The Best Ways to Supplement Google Ad Grants
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Using Google Ad Grants to create text ads is a great way to get your foot in the door to the online advertising world. However, once you’ve signed up for it, don’t stop there! There are other ways you can supplement Google Ad Grants to maximize your conversion opportunities.
Google Ad Grants
We’ve discussed the programs that Google for Nonprofits offers, but one of our favorites is Google Ad Grants. It gives nonprofits the opportunity to create free text ads on the Google Search Network with up to a $10,000/month budget. This gives you an incredible opportunity to expand your organization’s reach while using your funds for your cause. If you’re interested in applying, be sure to use our 4 step guide to lead you through the process
Supplementing Google Ad Grants
As a grant recipient, there are some strict guidelines to adhere to for your ad campaigns. One guideline limits the types of ads you can run, which can hinder your nonprofit from further maximizing its reach. We don’t say this to discourage you from applying for Google Ad Grants because any exposure is better than none. We just recommend supplementing your advertising efforts, if financially possible, to maximize your reach.
Take a look at some of the options to supplement your Google Ad Grants account.
Set Up an Additional Google Ads Account
If you had an advertising budget before receiving Google Ad Grants, don’t reallocate all of it just yet. While using your grant towards text ads is beneficial, we recommend setting up a separate Google Ads account so that you have access to the additional power of Google ads, maximizing your reach to its fullest potential. Be sure not to use your grant account to run the other ads to remain compliant with the guidelines.
Here is a list of additional ad types you can create on your separate Google Ads account:
- Run display network ads. These ads will help you build even more brand awareness for your cause. The ads appear on websites and apps that have relevant content to your keywords, and you can identify target websites that you want your ads to appear on that use Google AdSense. It’s a fresh way to discover your target audience based on their interests.
- Run YouTube ads. The Google for Nonprofits program provides you with helpful YouTube tools and resources to create ads and display them on your videos. Expand the reach of your hard work and the effort of the ads you create through the nonprofits program with regular YouTube ads. Through this ad type, your ads will appear in videos that your target audience is watching.
- Run ads that link to other URLs not registered with your Google Ad Grant account. If you use a separate website for your events, you can’t run ads through Google Ad Grants to promote them. But if you create a separate Google Ads account, you’d be able to create an ad that linked directly to that landing page! This would be an effective way to try to increase event awareness and registration.
- Remarket to past website visitors or visitors that perform specific actions on your site. Through display network ads you have control to remarket your advertising materials to people who have shown an interest in your website before. This means you can produce an ad with more information that would entice them to revisit your site and potentially convert.
- Include Google search partners on your text ads. Using Google search partners means that your ads can appear on hundreds of other websites (non-Google sites, YouTube, and other Google sites) when people search for terms that relate your keywords. By adding the display network, you are able to show ads to relevant customers as they’re browsing the internet. These are useful methods to expand your reach, but on your grant account, you are ineligible to use these features. That’s why you need two accounts!
- Promote your mobile app. If you have a mobile app, you can promote app downloads through Universal App ads. These ads are created instantaneously by Google’s system and are displayed on Google Play, Google Search Network, YouTube, and the Google Display Network. It will get matched to the most relevant ad inventory and placements available. You can also create a video ad on YouTube to promote your app and include a download call-to-action on it that automatically installs your app onto the user’s phone when clicked. This is a great way to increase brand awareness and gain more supporters, which will eventually lead to an increase in donations.
Advertise on Social Media
Social media advertisements are a budget-friendly, powerful way to produce high-quality traffic and higher conversion rates. Additionally, social media allows you to conveniently connect with your supporters and strengthen your sense of community with them. Here are some social media advertising ideas you can use to increase event participation, website traffic, and donations.
Which social media site should you use to create ads? Consider advertising on the social media sites where your target audience is most active. This way, you are able to capture the attention of potential donors and volunteers to increase your website traffic, lead generation, and event registration.
We'll discuss multiple ways to advertise your nonprofit through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Ads: You can use regular Facebook ads to capture the attention of potential donors or volunteers. For as little as $5 a day, you can promote your organization on Facebook. The Nonprofits on Facebook program provides helpful tools and resources to help extend your reach on Facebook.
- Events: Create events for your fundraisers on Facebook Events and then create an ad for it. That way users can directly find out more about your fundraiser and register to participate!
- Donate Now Call-To-Action Buttons:These call-to-action buttons can be placed on your nonprofit’s Facebook page or in your Facebook ads. They send the user directly to your donation landing page.
- Ads: If you can produce visually appealing photos, then Instagram ads could be beneficial for increasing the reach for your nonprofit. Like Facebook, you can promote your upcoming event or fundraiser. Since it’s owned by Facebook, you can even manage your Instagram ads all in one place on Facebook!
- Stories: Stories give you the ability to promote endlessly! Users decide if they want to watch your stories and after 24 hours they’ll disappear unless pinned to your profile.
- Bio Link: If your goal is an increase in donations, put a link to your donation landing page in your bio. Also, mention that it’s there in your photo captions and stories. You can also link to your website so users can learn more about your cause. Make the most out of your bio link by using Linktree, a tool that creates a link that leads to one page where you can add multiple destinations to send your followers to your event pages, website, donation page, blog posts, etc.
- Hashtags: Hashtags are a must on Instagram! Be sure to do hashtag research to see which ones are popular and don’t overwhelm your followers with a whole paragraph of them. Using popular ones will show your photo to whoever searches that hashtag, so you’re opening the door to new followers!
For more ideas on how to advertise your nonprofit on Instagram, check out these tips.
- Ads: Through Twitter, you can create ads that capture leads and increase website traffic. Once you gain a substantial following from your initial ads, you can promote your content by being retweeted by your followers! That will increase your reach even more.
- Hashtags: Again, do hashtag research before including them in your post. Popular ones on Instagram may not be trending on Twitter. However, if used correctly, you will increase your reach to new potential followers. Twitter recommends using no more than 3 hashtags per post!
To truly reach more of your target audience you should supplement your Google Ad Grants account with additional online advertising methods. If you need help strengthening your marketing strategy, we would be happy to help.