In the spring of 2022, I took the position as team captain of GALAH Agency, a student-run agency responsible for creating and optimizing Google Ads campaigns for a non-profit organization as part of Google's Non-Profit Immersion (NMI) program. Google assigned GALAH Agency to Oasis for Immigrants, a non profit organization that primarily helps clients with citizenship proceedings.
When GALAH agency took a look at Oasis for Immigrants’ traction through its past Google Ads campaigns there was little activity. GALAH realized it was time to shift its strategy to raise awareness about Oasis for Immigrants. By targeting specific ad groups on Oasis for Immigrants’ most popular services, GALAH achieved results that skyrocketed Oasis for Immigrants Google Ads performance.
Before GALAH Campaign
CTR: 0.57%
Impressions: 2.28K
Clicks: 13
Cost: $16.83
Results of GALAH Campaign:
CTR: 5.43%
Impressions: 29.7K
Clicks: 1.61K
Cost: $3.1K
Process
The process of building the foundation of a successful Google Ads Portfolio began by determining relevant goals that would help people gain awareness to the services and opportunities that Oasis for Immigrants has to offer. After conducting research on nonprofit growth and strategies to attract people to a cause, GALAH decided to focus on the following four areas:
1. Create Brand Awareness
2. Recruit Volunteers
3. Increase Donations
4. Generate Clients
Create an Ads Structure
GALAH Agency created two campaigns to fulfill Oasis for Immigrants' pre-campaign goals.
The first campaign is a Service campaign with a Citizenship ad group to generate clients looking for help with citizenship services and a Green Card ad group to generate clients looking for help with getting their Green Card. Three weeks into the Service campaign, we added a Notary ad group to generate clients looking to get documents notarized.
The second is an Outreach campaign with a Volunteer Ad Group to recruit volunteers and a Donations ad group to increase donations.
Weekly Campaign Optimization
Throughout the duration of the campaign GALAH maintained a daily log of optimizations that were made in the backend of Oasis for Immigrants' Google Ads. By adding a selection of keywords and negative keywords, Oasis for Immigrants' Google Ads became visible to its target audience. Eventually, GALAH Agency narrowed its focus by targeting specific locations and introducing an additional ad group to the Services Campaign. Keywords or phrases that hindered the campaigns' success or attracted the wrong audience were also removed.
Week 1 3/21- 3/28
• Created Services Campaign and Outreach Campaign
° Ad Groups 'Green Card' and 'Citizenship' for Services
°Ad Groups 'Donations' and 'Volunteers' for Outreach
• Added broad match keywords
° Ex. 'donate to immigrants', 'support immigration'
• Undid Google's recommended auto-apply removal of keywords
°Ex. 'us citizenship and immigration services', 'green card process'
Week 2 3/29 - 4/4
• Expanded Outreach and Service target locations to include New York, California, and Texas
• Added more broad match terms in all ad groups
° Paused low performing broad match keywords
°Undid Google's recommended auto-apply removal of keywords
Week 3 4/5 - 4/11
• Created a Notary Ad Group under the Services Campaign
° Added broad match keywords ex. 'notary services'
° Created a responsive search ad for Notary Ad Group
• Added negative phrase match keywords in both campaigns
• Added broad match keywords through keyword planner
• Created call-out extensions
• Created structured snippets extensions
• Undid Google's automatic auto-apply removal of keywords
Week 4 4/12 - 4/18
• Added more call out extensions under Donations Ad Group
° '100% secure donations'
° 'Paypal donation'
• Added more relevant keywords to underperforming ad groups such as Notary and Donations
° Ex. 'immigrants in need of help'
•Added negative broad match keywords
° Ex. 'games'
•Undid Google's automatic auto-apply removal of keywords
Demographics
As GALAH Agency monitored the campaign, members paid attention to who, when, how, and where people were engaging with Oasis for Immigrants' Service Ads (less attention was focused on the Outreach ad groups because they were not nearly as successful). Developing an understanding of the target audience was crucial to the performance and continued optimization of the campaigns.
Who Engaged With Our Ads?
When Did People Engage?
Males 65 + had a CTR of 6.89%
Females 18-24 had a CTR of 6.86%
Most engagement occurred on Tuesdays and Fridays between 11PM-12AM/1AM-2AM
How Did They Engage?
Where Did They Engage Most?
Mobile phones were the most popular way people engaged with our ads
Florida had a CTR of 5.48% for Service Ads
New York had a CTR of 6.13% for Service Ads
Future Suggestions for Oasis for Immigrants
At the conclusion of Oasis for Immigrants’ post campaign report, GALAH Agency offered Oasis for Immigrants a number of suggestions to continue bringing in clients and brand awareness.
