How Journey Church used the Google Ad Grant to reach 20+ new people across Florida with their online ministry

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Challenge

Journey Church had a clear vision: reach people across Florida who were searching for hope, community, and faith — but hadn't yet walked through a church door. Their livestream was already running every Sunday, but organic discovery alone wasn't driving the kind of consistent growth they needed. Without a strategy to actively put their online services in front of the right people at the right time, they were leaving thousands of dollars in free Google Ad Grant funding untouched — and missing the chance to connect with people already searching for a church online.

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Solution

Missio stepped in to build and manage a full Google Ad Grant strategy purpose-built for Journey Church's online ministry goals.

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Keyword Strategy Targeting Real Search Intent

Rather than running generic church ads, the team built campaigns around the specific phrases people across Florida were already searching — things like "church livestream near me," "online church service," and location-specific searches tied to each campus area. This ensured every dollar of grant spend was reaching people with genuine intent.

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Dedicated Livestream Landing Experience

Ad traffic was directed to optimized landing pages designed to convert a curious searcher into a livestream viewer — with clear service times, a direct link to watch live, and invitations to take a next step like joining an online community group.

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Ongoing Optimization and Reporting

Missio continuously refined bids, ad copy, and keyword targeting month over month — ensuring the grant stayed fully utilized and performance kept improving, not stagnating.

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Results

Journey Church now averages $9,799 in monthly grant spend — nearly maxing out the $10,000/month Google provides. That investment is driving 113 new livestream views every month from people who found the church through Google Search, along with 28 direction clicks from people looking to visit in person. The church estimates approximately 20 new people per month are connecting with their ministry as a direct result of the grant — people who may never have found Journey Church otherwise.