Summary

To maximize the impact of their Google Ads Grant budget while achieving the required minimum CTR of 5%, our team implemented a strategic approach for Autoimmune Association by balancing keyword expansion, bidding strategies, and continuous account refinement. 

The Strategy

Google Ad Grants accounts impose specific rules that you must adhere to or risk  an account suspension. Some of these restrictions include maintaining a 5% CTR and adhering to a $2 maximum CPC for certain bidding strategies.  Initially, the Autoimmune Association faced challenges balancing sufficient traffic volume against achieving the necessary high 5% CTR.

Through a couple months of rigorous and consistent testing, our team approached this by consistently expanding and refining keyword taxonomy:

• Utilized Broad Match and Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) to efficiently surface new, relevant search queries. These often came in under the 5% CTR threshold but found value in this tactic as it yielded new taxonomy avenues to explore. 
• Added Exact Match variants of the highest performing new keywords, ensuring stronger keyword-to-ad relevance
• Evaluated and switched bidding strategies in campaigns with spending challenges, such as transitioning from Maximize Conversions to Target CPA with higher CPA targets, allowing us to surpass the restrictive $2 CPC cap through Smart Bidding
• Regularly paused low-performing keywords with poor CTR, balancing click volume with improved keyword relevance. 

This meticulous optimization approach allowed us to progressively improve CTR while steadily increasing budget utilization. 

The Bottom Line

From March ‘25 to June ‘25, we significantly improved the Autoimmune Association’s campaign performance. CTR increased by +92%, surpassing the Grant’s minimum requirement and reached 5.3% by June ‘25.  Average daily spend grew by +112%, click volume rose substantially from 684 in March to 1,823 in just the first 16 days of June, all while average CPC decreased from $7 to $3, highlighting the improved efficiency.  This optimization strategy not only improves the Non-Profits compliance with the Grant requirements but also significantly increases their reach and effectiveness in driving engagement.