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Google advertising for schools

At Digithrive we believe in marketing activities that set your school up for long-term success, such as inbound marketing, SEO (search engine optimisation or search engine marketing), and social media marketing.

All of these digital marketing efforts will increase your ROI over time, and build your brand awareness and loyalty.

However, there are times when results are needed at a much faster rate, which is when we turn to online advertising in the form of Google Ads, previously known as Google Adwords. Google Ads provide your school with the opportunity to put your message directly in front of your target audience quickly and effectively, without the need to wait to see results.

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What Are Google Ads?

Google Ads are a form of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, where you will only pay for your advertisement when a person takes a desired action on your advertisement (usually a click).

With Google Ads campaigns, there are two different places or platforms on the internet where you can show your ads, namely:

  • Google Search Network Ads show your ad on the search results page of Google when a person is searching for your chosen keywords.
  • Google Display Network Ads appear as banners on third-party websites in the  Google Display Network.

How does Google Ads work?

Google Ads is a form of paid advertising that allows you to target specific audiences directly by bidding on specific keywords that are relevant to your school and goals. You can also tailor phrasing to drive traffic to specific landing pages or pages of your website.

Google uses an auction system, where you place bids to have your ad shown to your audience, competing against other users who are bidding for the same spot in search results.

When determining who wins the bid, Google takes into consideration the quality of your ad and the landing pages that you are directing users to.

Search Ads or Google Search Network Ads are paid ads and are seen at the top of search engine results pages. They have a headline and URL with an accompanying description. Prospective students and prospective parents are more likely to click on these paid ads because they are shown alongside information they are already searching for on Google.

Display Ads are usually image-based and are shown on multiple platforms within the Google Display Network. They are shown in the form of banner ads, which are found on many websites and on other social media platforms. There are very specific image measurements for each display ad, which the Digithrive team meets exactly.

Google Ads are also mobile-friendly, which means that a prospective student or parent using their mobile phone will be able to see and click through on your ads using their mobile phone. This allows you to reach a much wider audience who are interested in your school.

Why do I need Google Ads?

Google Ads, specifically search ads, are a highly strategic method of putting your method in font of prospective parents and students.

Better Targeting

Your Google Ads campaign will ensure that your ad appears to people who are actively searching for and researching schools in your area – the guesswork of advertising is removed, and the clicks you pay for will be from genuinely interested prospective families.

Google Ads allow you to create a specific, relevant audience of prospective students and prospective parents – you won’t be sending content out to all Google users, but a refined demographic that will drive leads, school website traffic, and who will attend open days and become students.

More Budget Control

Another major benefit of any Google Ads campaign is that you have control over your costs. You can choose how much you spend on your average cost per month, per day, and per ad, while only paying when someone clicks on your ads.

Working on a cost per click basis gives you better control over your daily budget when it comes to digital marketing, making it ideal even for those who have a small budget.

Measurable Results

Google Ads for schools, whether they are search ads or display ads, are great for measuring the success of your ad campaign. If a user clicked on one of your ads in the search results, for example, and then took an action that is valuable to your school, you can track these actions.

By seeing which ads get clicks and which ones don’t, Digithrive can see where to invest in your marketing campaign, which will boost your ROI.

We look at valuable data, like your cost per click, how much you are spending on advertising that leads to customers taking action, and we use analytical tools provided by Google Ads to understand more about your audience’s habits such as how long they tend to research schools before they make a decision.

Faster Results

While Digithrive does work with long-term marketing techniques, getting faster results is sometimes the best choice for our clients. Google Ads provide much faster results in terms of your brand awareness and lead generation goals.

Search ads will appear directly in search results, sometimes at the top of the page, whereas organic content might take a longer time to appear in search results.

A display ad on a relevant website can guide prospective students to your landing page much faster than a blog with internal links can. The speedy results of Google Ads enable our teams to adapt our planning more efficiently with real-time data, updated ad groups, and information from search results that lead to people clicking on your ads.

What should I consider for my Google Ads?

Once you understand Google Ads more, there are certain aspects you should consider before taking the plunge and contacting Digithrive for our help.

Your Budget

When it comes to Google Ads, your budget is one of the most important considerations. You will need to set a daily budget for each Google Ad campaign that you run. Setting a monthly budget might work better for your planning, and remember that you do not need to have a large budget to see tangible results.

Your Goals

Having set goals for Google search ads and display ads is vital, as it will guide each decision you make about your campaigns and content. Running ads without a goal might lead to very low lead generation and conversions. Your goals should always align with your school’s overall marketing goals such as school brand awareness, driving enrolments, engaging alumni and encouraging donations.

Your Keywords

Keywords are the main component of any successful Google ad campaign, as these are what you bid on in order to appear in search results. Think about the search terms that your target audience might be looking for and the actions you want potential parents, students, and even staff to take after clicking on your ad. Knowing your keywords will guide you in knowing the average cost of bidding on that search term, how competitive it is and some related keywords that you could bid on.

Your Landing Pages

Landing pages are the pages where people will land after clinging through on your ad. It is best to create a specific page for your display or search ad, as this will be more relevant to your audience and a landing page is also a major part of the quality score Google looks at when choosing which bids win when the bidding starts.

How have we used Google Ads to help clients?

As one of the leading education marketers in the industry, we make use of any powerful tool we can get our hands on, including Google Ads. For Dallington School, we took a holistic approach that included ads as well as other forms of marketing.

Dallington School wanted to increase their pupil admission numbers, to increase their rank as the top choice of independent primary schools in London, and they wanted to measure the ROI of their marketing spend.

Unfortunately, the school lacked time, resources and expertise, and had been using multiple agencies to manage their digital and print advertising, social and creative design, with little to no reporting.

Digithrive was asked to take control of all aspects of Dallington School’s marketing, including strategy, implementation, and reporting. We created a holistic marketing campaign that spanned multiple channels including Google Ads, with clearly defined goals and KPIs at the forefront.

So far, Dallington School has seen 3.2 million impressions, 198 000 reach, and 194 leads.

Partner with Digithrive to uncover the value and reach of Google Ads today.

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