IAB launches educational toolkit to give search marketing a boost in the charity and public sector.
With over 60% of brand websites found to be underperforming, brands such as Oxfam, COI and Shelter show the industry how it’s done.
The IAB has teamed up with brands such as Oxfam, Shelter and the COI to provide best practice case studies in the use of search, and stress the importance of having a thorough strategy. With 89% of active internet users relying on search engines, resulting in almost 2 billion searches per month in the UK it is now the cornerstone of consumes’ online activity, and the toolkit is an essential for charity brands looking to boost their traffic, public interest and donations online.
Its release follows a recent state of the nation survey carried out by the IAB’s search council – a group of the leading search engines and agencies in the UK – which highlighted significant digital knowledge gaps within the charity and public sector. The survey found that some 61% of non-profit organisations believe their website is underperforming against their key marketing objectives – often the all-important final destination of online searches. A further 40% of charity brands had not been given training on the more advanced techniques such as the relationship between social media and search.
The toolkit illustrates how for non-profit and charity campaigns there are a number of reasons why search marketing is so significant – in particular it can help generate donations, you can monitor results in real time and you can also use search to react immediately to emergency news stories or natural disasters when they hit. The document, available to download for free at www.iabuk.net/search, also features practical guidance for those within the industry, including:
- Tools for benchmarking and planning
- Tips on how to execute a successful search campaign, setting targets and agreeing budgets.
- Advice on obtaining grants
- Steps to improve website landing pages and conversion
Paola Lopez, Senior Digital Marketing Manager for the COI said: ‘Search is an important gateway to access public services and charities online. The IAB toolkit offers practical tips and illustrations on building a search strategy, including a guide to the various free tools for search insight and planning. A must for all non-profit advertisers.’
Jack Wallington, head of industry programmes for the Internet Advertising Bureau and chair of the IAB Search Council said: “In a crowded space where many organisations are competing for share of voice on and offline, search marketing has become one of the best ways for non-profits to get visibility with people looking to support them or to use their services. However, the non-profit sector is often resource-light and time-poor, which means that taking the time to learn about new and emerging digital techniques, regardless of how significant, may not always be possible.
"The IAB’s Search Toolkit for Non-Profits has been written by expert practitioners to provide charities with a helping hand in working out how to make the most of this essential online tool – not only to bring them up to speed with search, but help them generate more donations, deliver messages to their audience and build brand."
