…or Pay-Per-Click Branding
I used Google Adwords for the marketing of the Nuclear Energy Symposium this fall here at Penn State. We had a $500 budget and ended up using only $369.47 for 1,600 clicks. Clicks are often considered the preliminary goal, meaningful ones the next, while conversions to enrollments the happy ending.
In this particular campaign, the faculty member wanted to market globally. He wanted postcards and emails to be sent to nuclear professionals all over the world. He didn’t care, he said, if they came or not, he just wanted them to know about it. His budget did not even come close to supporting his desires. What he was asking for really, was branding Penn State’s Nuclear Program, his symposium and himself.
Google Adwords to the rescue.
To get these 1,600 clicks, our ad was seen by 1,641,988 people. All these impressions were either nuclear related key word searches or on nuclear content pages. Granted, I am not as schooled as many, but 1.6 million people seeing our name for $369.47 seems like a pretty good deal. Can we calculate any metrics from the branding of PSU and it’s nuclear program from this campaign?
No.
So what does this all mean?
At very least, 1) I did not have to say no to the client, and 2) the client was pleased. 3) Google Adwords found me a way to accomplish something that was otherwise impossible. 4) Next year this client might be more at ease agreeing with my recommendation for something he has never heard of.
I’ll take this small success and stand on it to reach a bit higher next time.
