Paid Search & Google Grant

Paid search and Google Grant are best managed in tandem–especially as Google’s Grant guidelines evolve and limit its viability.

Client:
Catholic Relief Services
Program:
Annual Giving
Non-Profit Category:
International Relief

Challenge

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) was concerned that search-driven conversions were falling short of potential due to having two separate internal teams (and vendors) managing their Google Grant and their paid Adwords accounts. CRS asked Further to manage the Grant on a trial basis and marry it with the paid Adwords account we were already managing. Their goals were two-fold: improve the total value of both search properties combined, and prepare for the January 2018 Google Grant policy changes.

 

Strategy 

Further’s solution started by determining the top converting campaigns in the Grant account and moving those into the paid account to improve impression share. After proving this approach with these campaigns, we then increased year-end budget to advance spend to the campaigns’ full potential. The more aggressive spend allowed the account to broaden its reach while also providing efficient results.

 

Results

By managing the Grant and paid Adwords in tandem, and playing to the strengths of each platform, year-end results skyrocketed year over year.

  • Net revenue increased 388%
  • Total gifts increased 177%
  • CPA remained flat despite the significant growth
  • Conversion rate improved 201%