be clear and direct in telling them how they can help. 
• Growing your mailing list requires a value proposition. How can you entice new members to become a part of your community? Premium content, swag, and other tokens of appreciation go a long way. 
• Need more volunteers? Highlight the experiences of your recent volunteers with inspiring images of them in action. Include information on how to get involved. 

Then bid on keywords that reflect your goals. One of the perks of a paid ads account is that you have the freedom to choose the keywords that best fit your needs. 

Use Your Paid Ads to Drive Success with Google Ad Grants

At the beginning of this post, we told you that you could combine your paid ad and Ad Grants for even more impact. Dying to know more? We thought so!

Here are a few strategies for making the most of both accounts:

• You can pay less for keywords by shifting expensive ones to your Ad Grants and less expensive keywords to your paid ads. 
• Use grant ads to amp up your brand visibility with branded keywords. Branded keywords can pump up your Click Through Rate and earn you credibility in Google to boost your page rank.
• Focus your ad content where it makes the most impact. Text-only Ad Grant campaigns can improve brand recognition and capture easy leads. For messaging that requires more nuance or has emotional appeal, paid ads with images and video are the way to go.