Using AdWords to Raise Donations

I have recently become hooked on Google AdWords. For those of you who are not familiar with AdWords, it is Google's system for managing online ads. Do a quick search on Google and on the right side you will see ads. Those ads are managed by AdWords.

Before I continue, I want to point out that this is not a free service. AdWords is the main money maker for Google. It is a type of advertising called "pay-per-click" (PPC). Every time someone clicks on your ad you pay a small fee. The fee is determined by numerous factors and can range from a few cents to a few dollars. There are choices of PPC. For example, Yahoo! and Microsoft have their own PPC systems. However, Google is such a dominate player in search (60-70% in the U.S. market) that it is the most efficient place to start.

So why would a political campaign want to run a PPC campaign? The answer is to raise donations of course. There are a few campaigns out there using PPC campaigns to raise funding. For example, take a look at this ad:



Many organizations use PPC to drive traffic to their website. AdWords allows you to target on a very specific level. There are a lot of technical considerations that go into writing and managing a good ad. I apologize if any of the following is rather technical, but I want this post to be helpful while pointing out that AdWords is not something you pick up in a day. The point is there is a lot of customization that can go into developing an ad.

You can target your ads on many levels. Take Rand Paul's ad for an example. He is running for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. Individuals in Nevada, Maine, and Canada are probably not that interested in his campaign (at least not enough to justify paying for traffic). However, Kentuckians would be very interested in both his website and would be willing to donate. AdWords lets you pick locations that the ad runs, right down to latitude and longitude coordinates if you wish to be that specific. The reason I see it is because I currently live in the Cincinnati area, whose metropolitan area extends into Kentucky. There are also other targeting options for more advance campaigns (you can even pick what type of computer you want to see the ad).

However, you must be careful. AdWords is not for every campaign. Smaller campaigns probably do not have a large enough constituent base to have a big impact. The ad also should be crafted carefully to ensure a positive return on your investment. I highly recommend finding someone who has run an AdWords campaign before and who understands how to interpret AdWords' reports. Having a professional run your campaign will help you understand trends and discover new information. I have even been able to use data from an AdWords campaign to improve a site's ranking on Google.

When you set up your ad, you can choose the page that the ad is linked to. This is where you can drive traffic to your donation page. You may be able to get an extra donation at the cost of just a few cents. Even though this sounds really great I do want to point out that just because someone clicks on the ad (and you thus pay for it) does not guarantee that you will get the donation. It will take a bit of marketing effort to convince voters to contribute after clicking on the ad and landing on your website.

All aspects of AdWords cannot be described in a single post. However, I hope at the very least you have gained an interest and awareness in the technology. It will take thoughtful consideration on your campaign's part but the pay off could be big. Not only can you increase your donations, but you will also have greater awareness of your campaign.

The next post will be December 22nd.