The National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce

• Chamber of Commerce
• 14. 11. 2024

About

The National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship, innovation, and business growth across Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland. They serve as a vital resource for nurturing business ideas, tapping into new markets, seizing emerging opportunities, and advocating for policies that support community development. Acting as a bridge, they connect Puerto Rico and the U.S. for mutual economic growth.

Website: www.nprchamber.org
Location: Puerto Rico and U.S. mainland
Cooperation Period: September 2017 – Ongoing

Marketing Goals

• Increase membership sign-ups for the chamber
• Support the establishment and expansion of U.S. companies in Puerto Rico and vice versa
• Sell recruitment packages to companies
• Build brand recognition and promote general business resources

Initial Situation

In September 2017, we embarked on our journey with the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce (NPRCC). With no prior Ad Grants account in place, our first task was to guide them through the application process. While waiting for Google’s review and approval, we kicked off our standard onboarding process, which included:

1. Drafting a comprehensive campaign structure sent to our client for feedback and approval.
2. Preparing an initial proposal for ad copy.
3. Setting up and launching the campaigns once the Ad Grants account was established.

Focus areas

The primary focus of NPRCC was to set up campaigns that would attract U.S. companies looking to expand to Puerto Rico and vice versa, increasing the number of memberships within the Chamber. Additionally, a major priority was promoting NPRCC’s recruitment services, which featured paid plans generating significant revenue for the organization.

Beyond these primary initiatives, we also launched a brand campaign, generic campaign and a campaign promoting their business resources. The final campaign structure looked as such:

• Brand
• Dynamic
• Competitors
• Business in PR
• Business in USA
• Generic
• Donate
• Volunteering
• Veterans

Throughout our cooperation, we’ve launched multiple short-term campaigns, such as relief initiatives for Puerto Rico following the 2018 hurricane and the 2020 earthquake.

Each campaign contained campaign-specific ad copies. Below you may find an example of one expanded search ad created for the client:

• Campaign: Disaster
• Ad Group: Puerto Rico
• Headline 1: Support Earthquake Relief
• Headline 2: Donate To Puerto Rico
• Headline 3: Help Us Help In Puerto Rico
• Description line 1: Thousands of Puerto Rican are staying in shelters after recent earthquakes. Please help!
• Description line 2: We distribute new clothing, food, medicine & help with housing. Support earthquake relief.
• Final URL: https://www.nprchamber.org/disaster-relief

Early campaign performance was slower than anticipated, largely due to the competitive nature of business-related keywords. Ad Grants accounts often face an uphill battle against commercial advertisers who are always prioritized over Ad Grantees. This is because of a simple reason. Commercial advertisers pay for their campaigns with real money, whereas Ad Grantees utilize the grant’s credit. Learn about the key differences between Commercial Google Ads and Google Ad Grants here.

Results

After roughly a year of collaboration, NPRCC’s campaigns began utilizing the full grant. This shift marked a turning point, resulting in significant improvements across key performance metrics:

• Clicks & Impressions: Since we started, their campaigns have racked up over 3 million impressions and driven more than 200,000 clicks.
• Conversions: We set up both basic and advanced conversion tracking, capturing everything from new memberships and volunteer sign-ups to donation submissions and general engagement. To this date, total conversions have surpassed 15k.
• Ad Spend: We’ve successfully utilized over $1 million in Ad Grants credit, ensuring maximum impact from the grant.

On top of that, we also assisted NPRCC with a smooth transition to GA4, paving the way for more comprehensive data tracking and insights.

Twice, in 2021 during the pandemic and in 12/2022 during the Holiday season, Google awarded NPRCC with extra Ad Grants funds. We expanded campaigns in these periods, used the extra funds and generated a record number of clicks and conversions. Thanks to this boost, January 2021 has been our best month overall.

The Road Ahead

Based on our experience with this and other similar organizations, Ad Grants campaigns have proven to be highly effective for chambers of commerce, given the wide spectrum of activities and high search volume. To continue driving results, we recommend:

• Setting up additional conversions in GA4
• Regularly update ad copies and test new ad formats as well as bidding formats.
• Allocating a modest budget to run paid campaigns targeting a few highly competitive keywords to achieve maximum conversion potential beyond the Ad Grant’s limitations.

Conclusion

Our collaboration with NPRCC transformed their online marketing efforts from non-existent to highly effective, turning an initial slow start into impressive results. By overcoming challenges related to competitive keywords and optimizing their campaigns, we maximized their Ad Grants potential. This effort translated into thousands of clicks and conversions, with over $1 million in grant credit effectively utilized. This case showcases how tailored strategies, continuous optimizations, and a deep understanding of Ad Grants can drive impactful growth – even for B2B businesses operating in highly competitive verticals.

If your organization seeks to harness the potential of Ad Grants and achieve similar results, feel free to reach out to our team.