nonprofits and search marketing: missed opportunities
DESCRIPTION
Top 5 Missed Opportunities of Nonprofits in their Search Marketing Efforts.TRANSCRIPT
Nonprofits & Search Marketing: Missed Opportunities
April 2007
SES New York
Our clients have serious issues…
global warming, pollution, genetically modified foods, equal pay, labor rights, corporate misconduct, predatory lending, medical malpractice reform, death penalty reform, right to die, gay marriage, abortion, illegal immigration, stem cell research, school choice, foster care reform, child poverty, wilderness protection, energy policy, biotechnology, youth voting, public health, Iraq war, privacy rights, AIDS, social security, animal born disease, civil rights, separation of church and state, community development, affordable housing, youth violence, teen pregnancy, homelessness, microenterprise development, higher education reform, disaster relief, poverty relief, family planning, violence against women, racial profiling, welfare reform, campaign finance reform…
50% NPO 50% .com
Budget for experimentation
Branding PLUS Lead Gen/Sales
ROI/Measurement Focus
Advantage in organic
Easier to leverage breaking news
Better infrastructure for WOM,
social media
Training and In House Set Up
Top Five Missed Opportunities
#1: PPC
• Overly broad keywords & terms
• Generalized copy
• Insufficient keyword research
• Failure to leverage spikes in search terms that relate to content, issues, causes
Autopilot PPC
Autopilot PPC
Other Common PPC Mistakes
• Failure to fully utilize Google Grants
• Analysis of costs/clicks/conversions once per month (maybe)
Recent PPC Audit Example
RB’s First Steps:
• Implemented keyword tracking code
• Ran existing campaign with no changes for one month in order to establish baseline ROI (new tracking code)
• After analyzing results, RB began to optimize
Bids
Position
Keywords
Free (Google Grants) vs paid mix
PPC Campaign OptimizationGoogle Grants
• Created 7 new campaigns & expanded keyword list for existing campaigns
• Moved some paid campaigns to Google Grants
• Significantly improved results from Google Grants:
› 6,155 average monthly visits before
› 63,368 average monthly visits after
› Improved conversion rate – no significant changes to site!
• Better keywords, bid management, improved copy, campaign management:
› January PPC spend down 65% from November
› January PPC visitors up 128% from November
Cost vs. Clicks
$12,847.04 $14,470.81 $10,650.63 $5,047.8412,258
15,832
93,127
36,116
$-
$2,000.00
$4,000.00
$6,000.00
$8,000.00
$10,000.00
$12,000.00
$14,000.00
$16,000.00
October November December January
Cost
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
Clicks
Cost Clicks
PPC Campaign Optimization
• December: 187% increase in donation value from November
• January: 65% increase in donation value from November
Cost vs. Donation Value
$6,124.00
$17,567.00
$10,105.00
$14,470.81
$10,650.63
$5,047.84
$5,000.00
$7,000.00
$9,000.00
$11,000.00
$13,000.00
$15,000.00
$17,000.00
$19,000.00
November (Projected) December January
Cost
$4,000.00
$6,000.00
$8,000.00
$10,000.00
$12,000.00
$14,000.00
$16,000.00
Donation Value
Donations Cost
PPC Campaign Optimization
#2: Multi-Channel Visibility
Average Price per Click for US Paid Search, 2003 - 2009
$0.29
$0.36
$0.40$0.42
$0.44 $0.45$0.47
$0.00
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
$0.50
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: JupiterResearch, August 2004
$-
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
Diabetes Charity Diabetes com Global Warming Sponsor a Child
CPC 2005
CPC 2006
Why Multi-Channel?Research shows:
• Multiple exposures = higher click rate
• Multiple clicks = higher conversion rate
• Frequency of exposure impacts brand recognition…• Visibility under multiple keywords, multiple search channels will drive more
brand recognition, more brand searches• Traffic from brand-related searches almost always converts better
• ROI will be higher with a multi channel strategy because each channel has its own efficiencies; A combined approach enables you to leverage those efficiencies
Esp important for keywords & terms .coms are targeting
• 45% of adult Internet Users have created content online
• 54% of adult Internet Users have watched video online
• 28% of adult Internet Users have tagged content online
• 77% think Blogs are a good way to get information about an organization
• My Space gets more traffic than Google
• Triple digit percentage increases in number of visitors to SN’s in 2006
NOT A PHENOMENON…SOCIAL MEDIA IS HOW WE USE THE INTERNET TODAY
#3: Social Media Strategy
Social Media
What does it have to do with search?
• Brand Recognition – improves CT’s dramatically (PPC, SEO, online advertising, etc.)
• SERP Shelf space and REPUTATION MANAGEMENT!!!
• Social Media can boost quality links which boost your organic rankings…in other words, BETTER SEARCH VISIBILITY
• Social Media increases chances of conventional media coverage, which appear in SERPS
Social Media Examples
• Wikipedia
• Blogs – your own, your supporters
• MySpace/Facebook (local organizing)
• Vertical SN’s: Change.org, Hot Soup; 43 Things
• Ning
• Flickr – photos from events, discussion
• Second Life
• Video
A Word About Social Media
• DON’T start without a strategy
At best you will waste valuable time and effort, at worst you could alienate a community and be the target of backlash
Social Media Training Workshop: Toronto SES, June 2007
Reactions by search advertisers to a scenario where the cost of paid placement steadily increases over the next two years
71%
30%
17%
3%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Try to improve site's
efficiency at converting
Increase # of key words we
bid on
Grin and bear it
Cease paid placement
Source: SEMPO, Intellisurvey, December, 2005
#4: Testing
#4: Testing
• Testing for NPO’s should not be focused solely on conversions. Testing is critical for sites where engagement is necessary to achieve goals. NPO’susually fall into that category (advocacy, charity, even membership/association NPO’s). If you want users to come back, let them design the pages.
• A/B Testing possible without sophisticated tools
• New Free Tool for PPC Landing Page Optimization:
http://services.google.com/websiteoptimizer/
Testing
#5: Tracking
-0.1%23.6%23.6%
Donation Form to Donation Completion
-0.8%15.4%15.3%Landing Page to Donation Form
Path Analysis
16.8%646.5%777.1%ROI
Return on Investment
-0.9%3.6%3.6%Donation Conversion Rate
12.3%$ 55.30 $ 63.08 Average Gift Amount
30.6%$ 18,250.50 $ 26,304.00 Total Donation Revenue
20.9%330417Number of Gifts from PPC Traffic
Donations
-3.9%$ 0.27 $ 0.26 Average Cost Per Click
18.5%$ 2,444.71 $ 2,998.95 Total Media Spent
21.5%9,07411,565Total PPC Traffic
Difference (%)Feb-06Mar-06Traffic
Overall Conversions