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How much of this sounds familiar?
- “Facebook advertising is dead.”
- “Video content is too time-consuming to produce.”
- “Digital ads are only for marketing.”
As a station fundraiser or marketer, you’ve probably said or heard these digital advertising misconceptions (and others) plenty of times. But as we move further into the digital age, you must leverage your full potential on digital platforms, especially if you want to drive newer, younger donors to become station supporters.
To that end, Allegiance is here to debunk five common digital advertising myths often held by public media stations. Let’s jump right in.
Myth #1: Google grants cover all marketing goals
Google Ad Grants give qualifying stations up to $10,000 a month in search ads for free. Microsoft has a similar program. There’s a big misconception that these grants can cover all your advertising and fundraising needs.
In truth, Google Ad Grants are best used for awareness campaigns, not fundraising ones. The ad space Google provides through the program is more like “remnant (unsold)” inventory. Because the digital advertising ecosystem functions on an auction and competitive bid basis, a paid Google ad will almost always outperform a Google Grant ad. The algorithm prioritizes paid ads.
Instead, use Google Ad Grants to help people learn more about your station. Your messages could tell people about educational tools, volunteer opportunities, and events, or they could point people to your programming. You might also use these spaces to test the type of messaging that helps you meet a different goal, like driving traffic to new content on your website.
Save your paid Google or Microsoft ad efforts for your most competitive fundraising terms. If your budget can accommodate it, an evergreen paid search campaign targeting branded fundraising terms can drive impact throughout the year.
Myth #2: Facebook (Meta) advertising is no longer effective
This misconception has been around for years. While advertising on Facebook (Meta) has become more challenging in many ways, public media stations have it easier than other sectors.
You can no longer target specific information or demographics, such as education, income, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or even followers of particular stations outside of your own. However, there are ways to counteract these limitations — notably, by using first-party data in your customer relationship management (CRM) tool.
You hold a wealth of data about your supporters and subscribers, which you can upload to the Meta ads platform and use to target people directly. You can also create a “lookalike” model of individuals whose online behaviors match those in your file.
Meta also has substantial free tools that stations can use to optimize their Facebook and Instagram ads. Its artificial intelligence (AI) tool can help with copywriting, while other tools make it easy to edit images and videos. Implementing the Meta pixel, as well as its Conversions API, is essential to drive measurable success and meaningful optimizations.
Bonus myth debunked: organic social media isn’t enough to promote your station on social platforms. A paid effort is critical to ensure your message reaches the right audience at scale. Users don’t follow your station because they want to receive an ask. Keep that to paid efforts mostly.
Myth #3: A one-week campaign is effective
A one-week ad campaign is almost never a good idea, even for Giving Tuesday or during a drive. This is because it takes most ad platforms time to optimize and exit the learning phase.
The time it takes will vary based on what your key performance indicators (KPIs) are and how your campaigns are set up. If your campaign is too short, you may shortchange overall performance. Platforms won’t fully ramp up until the learning phase is complete.
Myth #4: Digital advertising should only be used for marketing
This might be the easiest myth to overcome. Because digital advertising can be immediate and engaging, it can be tempting to use it to grow your audience and promote specific programs. But if the online audience doesn’t know how to engage as a donor, you could be leaving dollars on the table.
Digital ads should work hand-in-hand with your station’s fundraising efforts, such as email, website, and direct mail. Too often, marketing and development teams operate in silos. They don’t use their collective budget and strategies to move someone from a Passport subscriber to a monthly donor to a more significant member relationship. It’s critical to work together with your marketing team to ensure members are aware of the many opportunities to support the station’s other philanthropic programs.
The tools in a digital ad platform make it easy to reach the entire funnel. Say you run an awareness video on Facebook to highlight your upcoming pledge drive. Using pixel data, you can then target people who engaged with the video with an ad to visit the pledge drive landing page and learn more. Finally, you can use those same targeting tactics to contact a more refined and qualified group of individuals and ask for a donation.
Through this type of full-funnel approach, we’ve seen clients increase numerous key metrics, including new donors, average donation, and return ad spend.
Myth #5: Video content is too time-consuming to produce
Video is critical to communicate the quality of content and programming your station offers. In addition, most social platforms like Facebook and Instagram prioritize video-based content.
Use video content any time you have it. It could be a highly produced promotional spot, but that isn’t necessary. Something you shoot on your phone can be just as impactful and effective. What matters to your audience is that the video is authentic.
Plenty of tools are available that make it easy to edit a video into a short, ad-appropriate clip. But even if you only have still images, you can turn them into an animated GIF to satisfy video file requirements for social media algorithms.
Reality: Digital ads can make a big impact
So many aspects of digital advertising can be downright overwhelming, but it isn’t going anywhere. Even if you’ve tried some of these tactics, capabilities have advanced. Take advantage of the tools available and be willing to try something new.
Whether you have questions or just want to chat, our Allegiance Group + Pursuant team is available. We’d love to help you develop a robust digital advertising plan that will reach a wider audience and boost your revenue. Contact us today.