Google Ad Grant for Non Profits

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What is the Google Ad Grants program?

Google Ad Grants is part of Google For Non Profits, a program created by Google to help non profit organizations. As part of the program Google gives qualified non profits $10,000 per month ($329 per day) in Google Adwords ads. That means a non profit using the grant can display $329 worth of Adwords ads to drive visitors to its website each day. The maximum bid for a keyword or phrase is $2.

Do you need this Google Grant?

Will having an extra $10,000 a month in advertising help your non profit? Just about every non profit can benefit from some free advertising, but some will benefit more than others.

If you represent a cause that appeals to a relatively large audience that isn’t concentrated in a small, very local geographic area, then Google ads can drive visitors to your site who are interested in your cause but who otherwise might never have heard of your non profit. Once they’re on your website you’ve got the opportunity to educate about your cause, add them to your mailing list or even get an immediate donation.

The Google Ad Grant gives you the opportunity to get exposure for your organization that you would otherwise no be able to do without paying for it. Let’s face it, no one wants to spend donation dollars on advertising. With the Google Ads Grant, you don’t have to, at least on Google.

How do you qualify for the grant?

To qualify for the Google For Non Profit program you must be registered as a 501C3 with the IRS (or your country’s respective regulatory body) and have a website. You also need to register your non profit with techsoup.org and be located in the US or other eligible countries.

Setting up Adwords

Once you’re approved (which usually takes a day or 2) you’ll have to create an Adwords account and a campaign. Then you’ll need to choose your keywords and write your ads. Once your ads are approved they’ll start appearing for relevant keyword searches.

Your ads can only contain text (no images) and they’ll only show up on Google search result pages (not on Google’s Display Network). They’ll also show up below ads that are being paid for with real cash (not grants). Depending on your particular cause, there might or might not be paid ads. But even if there are, if you play it smart you’ll be able to spend your budget even with the paid competition.

The beauty of Adwords is that it gives you the opportunity to display your ad at the exact time that someone is searching for your particular keywords.You can easily blow your entire budget each day on getting irrelevant traffic with the wrong keywords. That’s why you want to make sure you choose the right keywords that are directly relevant to your non profit.

Just because your ad shows up at the top of the Google search results page doesn’t mean users will click on it and reach your website. Your ad copy needs to be engaging or interesting enough to convince users to click on it. Google helps figure out which of your ads is working best and shows that one more often. The higher your click thru rate the more Google will show your ad as opposed to your competitors for the valuable ad space.

Each ad received an Adwords Ad Rank which Google calculates based on your bid and your ad relevance. Google takes your Ad Rank into account when deciding which ad to display and in what position (at the tope of page 1 or down on page 3). While there isn’t much you can do about your bid (it’s set at $2), you can improve your Ad Rank by choosing relevant keywords, writing good ad copy and creating a relevant landing page.

We’ve been able to drive close to 9,000 visitors to our own nonprofit IsraelAM using our Google Ads Grant by choosing relevant keywords, writing good ad copy and creating a well designed landing page (which happens to now be our website homepage) with relevant content.

In the screenshot below you can see our ad for IsraelAM showing up in the number one position at the top of the Google search result page for the query “Israel new”, which returns over 200 million results.

non profit Google Grant

Without our Adwords grant, there’s no way we’d be able to rank at the top of a Google search for Israel news, ahead of the many Israeli paper websites and other Israel related news sources.

Here’s another example:

Google Serp

Using your Google Ads Grant

According to the latest statistics, the overwhelming majority of participants in the Google Ads Grant program only end up using about $350 of their $10,000 monthly Adwords budget. One reason for this could be that they are in a highly competitive field with lots of paying customers, which would make it hard for their ads to display in good first or second page positions.

The more likely reasons why most program participants only use a tiny fraction of their monthly budgets is because they are not properly utilizing and optimizing their accounts, keywords or ads — most likely all of the above.

It’s not that they don’t care. It’s because they are busy running their organizations and simply don’t have the time or knowledge to effectively manage their Adwords grant. So they end up wasted an amazing opportunity to advertise for free.

Imagine getting a thousand new visitors to your website each month. Do you think that would help your organization to get new supporters or to simply spread its message and get exposure for its mission?

For just a few hundred dollars we can get you your Google Adwords Grant, set up a campaign, add target keywords, write effective ads and launch your free ads so that you take full advantage of Google’s free gift.

Just fill out the form below or contact us to get started today.

How to Use Linked in for Your Business [Part 2]

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In a previous post I showed you how to use Linkedin as a sales prospecting tool to generate new leads. The primary technique revolved around locating your target customers, finding their email address either on Linkedin or with another tool, and then contacting them either via an email campaign or by messaging them directly on Linkedin.

I also mentioned that you can use Linkedin to expand your network and extend your reach through organic posting, sharing and commenting. In this post I want to dive deeper into this topic and tell you exactly how to actually do it.

Linkedin is fundamentally a social media platform, meaning that it’s designed to allow people to share status updates, original posts and other published posts. Therefore, you’d assume that if you post and share interesting content, you’ll have a good chance of getting noticed by people in your own network and beyond. Unfortunately,  you’d be making a wrong assumption.

The truth is that the chances that more than a few people will end up seeing the stuff you post or share are pretty slim. The reason for that is because Linkedin’s algorithms decide who will see your posts, and they are much more inclined to display posts that they feel will get lots of engagement and that will keep users on the platform.

So users who are already getting lots of engagement on their posts, like influencers, are more likely to get love from Linkedin while the overwhelming majority of users get to hear the sound of crickets. In addition, posts linking out to external websites are less likely to be displayed than posts without links, because Linkedin wants to keep its users on the platform.

The only way to ensure that people will see your posts (the “right” people) is to pay for that privilege, which is exactly what Linkedin would prefer that you do. That’s how they make a good chunk of their revenue: advertising.

But this post is about using Linkedin for your business organically — without paying for advertising. And although that’s become increasing very difficult, there are still things you can do to give yourself a fighting chance at getting yourself or your business noticed on Linkedin.

Comment on other people’s posts.

This is what they mean by engaging. Take part in conversations on posts by influencers in your industry, but try your best to add some value and sound intelligent.

Asking relevant questions is a great way to get involved and show people in your industry that you exist. They’ll start checking out your profile and maybe even reach out to connect. You can do the same. In this way you’ll slowly expand your network and start positioning yourself as a thought leader.

Write interesting posts without including links

You don’t always have to be promoting an article or blog post. Just operate within the Linkedin platform. Add value to it by writing stuff that people will actually find interesting, and Linkedin might just reward you with some exposure.

The more time people spend on Linkedin, the more money it can make, so if you can help them do that by creating content that people want to read and engage with, then they will love you for it. Maybe not right away, but eventually, as they see you getting more engagement.

Share content written by influencers and tag them in your post.

Everyone loves recognition and even popular influencers like having their content shared. If you tag them in your post, they might share that post with their own audience. I’ve done this before with success. It does work. No, not every time or even most of the time. But I’ll take once in while.

Sharing Links with CTA’s

If you really want to share an article that you think will provide value to your followers (and beyond), then get some extra benefits by sharing it with a tool like Snip.ly. What this tool does is it embeds the content you’re sharing in an iframe and allows you to overlay your own call to action on top of it.

For example, if you “snip” a NYTimes article and share it, the person reading it (from the snip.ly link) will see your face with a message slide out from the corner of the page with a CTA linking to your landing page. There are different ways to design the actions and look of your snip.ly CTA, but the end result is the same: you share other people’s content but get readers to click through to your page. Cool deal!

Now there’s no guarantee that the reader will click on your CTA, but at least you’ve got a fighting chance. The content provider still gets the page hit and the benefits of getting a new visitor that you sent them, so it’s not like you’re stealing. But some content providers block being included in iframes, so it won’t work on every page (but it does work on almost every page :).

It’s Tough out There

Like any other massive social media platform, getting noticed on Linkedin is a tough game to play, and even tougher to win. You need to spend a huge amount of time in a very persistent manner. Gary Vaynerchuk, social media and marketing guru, recommends spending 10-12 hours a day for at least 5 days a week, for years, to build a brand.

Here’s a very long video in which Gary V teaches how to promote your business in 2019:

Bottom Line

Investing your time and resources in organic Linkedin or any other major social media platforms, without spending money on advertising, is a long, hard journey that might or might not pay off. It really depends on what your objectives are.

If you’re looking to build your thought leadership, then it’s a journey you must take.

If you’re looking to pick up new clients, then you should probably be spending the bulk of your energy on other things like direct cold outreach.

How to use Linkedin for your B2B business

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When people refer to social media they usually think of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest (and there may be some others I’m not even aware of). If your company sells directly to consumers (B2C) or is looking to build brand awareness in the consumer market then these social media platforms are the way to go.

There are, of course, major differences between the platforms on how to use them and what demographic groups each appeals to. But in general, each platform has the potential for you to reach a mass consumer audience. I’ll dive deeper into each one in later posts.

In this post I’m going to discuss Linkedin — and yes, Linkedin is a social media platform (and not just a place to post your resume and find a job). If you’re a professional, or simply part of the workforce, you most probably have a Linkedin profile with a few sentences about what you do and your work experience. It’s basically your resume.

You probably view Linkedin as a place to potentially find a new job or opportunity, if the need should arise. If you’re lucky enough to not need to use it for that purpose, you probably don’t, other than checking in once a while to waste some time and occasionally click on an interesting looking link.

All that stuff about job searches is true. But that’s not how you use Linkedin for your business.

linkedin for business

How do you use Linkedin for business?

The first step to making Linkedin into a useful marketing and sales tool for your business is to view it as such. Stop thinking about it like a massive job board. From now on you need to see Linkedin as the greatest free opportunity to generate business.

Your Profile

The first thing you need to do to take advantage of this amazing tool is to update your profile. If it looks like a duplicate of your 1 or 2 page paper resume, you’re doing it wrong.

Your Linkedin profile should be your unique selling proposition. It should communicate the benefits that you can provide to potential customers or clients. It’s your opportunity to sell yourself.

It starts with your profile photo. Have one. People relate to other people, not placeholders. They want to see that you’re a real person, hopefully presentable and trustworthy looking.

Next comes your headline. It’s the line that people see directly below your name. This a valuable piece of marketing real estate, because it’s very likely the first, and possibly last, thing that people will see when they come across you in a search or in their feed.

You should not just put your job title in your headline — like manager or VP business development. These titles don’t really describe what you do and how you can help the person you want as a customer or client. Instead, tell them exactly how you can help them.

Here’s my own profile as an example:

linkedin profile

In addition to my profile photo, I’ve added a cover image with some text on it to take advantage of the opportunity to expand my real estate holdings on the page. Beneath my photo and name I’ve listed the benefit I can provide. I’ve also included a non profit project I’m working on, so that when I reach out to connect with people related to that project, they’ll know who I am.

You should also include your correct contact info in the “see contact info” area, so that people can actually get in touch with you. I’m surprised how many people either leave it out totally or include outdated info or bad links. Not a very smart sales practice.

The next section in your profile is a section where you summarize what you’ve got to offer in greater detail. Include some concrete examples, some links, and even a video.

The next thing on your profile that Linkedin will show people depends on their degree of connection to you. If they are first or second degree connections, they’ll see mutual connections followed by your most recent articles and posts. I’ll discuss more about posting and publishing on Linkedin, but for now just be aware of this feature and either have some quality articles or posts, or don’t have any at all. You don’t want people to judge you by a really bad article or post you’ve written.

Everyone will then see your job experience. This is the part that’s very similar to a paper resume…but it really shouldn’t be. You’re not confined to the boundaries of a sheet of paper, so get creative and use the opportunity to market the hell out of yourself.

You should also create a company profile page, which people will check out if they’re interested in finding out more about your business (but don’t waste too much time on it).

Connecting

Now that you’ve optimized your profile, you want to get other people to view it. Specifically, you want to get potential clients, customers or business partners to view it. The easiest way to do that is to send them connection requests. I won’t go into detail about how to do this, because you’ve all done it before.

The only thing I’ll add is that the research shows that including a personal note with the connection request greatly increases the chances that the person will accept. The note should be short and NOT a sales pitch. If you share mutual contacts or interests, you can use those as a reason to connect. Or think of another NON SALESY excuse for why you think it would be an awesome idea for this person to connect with you. But again, keep it short and to the point.

Sales Prospecting with Linkedin

Let’s cut to the chase. The real reason you’re reading this is to find out how to use Linkedin to get new clients or customers. Sales prospecting.

If you’re looking to sell to a mass consumer market, like I said at the beginning of this post, you should focus on Facebook, Instagram, etc.

But if you are selling B2B and you can identify the customer personal of the person you’re trying to sell to, then Linkedin is the right place for you to be working your magic.

Now from here on in I’m going to viewing Linkedin as if it was exclusively a sales prospecting too. That’s not to say that you can’t use Linkedin as a networking tool to simply expand your business network, get involved in new ventures, or try to find a new job. You absolutely can.

But for our purposes here, I want you to focus on Linkedin as a sales prospecting tool, period.

Customer Persona

Before you can do any sort of sales prospecting you must have a clear picture of whom you’re selling to. The fancy term for that picture is a “customer persona”. It should be as detailed as possible. At the very least it should have your target’s job title, geographic location, industry, company size (or the specific name of their company). If you can’t create a customer persona then you’re not going to be able to use Linkedin effectively for sales prospecting.

Let’s look at an example:

Say you sell enterprise cyber security software that costs $25,000 per license. Let’s say you’re ideal customer is in the banking or financial industry. And the person you’re trying to reach is the Director of Cyber Security (I don’t know if that’s an actual title). You want to target the US.

Searching

Ok, you’ve got a customer persona. Plug those criteria into a search (you might need a premium account depending on how specific you want to get, since the free account only has a few possible search criteria to choose from. But there are ways of circumventing that by including a boolean search string in the keywords field).

Linkedin will return a (hopefully) long list of profiles that fit your search criteria. If the list is too long you can narrow it down by geographic location.

Contact

Now that you’ve got your list, you can either try to get their email addresses and reach out to them via email marketing or you can reach out to them directly on Linkedin either with a connection request or inMail.

Here’s a video with the advantages of using email marketing:

There are tools you can use to automate and facilitate parts of this process (Dux-Soup, and various email finders), but there’s still going to be a good deal of manual work involved.

This strategy of direct outreach is, well…the most direct and, I think, efficient and effective way of sales prospecting using Linkedin.

Posting

In addition to direct outreach, you should use Linkedin to build your authority (thought leadership) by publishing or sharing informative content relevant to your expertise. The sad truth is that very few people will most likely see your posts (which is the same problem on your social media platforms). But if you write really good stuff and work on letting people know, and you get lucky, you might actually start getting noticed.

The hope is that at some point a potential client will stumble across one of your masterpieces and decide to contact you. Inbound marketing. It does happen.

But leaving the inbound hopes aside for a moment, it’s important for you build your thought leadership on Linkedin because when you do reach out to potential clients or customers, they’ll check out your profile and content — and the more impressive your are, the better chance you’ll get of landing their business.

Paid Ads

Yes, Linkedin sells PPC ads. Expensive ones. If you have cash to spare you can try them in addition to your sales prospecting search and contact process. But PPC is beyond the scope of this post.

Bottom Line

Linkedin is THE social media platform for b2b companies to use as a sales prospecting tool. So give it a try and see if it works for you.