Google Ad Grants for theatres: How to use free ad spend to boost your online presence
Exclusively for nonprofits, including theatres, Google’s Ad Grants scheme provides $10,000 per month to spend on Google search ads.
In this post we cover what the Ad Grants scheme is, who it’s for, how to apply, and how One Further can help your theatre make the most out of your free ad spend.
In this article we’ll cover:
What are Google Ad Grants?
Google Ad Grants is a fantastically useful programme whereby nonprofit organisations, such as theatres, can receive $10,000 of in-kind ad spend every month from Google.
Find out more about how museums can use Ad Grants.
The ads are shown on Google search network, so they’ll be seen by people who have searched for specific terms. That means you can put your organisation front and centre at the exact moment people are doing searches for keywords that are relevant to your organisation, subject matter, artforms, and activities.
There are some caveats. Google want to make sure that beneficiaries of the programme don’t take it for granted and let their accounts fall into disrepair so they’ve put in some stipulations and limits. For instance:
your account must be properly configured, with a good account structure, use of features such as sitelinks, conversion tracking in place, no keywords with a quality score less than 2, and a click-through rate that stays above 5%,
your ads should, for the most part, be geo-targeted so as to focus on a specific location relevant to your organisation,
you can’t advertise on single keywords, or overly generic phrases,
you’re limited to bidding up to $2 per click unless you use some of Google automated bidding strategies, and
you can’t use your Ad Grant to run Display, YouTube Performance Max or other types of campaign
There are a few others too, but by now you might be starting to appreciate why it can be difficult for many institutions to spend their full $10k allocation every month (and why it’s not uncommon for organisations to lose access to their accounts if they don’t adhere to the policies). With that being the case, you’ll need to be smart to make the most of your Ad Grant.
How can theatres use Google Ad Grants?
The main reason for theatres to use Google Ads is in situations when they aren’t managing to rank at the top of Google search results for relevant phrases.
We can categorise the types of terms that people search in relation to theatres in a few different ways, but here are four to start you off on your journey to using Google Ad Grants effectively:
1. BRAND TERMS (AND OTHER UNIQUE TERMS)
You might have a niche that is associated with your brand, like comedy, and choose to bid on ads that show up when people search for theatrical genre terms. Or you might decide to promote a specific audience sector such as students or families, prominent staff like founders or directors, or your name.
Keep in mind, however, if the name of your theatre is already showing up when someone Googles it (most likely), or is very close to the top spot, you won’t get much benefit from spending money on advertising your brand (even if it’s Google’s grant money).
There are occasional benefits, such as a better click through rate, or if your name is generic and easily confused. Despite this, it’s often worth allocating your Ad Grant to other categories of keywords if you can - and especially if you are maxing out the grant spend.
2. GENERIC TERMS
It’s worth bearing in mind how people use search when looking for things to do:
Early in the buying cycle they might do general research - e.g. 'theatres near me’ or ‘theatres in [insert city name]’.
Later on, they might search for something specific that they’ve discovered elsewhere. This time they’re more likely to search for the name of the theatre or venue. Perhaps this time they’ll also add keywords like ‘address’, ‘opening hours’, or plays they’re interested in.
Getting ads in front of those early in the buying cycle could be a very worthwhile use of your Ad Grant money. Although there's more likely to be competition for these terms, as other brands will have the same idea (so you might be outbid by others).
You should also note that your ads and keywords must be mission-based. Overly generic keywords - described as “names of other organizations, places, historical events, or people on their own” - are not permitted, so your ads have to strike a balance to make sure that you’re complying with Google’s requirements.
For a touring company, it might be best to focus on advertising your touring dates and locations, so that those who are looking for an event on a specific week can find your theatre company at the top of their search.
3. PLAYS, EVENTS, AND ACTIVITIES
Again, here we split keywords into two similar types:
plays and events that are very specific to your particular theatre
those that are more ‘generic’ (for want of a better word) and likely to be offered by other organisations, including touring productions.
In the former case we will want to check, using Google Search Console, that the theatre already occupies the top spots in Google searches. Where necessary, we will look to plug the gaps to enhance the exposure of that particular event.
You can also make use of dynamic search ads, which can be a powerful tool for any performing arts venue with a decent What’s On section on their website. Dynamic campaigns work by crawling specified areas of your website and auto-generating ads to fit search queries. The ads are pieced together on the fly using content from the web pages. You have far less control over the content of the ad, but they can cater for niche searches which you wouldn’t be able to cover with a traditional campaign. Dynamic ads can also be a massive time saver for theatres with a packed programme.
Where there are more ‘generic’ activities (often things like tours, workshops, and courses) there’s an opportunity to catch someone’s interest with a search ad. This is one of the areas we would focus on when setting up campaigns for a theatre with a Google Ad Grant.
One concern that we hear from clients is that they want their Ad Grant to produce a positive return on ad spend, and that driving traffic to content won’t achieve that.
We encourage organisations to take a longer view of things and consider the Ad Grant to be something that will give a boost to their wider content strategy. When everything is structured well, the increased visibility can result in knock-on benefits such as email signups, product upsells, additional links from third parties, and improved search engine optimisation.
Theatres eligible for Google Ad Grants
Before applying for an Ad Grant, you’ll want to check if your theatre is eligible. Generally speaking, if you’re a registered charity, you will qualify. Unfortunately, any theatre run by an academic institution (like a university) or a governmental institution (like a council) is not eligible for Ad Grants.
How we can help
As Google Partners, with a specialist understanding of theatres and the wider cultural sector, we’re uniquely qualified to help your theatre reach new visitors and raise awareness for your organisation using Google Ad Grants.
We can help in a couple of ways:
1. WE CAN MANAGE IT FOR YOU
We will make sure your campaigns meet each of Google’s requirements, and secure the most possible value from the available budget. We’ll also keep on top of changes to Google Ads so you don’t have to think about it.
Our pricing is very competitive, and we offer monthly and bi-monthly rates.
2. KEEPING IT IN-HOUSE? WE CAN STILL HELP
For many organisations, outsourcing Ad Grant management is the obvious choice. The returns from the free ad spend easily justify the management fees. It’s not for everyone though.
If you want to handle day-to-day management you might still benefit from an outside perspective from time to time. We can help with:
Audits and check-ups - we’ll review your account to catch any errors and make sure your budget isn’t getting chewed up by poor quality campaigns. We won’t just look for problems, but will make additional suggestions for building up your account performance too.
Account structure and setup - on top of an audit, you can also bring us in for a limited time to get the account in order, before handing it back to you for ongoing management. We recommend about 4 months for the setup process, so that we can monitor initial results.
Training - our beginner or advanced training sessions help bring teams up to speed on Google Ads and Ad Grants. These can be delivered remotely and are tailored to an individual theatre’s needs. Also check out our online training platform Coach: digital training for cultural professionals we have a new course launching in 2023 all about Ad Grant.
(Photo by Stefano Stacchini on Unsplash)