Greetings, fellow changemakers! As a social impact marketing agency, we’re constantly exploring avenues to help non-profit organizations reach their goals. Today, we wanted to shed light on a powerful tool that can make a substantial difference: the Google Ads Grant.
Not sure what the heck that is? We’ve got you. Let’s dive into how this program can help non-profits raise awareness, engage supporters, and create meaningful change.
What is the Google Ads Grant?
The Google Ads Grant is a program offered by Google to eligible non-profit organizations, providing them with up to $10,000 per month in advertising credits to run text-based ads on the Google Search Network. It’s a valuable opportunity for non-profits to increase their online visibility, reach their target audience, and achieve their marketing goals without having to spend their own funds.
How Can this Program Help Non-Profits?
We’re glad you asked. Let us count the ways.
1. Increasing Visibility: When it comes to making a difference, visibility is key. Thanks to the Google Ads Grant program, non-profits can take center stage on Google’s search results pages. Imagine the impact of your organization’s message being seen by countless potential supporters, volunteers, and donors. It’s a game-changer!
2. Cost-Effective Advertising: Non-profits often face budget constraints, and the Google Ads Grant offers a solution. Eligible organizations receive up to $10,000 per month in advertising credits, allowing them to run targeted campaigns without spending their own funds. It’s a cost-effective way to make a big impact.
3. Targeted Reach: Precise targeting is crucial in reaching the right audience. With the Google Ads Grant, non-profits can choose specific keywords to ensure their message reaches those who are most likely to resonate with their cause. By connecting with the right people, non-profits can attract more supporters, volunteers, and donors.
4. Boosting Website Traffic and Engagement: A compelling website is a non-profit’s digital storefront. The Google Ads Grant can drive increased traffic to websites, giving organizations an opportunity to showcase their work, impact, and calls to action. The more visitors engage with a non-profit’s site, the greater the chances of conversions, such as donations, volunteer sign-ups, or event registrations.
5. Measurable Results and Optimization: The Google Ads platform provides tracking and analytics tools. Non-profits can measure the performance of their ad campaigns accurately, allowing them to fine-tune their strategies based on real-time data. Optimization leads to improved results, making every ad dollar count towards their mission.
6. Compelling Storytelling: Effective storytelling has the power to touch hearts and inspire action. Google Ads offers various ad formats, including text-based ads. Non-profits can leverage these formats to tell their stories in captivating and creative ways, forging a deeper emotional connection with their target audience. Stories have the power to change lives, and the Google Ads Grant helps non-profits share them with the world.
7. In-Kind Support and Resources: Beyond the advertising credits, the Google Ads Grant program provides non-profits with access to valuable resources, training, and support from Google. This assistance ensures that organizations maximize the impact of their campaigns, leverage the platform effectively, and stay up-to-date with the latest digital marketing strategies.
The Google Ads Grant program is a true game-changer for non-profit organizations. It empowers them to amplify their impact, increase visibility, and engage with a broader audience. We encourage all non-profits to explore this invaluable resource. By leveraging the Google Ads Grant, organizations can unlock their full potential, turning dreams of change into remarkable realities.
Remember, your organization’s mission deserves to be heard. Let the Google Ads Grant be your megaphone for change!
Want to get started? Contact us to help you get set up!
RENO, NV, January 2023 – Social media has become an essential tool for businesses looking to promote themselves and connect with customers. However, it can be a delicate balance to strike between promoting your products or services and avoiding coming across as overly salesy. Here are five tips to help your business promote itself on social media without turning off potential customers.
Share valuable content: Share informative and helpful content that your audience will find interesting, whether it’s industry news, tips, or behind-the-scenes looks at your business. By providing value, you can build trust and credibility with your audience.
Engage with your audience: Respond to comments, messages, and reviews. Engage in conversations and ask for feedback to help you improve your products or services.
Showcase your customers: Share stories or testimonials from satisfied customers, or feature them in photos or videos. This helps to build trust and credibility for your brand.
Use social media to build relationships: Use social media to build relationships with other businesses, industry leaders, and influencers. Collaborate on projects or share each other’s content.
Use social media to build community: Use social media to create a community around your brand. Encourage your audience to share their experiences, ask questions, and provide feedback. By fostering a sense of community, you can build a loyal following.
By following these tips, your business can effectively promote itself on social media without coming across as overly salesy. Remember to be authentic, engaging, and provide value to your audience. And don’t forget to regularly track and measure your results to adjust your strategy as needed.
RENO, NV, January 2023 – Social Media… is it the new customer service? What in the world does that even mean? A simple google search will tell you that the most basic meaning of customer service is ‘the assistance and advice provided by a company to those who buy or use its products or services.’ Typically when people think of customer service, they think of online reviews and companies giving feedback or waiting hours on the phone to talk to a customer service representative. When it comes to customer service, social media is not what people usually turn to, but it seems much more prominent than you would think. When it comes to the marketing field, both customer service and marketing go hand in hand. Marketing, on one end, is what initially brings in the customers, and customer service is what retains them. Both concepts are codependent on each other as without the communication aspect of marketing; people are lost when it comes to the product or service; without customer service, it’s just a storefront. Since communication is one of the top factors in what makes customer service, it makes sense that social media is an advantage in the game.
As technology further develops, we all know that social media is one of the top contenders for ways to communicate. As of 2023, “Over 4.9 billion people are accessing social media worldwide,” stated DemandSage.com (demandsage.com). With that many people having access right at their fingertips, it’s a no-brainer that people tend to respond much faster on social media. Upcoming studies and observations show that customers want to communicate with brands via social media DM’s, especially when it comes to those of more recent generations. A Hubspot article states, “HubSpot’s 2022 Consumer Trends Survey found that 20% of Gen Z-ers and nearly 25% of Millennials have contacted a brand on social media for customer service in the past three months” (blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-trends). This, in truth, doesn’t necessarily sound like a lot at first glance, but that means that one in every five Gen Z-ers and one in every four millennials have contacted a brand via social media. It also goes to show that “1 in 3 social media users would rather have social media customer care services than telephone or email” (bigcommerce.com). Now, this is not to say that emails and company phone calls will go out of style completely, but more so that social media will serve as an additional tool to further connect with customers in a more personalized sense and may even be what shifts the scale to a more virtual sense of communication with customers.
Now, you may be thinking that’s great, but why do people want to use social media as a customer service platform in the first place, and how does it affect me? Well, the answer to that is simple. People want to use social media as a way to communicate because it’s convenient and it’s fast. It’s a beneficial way for companies and agencies to attract customers, get quick feedback, and retain customer loyalty. Instead of the customer and seller acting as two different entities, they can work together to make each other’s lives easier. Stats show that “91% of customers say a positive customer service experience makes them more likely to make a further purchase” (Salesforce Research). Therefore, companies can improve, adjust, and promote as necessary by gaining customers’ input on items or services. And by the companies taking in this information, their customer gets a better product or service outcome. Overall, it builds a long-lasting relationship between the customer and seller. Not only that, but it also helps drum up a new business, as stats show that “If you give a positive social media customer service experience, 71% of your consumers will likely recommend your band to others”(bigcommerce.com).
As a business owner or entrepreneur, it may be beneficial to hop on this trend as it makes you look more relevant and modern and builds strong customer rapport. Don’t believe me? I wouldn’t have believed it myself if it didn’t work on me. Let’s look at a real-life example. At Ace Studios, we like to give birthday shout-outs to our employees. My birthday had just passed recently, and Ace Studios kindly gave me a birthday post-shout-out. Commented on that post was a message from a local business, Biggest Little Boba Shop. Those of whom we have helped create a video promotion in the past. They mentioned my Instagram user tag in their comment and offered to give me a complimentary birthday drink if I stopped by. Not having been to any boba shop recently, I was enticed and gladly thanked them for their offer. During our time assisting them with their video promotion, I got to know the owners, Sunny and Deela, quite well and grew fond of them. I knew Sunny himself was one of the main people who ran their Instagram. Not only did I sincerely appreciate the gesture, but I also felt seen and appreciated as a customer of theirs. Whether or not Sunny knew of this tactic, it allowed them to promote their business and attract a previous customer to come back. This sense of customer service shows personalization and connection between the customer and seller. It also helps bring my awareness back up to this boba shop and gives me a reason to visit their shop and offer my business.
Businesses can use something simple as commenting on a post to promote brand awareness and loyalty. Simply interacting with customers and showing there is more to a social media page than just infographics here and there, but a person behind the screen who cares about the matters being addressed. Remember, when a customer feels seen, they are heard. When they feel heard, it creates a deeper level of trust.
It’s been a hot minute since we’ve done a hot take.
As a small business owner, I know that one of the things that is on my mind during the holidays is the upcoming new year, and whether or not I’m doing everything I can to plan ahead to promote the agency in the best way possible so we can help the most amount of people.
Ask yourself: how can we help others right now?
This mindset is part of our holistic approach not just with our own brand, but for the clients we serve.
Shifting our mindset going into 2023, and a possible recession will help us set ourselves apart from the competition. I believe it is the key to so many things – but most of all resilience in the face of uncertainty.
That’s why I wanted to share a little nugget of wisdom as Ace Studios has been doing research into what marketing tactics are going to be most beneficial going into 2023 (so you don’t have to!).
Want to know the overwhelming advice we’re getting?
Content is king, but the old rules to content don’t apply. Be open to trying new things, and investing more time in providing valuable and engaging content on your social media platforms.
Some of the insights we’ve come across on content marketing include:
Partnering with Content Creators (formerly known as “influencers) to help reach your niche audiences. Bigger brands are pulling back on their budgets here, which could create opportunities for others to collaborate with these creators.
Social Media Marketing continues to provide high ROI, so stick with it. You may have to branch out to platforms like TikTok and LinkedIn more, where the algorithms aren’t as competitive as say Facebook and Instagram. Do your research about where your audience spends most of their time and focus on those platforms vs. casting a wide net.
Track, track, track. Keeping up with your digital analytics, or how well your content is doing, is the best way to tell if you’re screaming into the void or actually providing value. Knowledge is power!
That’s it in a nutshell, for now, and we’ll continue to provide more insights as we come across them before the new year. As always, if you need help managing the marketing for your brand, contact us anytime.
Giving up? That’s the easy part. Real change takes work.
We will not be silent on women’s issues, LGBTQ+ issues, immigrant issues, POC issues, or any issues that go against human rights. As a social impact marketing agency, it is our duty to make change happen, in the right direction.
The jarring overturn of Roe v. Wade is exactly why we need women and LGBTQ+ folks in every position of elected power across this country.
The Supreme Court has made it clear today that if you aren’t at the table- you’re on the menu.
Take a moment to grieve today, but be ready for tomorrow.
Are you still not getting it? Are pronouns getting the best of you? We’ve got your back! We created a special PSA video with some tips on do’s and don’ts of using pronouns in a business atmosphere.
