Paid advertising doesn't have to cost much. You'd be surprised how many more people you can reach with only $5. Plus, small paid and promoted post campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can be a great way to experiment with your messages and content, learn what works and what doesn't and move beyond your own social media fan base and reach new donors. Learn how easy it can be to do small paid campaigns on social media along with tips to improve your social media fundraising.

1. How to do paid promotions on
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

2. Agenda
• Why to do paid
promotions?
• When?
• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

3. Why do paid promotions?
• Facebook newsfeed has
changed
• Exponential reach beyond
the followers you currently
have
• Petri dish: Paid campaigns
help you test & measure
engagement/reach
• A/B testing of your
message(s) – what
works, what doesn’t
• Unlike major media
spends, it can be an
extremely affordable form
of advertising with tangible
metrics
“Every publisher on the planet
from CNN to Buzzfeed to the
New York Times is producing
content they hope readers will
find and share through the
Facebook News Feed.” –
Business Insider
“Two years ago, no one
really got their news
from Facebook. Now,
they do.” – Business
Insider

4. What should you measure?
Key metric: REACH
Key metric: CLICKS
Key metric: DONATIONS

5. Results of GlobalGiving
paid posts on Facebook

6. When to do paid advertising?
• Paying to promote your posts on a day to day
basis would be costly
• Pay to promote special events, high
engagement posts (videos, raffles, volunteer sign
up, specific fundraising campaigns), and disaster
response
• Pay to promote posts if you want to test
messaging and engagement
• Pay to promote posts if you don’t have many
fans and want to reach new audiences based
on their interests

7. Results of GiveMN
paid posts on Facebook
GiveMN Paid/Unpaid Comparison
Average Post Engagement
Website crash post on GTMD
Tomorrow is GTMD w/ Video PSA
Today is GTMD w/ Video PSA
Pet photo contest
Fathers Day Giving Card givaway
$75M Milestone Infographic
$75M Milestone Giving Card giveaway
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
90000
$75M
Milestone
Giving Card
giveaway
$75M
Milestone
Infographic
Fathers Day
Giving Card
givaway
Pet photo
contest
Today is
GTMD w/
Video PSA
Sum of Views
1350
7328
4500
8730
76309
1062
13944
751
Sum of Clicks
80
270
126
1544
321
8
1991
99
Tomorrow is Website crash
Average Post
GTMD w/
post on
Engagement
Video PSA
GTMD

8. Promoted Posts
on Facebook
Step 1: Create the perfect post!
•
•
No typos!
A/B test your message
–
–
–
•
•
Visual appeal (photos, videos or
infographics)
Have a strong call to action
–
•
Did you know…
Over 40,000 people...
You can help Sarah today…
Link to your GiveMN page
A/B test the call to action
–
–
–
–
Learn more
Support Us
Donate Now
Register today

9. Promoted Posts
on Facebook
Step 2: Click “Boost Post.” Choose the
audience you are hoping to reach.
•
People who like your page & their friends
–
–
•
Many of your fans might not be seeing your posts
regularly. This increases the likelihood they will see
a promoted post.
Your followers network of Facebook friends could
include people in your geographic area, people
with common values and interests.
People you choose through targeting
–
Targeting allows you to choose demographics of
people on Facebook who will see your promoted
post. Target by:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cites
States
Country
Age
Gender
Interests

10. Promoted Posts
on Facebook
Step 3: Set your budget.
Step 4: Select “more options”
• Duration (1-7days)
• Payment method

11. Measure your results

12. Results of GiveMN
paid tweets on Twitter
#12Daysof
#Valentine Average
GivingCard
#GTMD
Giving
Tweet
s
ROI Analysis on Twitter
$0.00
$25.00
$200.00
$60.00
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
#12DaysofGivingCards
#GTMD
#ValentineGiving
Average Tweet
$60.00
$200.00
$25.00
$0.00
Sum of Views
7087
19700
4999
1000
Sum of Clicks
69
219
37
24
Count of ReTweets
1
1
1
Count of Replies
1
1
1
Count of Follows
1
1
1

13. Crafting great promoted tweets
• Keep it to 120 characters or less, allow room for
ReTweets
• Include a call to action:
–
–
–
–
•
•
•
•
Donate
Learn more
Volunteer
Sign up
Use shortened URLs if necessary
Include photos or videos
Use Hashtags wisely
Promote more than one tweet (A/B test)

14. Promoted Tweets
Step 1: Visit http://www.ads.twitter.com and
login with your Twitter login
Step 2: Click “Create a New Campaign”

15. Step 3: Choose a promotion:
• Promote a tweet(s)
• Promote your twitter account

16. Step 4: Name
your
campaign
Step 5:
Choose a start
and end
date/time
Step 6:
Choose the
type of
targeting:
•
•
•
•
Keywords
Interests & Followers
Television market
Tailored audiences

17. Step 7: Add interest
categories for your
audience
Step 8: Set your
location(s)
Step 9: Select the
platforms on which you
wish your tweet(s) to be
visible.

18. Step 10: You can limit
targeting by gender
Step 11: Select the
tweets you wish to
promote or create
new ones
• “Automatically promote”
is a good option if you’re
not sure which of your
tweets will catch on. This
option will select the most
engaging and recent
tweets and boost them
even more.

19. Step 12: Set your overall
budget for the campaign
Step 13: Set your daily
maximum, which will affect
the pace of your promotion.
Step 14: Enter your “spend per
engagement.”
Each time your Promoted Tweet or Promoted Account is eligible to appear, an
auction takes place between your ad and all other eligible ads. Your bid is one of
the factors that determines whether your ad is displayed.

20. Results of GiveMN
YouTube Pre-roll Ads
GTMD PSA w/ Jeff Locke 300
1963
GTMD PSA w/ Jeff Locke 0
519
118
3
GTMD PSA w/ Janelle & Glenn 300
1921
GTMD PSA w/ Janelle & Glenn 0
730
0
122
3
500
Sum of Views
1000
Sum of Clicks
1500
2000
2500

21. Picking the right YouTube video
• For paid video ads, 30 seconds or shorter is
best
• The first 5 seconds is the most important
• The video should include a call to action or
suggest an action to be taken
• Video should be professional

22. Video ads on YouTube
Step 1: Visit http://adwords.google.com
Step 2: Create or sign in to your account.

23. Video ads on YouTube
Step 3: Click on
“Campaigns
” tab
Step 4: Click on
“+
Campaign”
to create a
new
campaign
and select
“online
video”

24. Step 5: Give your
campaign a
title.
Step 6: Set a
budget.
Step 7: Select a
delivery
method.
Step 8: Select your
targeted
location.

25. Step 9: Select the YouTube video
you want to use.
Step 10: Select the Ad format
• In-stream
• In-display
• In-search
Step 11: Choose your ad attributes
• Headline & description
• Thumbnail
• Display URL & Ad name

26. Step 12: Select a start and end
date for your campaign.
Step 13: You can also select the
hours during the day when the
ads will show.
Step 14: Optimize as desired.
Step 15: You can also cap
impressions.
(Frequency capping for TrueView video ad
formats limits the number of times your ads
appear on the Google Display Network or
YouTube Videos to a unique user.)

27. Step 16: Create
“Targeting group(s)”
Gender/Age
Topic
Interest
Step 17: Add search
keywords.

28. Video ads on YouTube
Make sure you’ve added payment
information!

29. Fail – Succeed – Measure
Review your campaigns and measure
Key metric: REACH
Key metric: CLICKS
Key metric: DONATIONS

30. Thanks for attending!
Questions?
Our next webinar: “What Minnesota nonprofits can learn from Travail’s
Kickstarter Success” on Thursday, March 27 @ 11 a.m.
Look for the registration link on facebook.com/givemn
All GiveMN webinars are archived on the GiveMN Blog
http://blog.givemn.org/give_mn_blog/webinars/