Google AdWords Campaign for East Lansing Film Festival

Client: East Lansing Film Festival Board of Directors
210 Abbot Rd, Ste 48, East Lansing, MI 48823
(517) 336-5802
lmfc.director@elff.com

Project: Google AdWords Campaign for the 2011 East Lansing Film Festival

Prepared by: Venus Abrahim
MSU New Media Drivers License
abrahimv@msu.edu

July 11, 2011

Background / Overview of ELFF:

The East Lansing Film Festival (ELFF) is the largest and most diverse film festival in Michigan to screen independent and foreign feature, documentary, short and students films from around the world. The 14th annual East Lansing Film Festival will take place November 9 through 17th, 2011.

The Lake Michigan Film Competition (LMFC), held during the festival, gives cash awards to the filmmakers whose film (feature, documentary, short film, student film, other media) was at least one quarter filmed, produced, or financed in the states that border Lake Michigan — Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. ELFF also presents a prize package worth $7,000 to the Message Makers Most Promising Student Filmmaker. This very popular event was created to encourage, foster and help promote filmmaking in Michigan and its neighboring states.

Campaign Objective:

Google is the most popular search engine, used so often by so many people that its name has become synonymous with Web searches. If you're looking for something online you "Google" it. Because Google is so widely used and offers the greatest ad exposure based on keywords, I recommend implementing a Google AdWords campaign for ELFF that will

• increase film submissions from filmmakers and students;
• increase awareness of the East Lansing Film Festival and the Lake Michigan Film Competition (LMFC) within the East Lansing area, the State of Michigan and in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin; and
• increase ticket sales to the ELFF and LMFC.

Key Benefits of Google AdWords:

• Reach your target audience with just the right keywords
• Fully control your ad budget by setting a maximum cost per click for your keywords and a daily budget
• Easily create and edit your ads
• See your ads on Google within minutes of creating them

Target Audience:

• Professional Filmmakers whose feature, documentary or short films are at least one quarter filmed, produced, or financed in the states that border Lake Michigan
• Student Filmmakers of documentary, narrative films and other media
• Potential Attendees who are interested in independent films and film festivals AND live in the East Lansing area, the State of Michigan and in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin

Keywords (and variations):

• East Lansing Film Festival (E. Lansing Film Festival, East Lansing Film Fest, ELFF)
• East Lansing (E. Lansing)
• Film Festival (Film Fest)
• Filmmaker(s) (Feature Filmmakers, Documentary Filmmakers, Student Filmmakers)
• Independent (Indie)
• Filmmaker(s) Wanted
• Submit Your Film(s)
• Film Contest (Student Film Contest)
• Michigan (MI) Filmmaker(s)
• Illinois (IL) Filmmaker(s)
• Indiana (IN) Filmmaker(s)
• Wisconsin (WI) Filmmaker(s)

Sample Ads:

Professional Filmmakers Ad Group:

A)     Feature Filmmakers Wanted                               B)      E. Lansing Film Festival
         Cash Prizes for Best Indie Films                                     MI, IL, IN & WI Filmmakers Wanted
         East Lansing Film Festival 2011                                      Submit Your Film Today & Win Cash!
         elff.com/festival/call-for-entries                                        elff.com/festival/call-for-entries

Student Filmmakers Ad Group:

A)     Student Film Contest                                          B)     Student Filmmakers Wanted
         Win A $7,000 Prize Package                                         Enter To Win A $7,000 Prize Package
         E. Lansing Film Fest - Enter Today!                               East Lansing Film Festival 2011
         elff.com/festival/call-for-entries                                       elff.com/festival/call-for-entries

Attendees Ad Group:

A)    E. Lansing Film Fest 2011                                  B)      E. Lansing Film Fest 2011
        100+ Quality Indie & Foreign Films                                Over 100 Films Screened Nov. 9-17
        Tickets & Discounts Available Now!                               Tickets & Discounts Available Now!
        elff.com/festival/box-office                                              elff.com/festival/box-office

Measuring Campaign Effectiveness:

Split Testing: Two ads per Ad Group will be written for split testing. Google will automatically alternate the two ads and provide you with the impressions, clicks and clickthrough rate (CTR) for each one. The ad with the lower CTR will be deleted and a new ad twill be written and run against the better ad. Creating a new ad could mean replacing just a keyword or writing completely new copy but keeping the same keyword(s). Ads will be continually tweaked and tested to increase the clickthrough and conversion rates.

Landing Pages: Design landing pages so that users can easily and quickly find the information they need (entry form, ticket prices, etc.) and complete their transactions in as few clicks as possible.

Alerts: Set up custom alerts that will notify you when certain changes and/or behaviors occur within your campaigns and ads

Google Analytics: Analytics can track landing page quality and conversions (goals), and pick out the highest performing ads just by linking it to the AdWords account.