Every spring, the Department of Advertising at Klein College of Media and Communication offers the Klein Online Marketing Challenge class. This unique course allows students to be paired up with a non-profit through Nonprofit Marketing Immersion, where university students or volunteers can help assist the organization with their digital marketing skills.
Recent graduate Sophia Buchanan, KLN ‘24, enrolled into the class in spring of 2024. Unsure of what search engine marketing (SEM) and online marketing entailed, Buchanan took on the challenge and became the team caption for her group.
“I wasn’t at first looking forward to it because I did not think I would like Google Ads,” said Buchanan. “But then I took it and actually really liked, it’s not what I thought it was going to be.”
Buchanan's team of four was paired with Project Insulin, a non-profit that aims to create high-quality insulin and sell straight to consumers at a lower price compared to its competitors. Executive Director Eric Moyal started Project Insulin after learning about his partners battle with type 1 diabates and the challenges diabetics face finding affordable insulin.
“There are people who can pay for good insulin but can’t afford food," said Moyal. “They can’t get a better education or are stuck at a job because it has good insurance and are afraid to switch jobs and not have the right insurance plan.”
Moyal signed up to participate in Google for Nonprofits, which allows nonprofits to receive $10,000 a month through Google for advertising purposes. Institutions can use this money to reach new audiences and promote their cause, product or service within Google searches using search engine optimization (SEO).
At the time, Moyal was only using $10 or less a month and needed help optimizing his advertising.
“It was really frustrating because as a small non-profit trying to expand and get larger,” said Moyal. “We have this opportunity, $10,000 monthly to use and we are unable to do it."
This is where Buchanan and her team stepped in.
From March 25 to April 22, 2024, students took over advertising campaigns for Project Insulin. They spent $250 and received over 1,500 impressions on their website. Before, the site had averaged four clicks in the previous campaign in February and during this campaign reached 86 clicks. Due to the new exposure, there was an increase in website visitors and above all, more volunteers.
The team was also tasked with assigning future recommendations for Moyal and his company. This included applying to more health care and service certifications to appeal to more audiences, keeping up to date in the news and adding and removing searches to stay relevant in the SEO market.
Through this process, students learned how to manage a real Google Ads campaign and gained expertise in the online marketing world. The group discovered the power of strategic messaging and understanding consumer data. They tested their own strategies in the real world, adapted to trends and collaborated with other members to create the best possible tactics.
Associate Professor of Instruction Alison Ebbecke has watched the program grow over time. She believes this class provides opportunities for students to talk about their classwork in interviews, but also gain valuable insight into the career field they may want to go into.
“There is a great deal students can learn about search and psychology,” said Ebbecke. “I love that students get to make a difference for a non-profit with a great mission.”
Moyal is thankful for the opportunity to work with students from Klein as the impact has helped his nonprofit grow into spaces he could not reach before.
“Klein College provides this excellent program and a really cool opportunity for the students to help small businesses," said Moyal. “I’m so blown away by the quality of work that was done. I am excited to keep working with Temple University and its great students.”