Post-Campaign Summary - FETCH a Cure Executive Summary Campaign Overview:

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1 Post-Campaign Summary - FETCH a Cure Executive Summary Campaign Overview: FETCH a Cure, hereafter referred to as FETCH, is a non-profit organization located in Richmond, VA. FETCH stands for Furthering Education and Treatment for Companion Health, and their mission is to increase awareness about the prevalence of cancer in dogs, promote cancer treatment options, and provide funding for treatment through their Companions in Crisis program. Since FETCH operates with a limited marketing budget, Google AdWords is an ideal marketing platform for achieving their communications goals in a cost-effective manner. Five campaigns were created based on their alignment with FETCH s most pressing goals as well as their likelihood to capture a wide audience: Brand, Warning Signs, Treatment Options, Companions in Crisis, and the Pet Age Calculator. The goals established for the campaign were to achieve an average click-through rate (CTR) of 1.0% by obtaining 41,667 impressions and 417 clicks at an average cost-per-click (CPC) of $0.60. Key Results: All established goals for the campaign were exceeded. Of the allocated $250 budget, $ was spent to achieve an average CTR of 4.38% by obtaining 11,290 impressions and 494 clicks at an average CPC of $0.50. The most successful campaign, Pet Age Calculator, included the Dog Age Chart Ad Group, which had the highest CTR of 20.00%, and the Dog s Life Expectancy Ad Group, which received the most clicks at 64. Google Analytics data indicates that the AdWords campaign increased FETCH s website page views and sessions each by approximately 25.00% through the 494 clicks it received. Conclusion: The three-week AdWords campaign far exceeded its goals due to continual optimization in the form of: keyword building per the Keyword Planner tool, daily keyword bid adjustment, targeted ads created using the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool, budget reallocation according to campaign success, A/B ad testing, structural reorganization based on suggestions from the Opportunities tab, report analysis, and the pausing of underperforming keywords and Ad Groups. Used alongside Google+, AdWords has proven to be an extremely powerful tool in maximize FETCH s digital marketing efforts. Future Online Marketing Recommendations: Target market awareness is a direct product of visibility, which has increased substantially due to the 440 new visitors acquired through the AdWords campaign. Thus, it is highly recommended that FETCH continue to expand its online presence through the use of AdWords, social media, and their website, which are all effective platforms to reach their marketing goals of awareness and education. 1 of 10

2 Industry Component Campaign Overview: The three-week AdWords campaign was designed to achieve FETCH s two main online marketing goals, which are to: 1) increase awareness of cancer in dogs, and 2) increase awareness about cancer treatment options and available funding through Companions in Crisis. Five campaigns were created around unique landing pages within the client s website: Brand Campaign, Warning Signs Campaign, Treatment Options Campaign, Companions in Crisis Campaign, and the Pet Age Calculator Campaign. Figure 1 demonstrates the final account structure. In total, the five campaigns included 54 Ad Groups, 290 ads, and 2,576 keywords. Figure 1: AdWords Account Structure Based upon search data from Google s Keyword Planner, these campaigns were chosen to reach a wide audience and obtain the greatest increase in traffic to FETCH s website in the most cost-effective manner. Overall success was measured in comparison to the original goals for the AdWords campaign, which was to achieve an average click-through rate (CTR) of 1.0% by obtaining 41,667 impressions and 417 clicks at an average cost-per-click (CPC) of $0.60. Originally, the $250 budget was to be spent in growing increments per week at 20%, 30%, and 50%. Table 1 shows the resulting budget amount spent by each campaign. Table 1: Total Budget Spent by Campaign per Week Brand Warning Signs Treatment Options Companions in Crisis Pet Age Calculator Total by Week Week 1 (3/28-4/4) Week 2 (4/5-4/11) Week 3 (4/12-4/18) Total by Campaign $1.29 $17.09 $23.13 $2.96 $17.60 $62.07 $3.91 $19.85 $19.50 $0.15 $25.37 $68.78 $2.87 $31.90 $29.95 $9.59 $43.98 $ $8.07 $68.84 $72.58 $12.70 $86.95 $ of 10

3 After Week 1, the daily budget for each campaign was adjusted according to CTR and percentage of total clicks received. FETCH s AdWords campaign window was March 28, 2014 through April 18, Each team member was assigned a different campaign to monitor. A checklist of daily tasks to complete was created, including adjusting daily budget, performing A/B ad testing, adjusting keyword bids, generally optimizing the account, etc. The Search Terms Report was regularly checked to identify new keywords and negative keyword opportunities. In addition, a Google spreadsheet was utilized to plan account structure, track campaign performance data, and record major account changes, such as the creation of new Ad Groups or the pausing of certain keywords. Daily automated reports customized by date range, campaign, Ad Groups, ads, keywords, segments, and ad extensions were sent to the account s for review. Evolution of the Campaign Strategy: The Brand Campaign and Companions in Crisis Campaign saw little to no activity during the first two weeks of the campaign until it was decided to expand their location targeting settings from Virginia and the surrounding Richmond area to include the entire United States. After making that change, the Companions in Crisis Campaign received 14 out its 17 total clicks for the entire campaign during the third week. All campaigns were run in the Google Search Network, including Search Partners. The Google Display Network was briefly explored in the third week by creating an additional Brand Campaign for that specific purpose. However, it did not receive any significant activity data. The major and most successful development of the campaign strategy was the creation of new Ad Groups based upon suggestions from the Opportunities tab and Search Terms Report data. In the Warning Signs Campaign, the Dog Cancer Symptoms Ad Group and Canine Cancer Symptoms Ad Group were built out of the original Dog Cancer Signs Ad Group. This change resulted in final CTRs of 7.08% and 7.94%, respectively. A total of eight Ad Groups were added in the Treatment Options Campaign to capitalize on the success of certain keywords in the Dog {DKI} Cancer Ad Group and other opportunities. Two additional Ad Groups were created in the Companions in Crisis Campaign, including the Dog Cancer Treatment Cost Ad Group which resulted in the most clicks out of any Ad Group in that campaign. Most importantly, ten new Ad Groups were created in the Pet Age Calculator Campaign after discovering the popularity and relevancy of its keywords in the first week of the campaign. Eight of its 16 total Ad Groups, including two new ones that utilized Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI), received a significant 3 of 10

4 number of impressions, clicks, and an outstanding CTR between the range of 3.38% and 20.00%. The relatively low CPC for those keywords also helped to increase budget efficiency and drive down costs. Key Results: Compared to data from FETCH s Google Analytics account for the threeweek period prior to March 28, the AdWords campaign increased page views and sessions each by approximately 25.00% through the 494 clicks accumulated. Mobile sessions in particular grew by 22.39%. Geographically, website visits from the Richmond area increased by 14.40%, due to the success of the Brand Campaign and Companions in Crisis Campaign. In addition, the bounce rate for paid search was 31.90% lower than the bounce rate for organic search during the campaign window, demonstrating effective choice of relevant keywords and ad copy. Table 2 outlines the AdWords performance details by campaign. Table 2: Overall Account Performance Clicks Impr. CTR Avg. CPC Cost Avg. Pos. Brand % $0.47 $ Warning Signs 101 2, % $0.68 $ Treatment Options 132 4, % $0.55 $ Companions in Crisis % $0.75 $ Pet Age Calculator 227 3, % $0.38 $ Total , % $0.50 $ The Brand Campaign had the highest CTR due to the greatest relevancy of its keywords, such as [fetch a cure] and [pixie s pen pals]. The Pet Age Calculator Campaign consistently experienced the most success in terms of achieving a high CTR at a low CPC. Surprisingly, this was mainly accomplished with the use of broad match keywords. In terms of Ad Groups with the most clicks, four out of the top five performers came from the Pet Age Calculator Campaign. The Warning Signs Campaign and Treatment Options Campaign were similarly successful in obtaining clicks in a cost-effective manner to achieve FETCH s marketing goal of providing education about dog cancer. Figure 2, located at the top of page five, highlights the increase in clicks gained throughout the campaign while simultaneously decreasing or maintaining the average CPC. Additionally, Figure 3 on page five emphasizes how FETCH steadily attained an improved Average Position (where lower numbers indicate a higher ad position on the results page) across the entire campaign. 4 of 10

5 Avg. Position Figure 2: Clicks and Avg. CPC by Week Figure 3: Avg. Position by Week Week Relevant ads and keywords were also critical to the campaign s success. A keyword combination that proved to be effective was the word dog followed by some indicator of the dog s age, such as life expectancy. An example of an ineffective keyword was use of the word lump to drive traffic through the Warning Signs Campaign. Table 3 below illustrates the most effective ads within the most effective campaigns, measured primarily by clicks. The exemplary success of these ads can be attributed to a number of factors discovered through extensive A/B testing and keyword bidding. For example, the plus (+) and underscore (_) characters used in the display URL of the Pet Age Calculator ad, lower case lettering used in the Treatment Options ad, and ad copy used in the display URL of the Warning Signs ad have been identified as the main sources of their high performance. Table 3: Most Effective Ads Campaign Ad Copy Clicks CTR Avg. CPC Pet Age Calculator Treatment Options Warning Signs Dog s Life Expectancy fetchacure.com/+dog_life_expectancy Average Dog s Life Expectancy. Find Out Now! {KeyWord: Treat Cancer In Dogs} fetchacure.com/treat_canine_cancer Test and detect cancer in your pet. Learn about treatment options Types of Tumors on Dogs fetchacure.com/tumors-in-dogs Tumors May Be A Sign of Cancer. Learn More About Common Symptoms! % $ % $ % $0.61 To bolster optimization efforts, sitelinks in Ad Extensions were added to all campaigns, such as Volunteer, Dog Cancer Facts, Pixie s Pen Pals, Contact Us, Preventative Care, and Mission: Helping Pets. Sitelink descriptions were created for each extension on April 7 to further increase the physical size of the ad. Altogether, sitelink clicks accounted 5 of 10

6 for 8.1% of all account clicks. As the campaign progressed, the team discovered how to use customized columns in the AdWords interface, such as Search Lost IS (Budget) and Search Lost IS (Rank), to help reallocate daily budget amounts between the individual campaigns to better maximize success. In addition, the team began to adjust the keyword bids using the Estimated Top Page Bid column to ensure that the ads were shown in a top position. Rather than ignore them, the keywords with Quality Scores lower than 5/10 and low search volume were kept active because some of them still received a high CTR. However, keywords that received many impressions but no clicks were paused. During the final two days of the campaign, all underperforming Ad Groups and keywords were paused. This change allowed the team to manage the optimization, particularly with regard to ad strategy and budgetary aspects of the account, in a more efficient and effective manner. As a result, the overall account achieved its highest daily CTR at 11.67%, shown in Figure 4. Figure 4: Overall CTR for Week 3 Conclusion: Overall, the AdWords campaign performance far exceeded its established goals for CTR by % and total number of clicks by 18.46%. Of the $250 budget, the campaign spent $ and achieved an average CTR of 4.38% by obtaining 11,290 impressions and 494 clicks at an average CPC of $0.50. The high CTR and number of clicks can be attributed to constant monitoring of the account and keyword relevancy improvement according to Google search traffic data surrounding dogs. Moreover, the low CPC enabled the team to maximize FETCH s budget. Future Recommendations: Maintaining FETCH s Google AdWords account is critical to expanding their online presence and achieving their organizational goals. It is recommended that FETCH increase their marketing budget since 90% of search traffic was lost due to budget constraints on the Treatment Options, Warning Signs, and Pet Age Calculator campaigns. Due to the success and usefulness of DKI tactics employed within the campaigns, it is recommended that FETCH continue using DKI to discover popular search queries from which to strengthen Ad Groups. Google Analytics should be used to examine organic search query data which may be added as keywords in relevant AdWords campaigns. Finally, with the rollout of FETCH s redesigned website and altered.org domain name, it is recommended that new ads be created to reflect this change. 6 of 10

7 Learning Component Learning Objectives and Outcomes: While participating in the Google Online Marketing Challenge, the team strived to further develop and enhance personal knowledge of Google AdWords and Google+ while gaining professional experience in client interaction. One objective in gaining knowledge of AdWords included understanding how to use available tools such as the Keyword Planner and Opportunities tab. In alignment with FETCH s mission, the purpose of the AdWords campaign was to promote education and awareness surrounding canine cancer. By closely aligning the goals of the campaign to the goals of the client, we hoped to gain valuable and transferrable knowledge about how to successfully manage resources under budgetary and time constraints. Alongside use of the Keyword Planner and Opportunities tool, broad match keywords were initially used at the beginning of the campaign for the purpose of gaining insight as to what terms were actively being searched. As the team began to gain a greater understanding of what keywords were receiving clicks, broad match keywords were paused in order to bid on phrase and [exact] match keywords. This method was used across all campaigns to help maintain a high CTR and low impressions. Halfway through the second week of the campaign, the team made an executive decision to pause all keywords or ads that had an excess of 50 impressions and zero clicks. This decision stemmed from a concern that the underperforming keywords or ads were having an adverse effect on the account s overall performance. In the third week of the campaign, this threshold was further narrowed to exclude any keyword or ad that had either an excess of 30 impressions and zero clicks, or a CTR of 3.00% or less. This decision ultimately helped raise the account s overall CTR in the last week of the campaign to an astounding 11.67%. Noting the significant increase, the team recognized that we could have potentially been more selective with threshold metrics to optimize the campaigns. There was an initial lag in receiving clicks for both the Brand Campaign and Companions in Crisis Campaign because both were location targeted. Once the location targeting was removed and search settings were expanded to encompass the entire United States for the Companions in Crisis Campaign, clicks increased by %. This metric indicated either low search volume for canine financial assistance or lack of knowledge about FETCH s Companions in Crisis program in the locally targeted region. Thus, the team speculates that FETCH s current local marketing efforts are not as effective as they could be in promoting brand awareness. It is strongly recommended that FETCH use AdWords in the future to continue increasing brand awareness. Overall, the team developed a better 7 of 10

8 understanding of account structure, optimization techniques, and paid search performance metrics which can be transferred to our client. Group Dynamics: The team was particularly effective in delegating tasks, executing daily maintenance adjustments, and ultimately collaborating with one another. In preparation for the official start date of the three-week campaign period, each team member chose a campaign to individually manage, aside from the Brand Campaign which was to be managed by the team as a whole. However, throughout the duration of the campaign window, the team found it necessary to be flexible in regards to working in campaigns other than our own. Flexibility was particularly useful during the times when team members were unable to consistently manage their respective campaign due to other obligations. On those occasions, it was necessary to make arrangements with the remaining team members to determine who would monitor the campaigns in their absence. Google Hangouts, Google Documents, and Google Spreadsheets within the Google Drive were found to be a great remedy to this obstacle as they enabled us to meet and collaborate virtually with one another without having to be in the same vicinity. Client Dynamics: Working with the team at FETCH a Cure was a very positive experience. Prior to the Challenge, we had several consultations with their staff to better understand their goals and align our efforts to them. FETCH put their complete trust in our abilities and were open to any suggestions the team had in terms of content changes to their website, both within and beyond the scope of AdWords. While the client was receptive to content changes, they expressed an interest in altering their domain URL, which would have interfered with the team s ability to promote FETCH s current website during the campaign. Through open discussion with FETCH personnel, the team conveyed the importance of having a consistent online presence. Open communication with FETCH continued throughout the campaign window via weekly phone and correspondences to share account performance updates. Not only was the client extremely supportive of our efforts, but they were equally enthusiastic about the future opportunities to capitalize on AdWords. Future Recommendations: Before the launch of the campaigns, the team created a checklist of daily tasks to record all changes made during each session in AdWords. If we were to participate in the Challenge again, the team would be more diligent in recording daily changes to gain clearer insight into what impacted the campaign results. Google Analytics data also could have been used further to effectively target FETCH s audience. Overall, this experience has given us deeper insight into how team dynamics and an understanding of AdWords jointly determine success in achieving online marketing goals for a client. 8 of 10

9 Impact Statement FETCH a Cure Non-profit Information: FETCH a Cure (hereafter referred to as FETCH) is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness for canine cancer and providing treatment funding for families whose dogs are afflicted with the disease. FETCH stands for Furthering Education and Treatment for Companion Health. Their website is fetchacure.com, and their offices are headquartered at 5609 Patterson Avenue, Suite D Richmond, VA Robin Moncol, the Director of Development and point of contact, can be reached at (804) How the Non-profit is Making a Social Impact: Often considered family from the moment of adoption, pets grow alongside their companions, bonding over the journeys faced in life together. However much like their human counterparts, animals can fall victim to disease and sickness. This can have a devastating impact on a family, both financially and emotionally, as they make difficult decisions regarding how to care for their pets. FETCH comes to the aid of pet owners, relieving some of these burdens through providing education on canine cancer, treatment grants, and shelter programs. Pet owner Gary Carlton who received support from FETCH after his beloved dog Kyla was diagnosed with cancer said, It was that realization, having to leave [Kyla] behind, carrying her collar and leash back to the car, that I found myself not wanting to think about her dying, but having to think about it anyway. I kept kicking myself for not noticing the signs and symptoms earlier. Avoiding tragic stories like this was founder Mike Holland s mission in creating FETCH, as he similarly struggled to find support when his own dog was diagnosed with the disease. Ultimately, FETCH s vision is to enable a community where no one is denied a choice for their pet s care due to a lack of options, education, or funding. Their community impact is evident in the way FETCH supports people faced with the loss of a companion and advocates for pets who do not have the capacity to do so themselves. 14-Year-Old Kyla Google AdWords Campaign Summary: The five campaigns created within FETCH s AdWords account included: Brand, Warning Signs, Treatment Options, Companions in Crisis, and Pet Age Calculator. Of the $250 budget allocated, $ was spent while achieving an average click-through rate (CTR) of 4.38%. This was done by obtaining 11,290 impressions and 494 clicks at an average cost-per-click (CPC) of $0.50. Compared to data from FETCH s Google Analytics account for the prior three-week period, the AdWords campaigns increased webpage views and sessions by approximately 25%, respectively. 9 of 10

10 How the AdWords Campaign was Designed to Meet Client Goals: FETCH s online marketing goals are to increase awareness about canine cancer, treatment options, and available funding. Upon consulting with FETCH, five web pages were identified as the most critical for reaching these goals. Additional content was created and incorporated for three of the five pages based on keyword research and popular search queries. The content served not only to increase traffic potential and search query relevancy, but also to support FETCH s mission by providing additional educational information to searchers surrounding canine cancer and treatment funding options. Thus, five campaigns were structured to drive traffic to each of these landing pages. Bearing in mind FETCH s mission to improve quality of life by connecting people and pets through accessible, compassionate treatment and education, the Warning Signs and Treatment Options campaigns were created. The Warning Signs Campaign targeted searchers seeking to identify and understand symptoms, with an objective to increase awareness of how to detect cancer in dogs. The Treatment Options Campaign targeted pet owners seeking therapy for their afflicted animals, with an objective of guiding searchers to FETCH s treatment resources. The Companions in Crisis Campaign educated pet owners about the financial aid services FETCH offers to those unable to afford the costs of lifesaving treatments for their pets suffering from cancer. In an effort to both promote awareness for canine aging issues and increase traffic to the FETCH website, the Pet Age Calculator Campaign was created. Finally, the Brand Campaign was created to increase online visibility through targeting searchers already familiar with FETCH. Future AdWords Recommendations: The evaluation of Google AdWords ability to further client goals has been based on FETCH s mission to increase awareness of canine cancer and available funding options for treatment. Alongside the success of the five campaigns run during the Challenge, several untapped topics that FETCH wishes to promote could benefit from advertising via AdWords campaigns, including: upcoming events, sponsorship opportunities, volunteering, and adoptions. Considering that Google AdWords can supplement FETCH s online marketing efforts and community impact, it is strongly advised that FETCH continue to take advantage of AdWords in the future. In addition, FETCH is strongly encouraged to apply to the Google Grants program. FETCH could potentially receive $10,000 per month in AdWords advertising, which would account for 20,000 website visits per month at their current CPC. This could enable a substantial increase in canine cancer awareness, significantly furthering FETCH s mission of empowering pet owners to enrich and save their companions lives of of 10