See Content & Organic Search case studies from 6 Australian charities that show how organisations benefit from investment in content and search for fundraising and campaigning. Specific examples show higher conversion rates and average donation amounts from people who visit from Google.
People that come from content and organic search (Google) also have higher engagement with content (longer time on site, view more pages) and they do convert to sign their name to petitions, download PDFs and sign up for newsletters.
Case studies from ASRC, WWF-Australia, MS Research Australia, Peter Mac Foundation, Fred Hollows and Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.
6. WWF is positioned as experts about threatened species in
Australia. During the bushfires, the content and press releases
they put out made WWF the go-to spokespeople for media – and
people flocked to support them.
Content + organic searches for
WWF
7. During the peak of the bushfires, Jan 4 and Jan 8, when
newspapers all over the world broadcast that WWF estimated
over a billion animals were killed by the bushfires, this drove
searches for WWF.
Landing Pages Sessions
Search Queries Clicks
WWF’s clicks from Google
13. You’re creating content already
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Did you know that it can happen so young?
I had never heard of a person in their 30s getting breast cancer. I was only 27.
Did you know that it can happen so young?
*|IF:FNAME|* *|FNAME|*, *|ELSE:|* Friend, *|END:IF|* I just couldn’t comprehend it;
how could it possibly be happening to me?
And it wasn’t just the fact that I was young.
I was fit too.
I didn’t smoke.
I ate well.
I was breastfeeding my son.
I was the healthiest I’d ever been.
But cancer doesn’t care about that.
That’s why it’s so important that you are aware and learn how to check your own
breasts regularly.
If you don’t know how to check your breasts, now is the time to learn.
Please. PLEASE. Check your breasts.
Tarah, diagnosed 2012
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19. Paid activity is a short-term fix.
Quality is lower –CVR & Ave.$ + poor attrition.
It skews your database.
20. 3 Years (2017-2019) & 10 Charities
HUGE focus on paid channels
Sessions by Channel (raw numbers)
Sessions by Channel (%)
21. What the data tells us
Orgs are getting really good at using paid channels to drive lots
of people to their websites, but CVR% is dropping sharply.
PAID (cpc tagged) activity is hugely linked to Social (i.e.
Facebook) and Paid Search (SEM) – which is causing a drop in
the % of people converting from Organic search, which
decreases quality.
Tracking is still an issue. It’s either incorrectly allocated (referral
instead of email) or not in place, often for actions & goals.
22. Engage with people that are actively looking for your info.
People that visit from Google organic search have the highest ROI
and long-term benefit to your organisation.
28. +12%+28%
+40%
Year 2019
Bushfires Jan 2020
In 2019 – people from Organic Google,
gave a 40% HIGHER donation amount,
than those who came via their email database and
paid campaigns.
Organic Traffic = Higher ave. Gift $
During bushfires, CVR%
from Organic supporters
was 28% higher than
those driven through
WWF’s owned & paid
channels.
- To compare: Organic traffic CVR
for 2019 was less than 1%
During the
bushfires, the
ave gift $ was
higher from
Organic
supporters
Income $
29. Content = Quality
WWF. Organic supporters have a
Higher CVR% to donation
• People from Google that visited WWF’s Bushfire pages,
made up 59% of the donation income from search
• The Conversion Rate (CVR%) to donation from Organic search
is considerably higher 11.2%
• Combined with a larger donation amount $…
Income $
This is a campaign WON by Content
30. Content makes WWF authority
47% Almost 50% of the sessions during
2019 came from ORGANIC sources
WWF: Campaigning with Content…
A decade of action on Climate Change
24% Almost ¼ of visitors from organic
search landed on the page:
Causes of Global Warming
Awareness
31. These are the top 10
Google Search terms
that landed on the
“Causes of global
warming” page
Content about
Global Warming
brought over
300k+ visitors
from Organic
search in 2019
32. ORGANIC brought
-40% of Newsletter subscriptions
-30% of Social Shares
Building
people power
from Content
Social Media Shares
Newsletter subscribers
Campaigns
33. Content & organic search
achieves
- campaign support
- database growth
- higher average gifts
34. **Clicks - Search Queries with 1000+ impressions
People are searching for information
on ASRC’s biggest campaigns
35. These are the top 10
Google Search queries
that landed on ASRC’s
Medevac FAQ page
What is
Medevac?
37. Of all the people that found
ASRC from a Google search –
33% of them landed on the
Medevac FAQ page.
#SaveMedevac
38. Content builds
empathy
& People Power
In 2019, STORIES was
- 3rd most visited landing/ entry page
- 4,500 people came from Organic
search
Engagement + Database growth
39. In 2019,
24% of people that came from Organic search to
the STORIES page signed the Welcome Pledge
Database growth
40. Of people visiting the STORIES
pages:
- 5% CVR of web visitors to
signature
- 24% CVR of organic search
visitors to signature
5% 24%Paid/ Owned CVR ORGANIC CVR
Organic visitors vs Paid/ Owned
41. Supporter behavior is better
from organic content:
- Longer time on site
- Lower bounce/ exit rate
2019 Page/Session Session
Duration
Organic 2.16 02:02
NON Organic 1.87 01:19
People that come through
Content + Organic search
browse more pages per
session and spend longer on
site
Organic search
visitors
are more engaged
Engagement
42. Content + Organic
users are more
interested in getting
involved and knowing
more about asylum
seekers and the
organization’s work
Engagement
43. Despite the Paid and Owned
channel having 4x more
donations, the high ave.
donation means that Organic
made up 40% of all income
Organic has 80%
higher Ave.
Donation $
One-off Vs Monthly Donations
People that find ASRC from search
donate more & more often
People that come to ASRC via organic search, are
slightly more likely to make a monthly donation.
Income $
45. More people visit the “What is MS?”
page than the Homepage
Engagement
46. The CVR% is better &
Ave.$ gift is 84% higher from Donors
who come via Organic Search
But Content
+ Search
only drives
11% of total
visitors to
the website
Income $
47. Content = engagement
PeterMac’s visitors
from Organic search:
- spend 200% longer
on site than others
- visit 56% more
pages
Engagement
48. Organic supporters take more
actions
People that visit Hollows.org.au
- Engage + share more on social media
- Make more enquiries (contact us)
- Subscribe to the newsletter more
Engagement +
Database growth
49. You have a HUGE opportunity
What you can do is…
50. 1.
Identify your strategic content areas.
What is your core mission?
What do you want to be known/ found
for?
51. 2.
Give people a next logical step.
What call to action is relevant to this
content?
52. 3.
Invest in SEO Keyword Research.
Create content that people are searching
for. Optimise the content you already
have.
53. 4a.
Set up your Tracking and
actually report on it!
Goals & funnels in Google Analytics
54. 4b.
Set up your Tracking
So you can prove content wins!
eCommerce tracking
x 4/10 orgs we used for this research didn’t have
eCommerce tracking for 3 years
Utm tracking for your channels/ source activity
x Most orgs we used for this research weren’t consistent in
tracking paid vs owned channels
x Separate out cpc PAID activity so it’s clear what is
Facebook and affiliates and Paid Search or remarketing
etc
Get GOALS and Events measures in place
x Only 3/10 orgs we used for this research were clearly
tracking goals against the source of traffic
55. 6.
Budget for Content & SEO
Your Content + SEO strategy is across the whole
organisation (but Marketing should lead it).
Content is an area that breaks down silos, where you can
collaborate and share resources.
Write a content ACTION PLAN for the next 6-12 months.
Make a case for an in-house writer or budget for an agency/
freelancer. This will have a positive ROI pretty fast - so long as
you can track it!
59. Slides will be sent later today
Info Session has been recorded to share
Don’t forget to download your Checklist
Hinweis der Redaktion
Orgs should invest more in their content strategy - because it will bring the right type of people into their cause
Case studies to prove that search and it’s intrinsic link with SEO drives strategic objectives
What you Can do/ Act Now
How did they do it, and how can you too?
Context for Digital: Back to the Digital Landscape (7+ slides?)
What the data told us - Intense focus on owned channels and PAID digital activity
Lots of people coming to websites (Fred Hollows + WWF) but CVR dropping sharply - Donation page data supports
PAID activity hugely linked to Facebook and Co-Reg suppliers (and some SEM)
Tracking is not in place for many non-financial goals
Will each of these have a charity e.g.?
Why you should listen to us - credibility (2 slides - clients + S&M pics)
Work with Charities + writing backgrounds
Marcos data skills
Context for Digital: Back to the Digital Landscape (7+ slides?)
What the data told us - Intense focus on owned channels and PAID digital activity
Lots of people coming to websites (Fred Hollows + WWF) but CVR dropping sharply - Donation page data supports
PAID activity hugely linked to Facebook and Co-Reg suppliers (and some SEM)
Tracking is not in place for many non-financial goals
Will each of these have a charity e.g.?
Natural behaviour: Content is Google connects you to people/ how people find your cause/ issue/ mission
You’re doing it (kind of) anyway: It’s a way for your Org to talk about/ demonstrate their work, through other frames
It’s the long game/ It is about QUALITY - People actively looking for information (content) that is relevant to your cause/ campaign are your best prospects
To take action/ sign up/ For behaviour change
For Giving
Because they want to learn/ are engaged > they’re your advocates and allies
Your website(s)
Words
Videos
Infographics and images
Downloads, checklists
Quiz’s/ Survey’s/ Petitions etc
Your social media community
Context for Digital: Back to the Digital Landscape (7+ slides?)
What the data told us - Intense focus on owned channels and PAID digital activity
Lots of people coming to websites (Fred Hollows + WWF) but CVR dropping sharply - Donation page data supports
PAID activity hugely linked to Facebook and Co-Reg suppliers (and some SEM)
Tracking is not in place for many non-financial goals
Will each of these have a charity eg.?
Charity Landscape 2020 (1-2 slides)
In 2010 Only a few orgs had a dedicated digital marketer/ Fundraiser - 5+ years behind corporate sector
Intense focus on Acquisition - F2F
Rise of digital lead gen + TM 2013 / Facebook since 2017
Tracking still not great
WARNING - paid activity will skew your donor base
Paid activity is a short term fix
Supporters and Donors and clients that come from PAID activity
often have lower conversion rates
have higher attrition rates
have lower average gifts
Organisations need to invest in content to attract the quality supporters, who give more and are retained for longer
Context for Digital: Back to the Digital Landscape (7+ slides?)
What the data told us - Intense focus on owned channels and PAID digital activity
Lots of people coming to websites (Fred Hollows + WWF) but CVR dropping sharply - Donation page data supports
PAID activity hugely linked to Facebook and Co-Reg suppliers (and some SEM)
Tracking is not in place for many non-financial goals
Will each of these have a charity eg.?
OPPORTUNITY - focus on content/ organic traffic for QUALITY
highest ROI and long term benefits to your organisation
Engage people when they’re ready (to hear it/ act)
Bushfire pages match condition: page path contains “bushfire-emergency” OR “stop-australias-extinction-crisis”
Global Warming pages match condition: page path contains “global-warming”
Identify the strategic content areas where you can Convert more people into supporters (capture their data) (2 slides)
What’s your Medevac/ Global Warming/ What is MS?
Put NEXT LOGICAL STEP calls to action to give or take action/ sign up on key pages
Homepages have strong call to actions to act (Action Aid, World Animal Protection etc) but it needs to be on the deep level pages (long tail) a focus on content and organic traffic has the highest ROI and long term benefits to your organisation
https://www.curebraincancer.org.au/news/1837/mini-brains-accelerating-brain-cancer-breakthroughs
Do the Keyword Research (2 slides)
Create strategic content to bring in the right type of people
Optimise the content you already have to match what people are searching for
Set up your tracking and actually report on it (3 slides)
eCommerce
Utm tracking for your channels/ activity
Separate out PAID activity (Facebook and Paid Search and remarketing etc)
Get GOALS and Events in place