When you do a Google search and see those ads off to the side of your results page, there’s something more than meets the eye going on, and believe it or not, the Joy of Music School is in that realm. We have had a years-long relationship with a UT Business Analytics Prof. Julie Ferrara, who assigns her students to create and manage Google search-based ads for JoMS. This online visibility is made possible through an in-kind grant we get from Google for up to $10,000 value per month in Google Ads.
The result is, we get visibility when people type in terms that indicate they might be volunteer teacher material or might want to attend Holiday Sparkles & Spirits. This goes beyond the obvious person searching for volunteer opportunities or someone who types in “holiday charity benefi t parties in Knoxville.” The ads are based on words used in people’s searches. If someone local searches Google to buy or sell a guitar, for example, their search result might also get our ad on the side that says, “Teach Guitar to Disadvantaged Kids in Knoxville,” which clicks through to our site. Subtle, no?
The likelihood that our ad is at or near the top of the page depends on the amount we “bid” for those search terms. Fortunately, we don’t have to pay for the bid when our term is used to display an ad, because Google gives us an allowance to cover that expense. For-profi t companies pay lots of money for this kind of thing. But we get it for free thanks to Google, Julie Ferrara and her class, year after year.
Joy of Music School 