Digital Strategy

My primary responsibility was the development and execution of the digital advertising strategies for the Nova Scotia SPCA across three distinct campaigns: a Donation Campaign, a Thrift Store Campaign, and a Tartan Tails Vet Campaign.

In this leadership capacity, I designed tailored strategies for each campaign to meet their unique objectives. For the Donation Campaign, my focus was on increasing overall donations and growing monthly recurring donations.. For the Thrift Store Campaign, I aimed to raise awareness of specific SPCA Thrift Store locations. For the Tartan Tails Campaign, I focused on driving new patient acquisition for their veterinary hospitals. My role involved outlining key metrics and insights for each campaign, ensuring the digital efforts effectively supported the NS SPCA's mission and expanded its reach within the community.

Strategic Approach & Tactics

My strategic approach for the Nova Scotia SPCA's digital campaigns involved implementing three independent, tailored campaigns, each with specific objectives and targeting.

1. Donation Campaign:

• Objective: Increase overall donations and grow monthly recurring donations to ensure sustainable funding.

• Top Serving Keywords: Included terms like "animal charities," "spca donations needed," "donate to spca," and "monthly donor program”.

• Top Audience Segments: Targeted "Dog Owners," "Cat Owners," "Charitable Donors & Volunteers," and "Females, Aged 45 - 64" with "Household income - Top 10% of income earners”.

• Locations: Focused on top postal codes in Halifax and surrounding areas, but also received donations from outside Nova Scotia, likely due to remarketing efforts.

• Ad Copy: Meta ads emphasized the reliance on public support due to zero government funding and encouraged recurring gifts.

2. Thrift Store Campaign:

• Objective: Raise awareness of the SPCA Thrift Store locations in Dartmouth, Yarmouth, Sydney, and Stellarton.

• Top Serving Keywords: Included "thrifting," "spca thrift store," "thrift stores dartmouth," and "thrift near me”.

• Top Audience Segments: Targeted "Bargain Hunters," "Shopping Enthusiasts," "Fashionistas," "Charitable Donors & Volunteers," "Green Living Enthusiasts," and "Value Shoppers," particularly "Females, Aged 45 - 64”.

• Engagement Tracking: While in-store visits couldn't be directly measured, "Find Your Location" button clicks on the thrift store information page were tracked in Google Analytics to gauge user interest..

• Ad Copy: Meta ads highlighted that all four locations sell "human treasures" and that 100% of profits go back to the NS SPCA.

3. Tartan Tails Vet Campaign:

• Objective: Drive new patient acquisition for the Tartan Tails Veterinary Hospitals in Dartmouth, Cape Breton, and Stellarton.

• Top Serving Keywords: Included "vet," "spca vet," "tartan tails vet," and location-specific terms like "sydney animal hospital" and "tartan tails veterinary hospital dartmouth”.

• Top Audience Segments: Targeted "Pet Lovers," "Pet Supplies Purchasers," "Dog Lovers," and "Cat Lovers," specifically "Females, Aged 25 - 34 & 45 - 54”.

• Conversion Tracking Note: There were issues connecting Google Analytics to the EzyVet platform used by Tartan Tails, so signup data was taken from December 18th to January 31st.

The digital advertising campaigns for the Nova Scotia SPCA and Tartan Tails Veterinary Hospitals yielded strongly positive results across all objectives, demonstrating effective reach and engagement. The campaign period was from October 7, 2024, to January 31, 2025.

Overall Campaign Performance:

• The campaigns gained an impressive 931,431 ad impressions, meaning the ads were displayed to users nearly a million times.

• A total of 13,736 clicks were registered across all ads, demonstrating strong interest..

• The data suggests a highly successful digital advertising campaign for the Nova Scotia SPCA, with broad exposure and strong click-through and conversion rates.

Donation Campaign:

• The social media component of the campaign reached 172,141 individuals, significantly expanding the potential donor base.

• Close to 600 donations were attributed directly to the digital ads.

• The campaign contributed to an overall total of 3,000+ online donations, more than doubling the donations received in the preceding period (June 12, 2024, to October 6, 2024). This represents a significant increase of 108.04% in donation events and a 114.21% increase in users making donations.

• 20 phone calls were generated from the ads.

• The campaign achieved a 4.21% donation conversion rate, which is higher than the benchmark of 1.96% for Welfare & Advocacy Ads, demonstrating a high level of effectiveness in converting interest into tangible support.

Thrift Store Campaign:

• The campaign achieved 969,217 ad impressions, indicating significant visibility and reach.

• The social media component reached 169,628 individuals.

• The ads received 9,513 clicks, demonstrating interest in learning more about the thrift stores.

• A total of 3,353 clicks were registered on the "Find Your Location" button, showcasing a strong intent to visit a store.

• The campaign achieved a 35.25% click rate for the "Find Your Location" button, indicating high user engagement with this specific call to action.

• There were also 7 direct donations made from this campaign.

• The data reveals a successful thrift store awareness campaign, effectively motivating users to seek out store locations and contributing to both new user growth and the retention of 422 returning users, suggesting long-term customer relationships.

Tartan Tails Vet Campaign:

• The campaign generated 26,319 ad impressions.

• The ads received 2,701 clicks.

• The search CTR was 10.26%, which is substantially higher than the benchmark CTR of 3.27%.

• The campaign resulted in 63 new EzyVet signups, representing registrations for services. This metric reflects signups from December 18th until January 31st.

• The signup conversion rate during this period was 6.03%.

• Google Search Ads were a strong performing channel, showing higher engagement than organic search. The signup page performed well with a high conversion rate from form start to submission.

This campaign highlights the immense value of a multi-faceted digital strategy for non-profit organizations. My key learning centered on the effectiveness of tailored campaigns in addressing distinct objectives, whether it was increasing donations, raising awareness for thrift store locations, or driving new client acquisition for veterinary services.

The consistently strong performance across all campaigns, particularly the high click-through rates and impressive donation conversion rates, underscores the power of targeted digital advertising in resonating with the audience and driving tangible results for the Nova Scotia SPCA. The success in not only attracting new users but also retaining existing ones for the thrift store campaign, for instance, demonstrates the ability to build long-term relationships through digital efforts. These campaigns successfully supported the SPCA's mission and expanded its reach within the community.