As a NGO, you might be wondering, if Google Ads will be of any use to your organizations. Let’s have a look at some of the ways through which your organization can use Google Ads for its benefit.
1. Ask for Donations: Through Google Ads, you can reach out to a large audience and seek donations for your cause. Instead of relying solely on Grants, you can seek funds by advertising your requirement on Google Ads. There are many people who search for places where they can donate either in monetary terms or in-kind. Given below are two examples where two different agencies have used the Google Ads platform for donations:
Example 1. Almustafatrust has advertised their donation requirement (£100) for providing white canes to 10 blind people.
Example 2. Ratnanidhi has advertised their requirement of donation of old books.
2. Advertise job openings and volunteers requirement: When looking for new talent for your team, you can publish an ad on Google Ads. Many organizations also publish their ad if they need volunteers. Given below are two examples showing how NGOs use the Google Ads platform for human resource related advertising. For instance, when you type in “Volunteering for Charity”, Google Ads of three NGOs are highlighted as shown below.
Similarly, on searching “NGO Jobs” Google Ad of an NGO is shown as below:
3. Improve your visibility: The best use of Google Ads for NGOs is to enhance your visibility. If you use the right keywords in your ad campaign, your ad will be visible the moment someone searches for a keyword similar to yours. Here is an example where, the moment you search for “old age homes in Faridabad”, you see the ad of three different agencies offering old age home care in Faridabad. So instead of people having to go through several Google pages to find you, through a paid campaign your advert is published on the first page and it becomes easy for people to find you.
Similarly you can promote your services and products through a Google Ad, like the example below.
4. Promote your event: Target the right audience for your next fundraise event. You can use the Google Ads platform to publish information about your next event. Any person who is doing a Google search for a charity event in your locality, will instantly see your event advert and will most likely hit your ad to explore further.
5. Sign up for Monthly Updates: Through Google Ads you can also reach out to people to sign up for your monthly updates or subscribe to your event calendars, Impact stories etc. Once a person engages with your organization, you can ask them.
How to use Google Ads?
Now, that you have understood both the advantages of using Google Ads and also how it will benefit you organization, lets us understand the basic steps to start your Google Ad Campaign.
- Log on to Google Ads: Just log on to https://ads.google.com/home/ and sign up with your existing Google account. In order to use the Google Ads, you are required to have a Google account, in case you don’t have one, create one. On clicking on the link you will reach the home page of the Google Ads, where you can sign up and create your advertisements.
- Select your goal: You will be directed to the page, where you will have to choose a goal for your ad campaign. Google Ads has three options to specify your goal, these are:
- Goal 1: Get more calls: When you want customers to call you to book an appointment.
- Goal 2: Get more shop visits: When you want people to visit your organization.
- Goal 3: Get more website visits: When you want people to visit your webpage and make donations, or sign up for your mailing lists etc.
Depending on your goal, click on one of the goals and move to the next step. For most NGOs, opting for the third goal is most ideal. This will help you to attract donors, volunteers to visit your webpage and engage with your organization.
- Fill your Organization Details: In the next step you will have to fill in your organization details, like the name of your organization and the website. Make sure you have a fully functional and professional looking website before you start the ad campaign.
- Select your location and target audience: In this step you are required to choose the location where your ad appears. While selecting the location, you will also include a certain radius (neighboring areas) which can be states, regions or countries, where your ad will appear. It is important for you to properly define the geographic locations in order to make the most out of your advertisement.
- Select relevant keywords to describe you: Next you are directed to the page where you will have to select the keywords that describe your organization. For example, if you are an organization that works for education of under privileged children, you can use keywords like “Education for All”, “Donate your books”. Google Ad will also give suggestions that you can select for describing your services or your work. The primary purpose of selecting the keywords is to show your ad, when people search for keywords that you have selected.
- Create your Ad: Create an advert that would attract new potential visitors and donors, when they search for one of the keywords (that you have selected) on Google. You will have to create a compelling advert by highlighting about your organization in three short sentences. Here you will be required to fill the following 5 boxes:
- Headline 1: This is the most prominent headline of your advert. Use of one of the key words here, so that the person searching for a particular keyword notices your advert and takes further action. You can use only 30 characters for your headline 1.
- Headline 2 and Headline 3: Here again you have to state your services/product in 30 characters. Use your keywords to describe what you offer to the visitor.
- Description 1: Describe your organization by highlighting the best features about yourself in 90 characters. Use this space to convince the visitor to visit your site and engage with your organization.
- Description 2: Further details about your organization (90 Characters Max).
Ad this stage you will be able to see your ad preview as well and you can make changes or opt for different layouts/formats that Google Ads offers.
- Set your Budget: Google Ads, gives you the choice to set up a monthly cap for advertisements. Depending on your organizations requirements and budgetary allowance you can set up a budget. Google Ads also recommends a budget option that suits you along and shows expected results from various budget options. Google Ads gives you the option to choose a currency that best suits your location.
- Review your Ad Campaign: At this stage you are supposed to review your advert. If there are any changes that you wish to make, you can make them at this stage.
- Go live: If you are ok with the advert, then make the payment and go live.
Now that you have realized that Google Ads is an extremely powerful tool when it comes to improving your presence and visibility; go ahead and start your own campaign.
This guide is just an introduction to the vast world of Google Ads; to explore further go through the Google Ads support page to understand the features, procedures and best practices to refine your campaigning process.