The past six weeks or so have been transformational in so many ways. Businesses, agencies, and individuals face uncertainties and challenges, unlike anything we’ve experienced in the modern era.
Tough times always present monumental burdens for marketers. Knee-jerk reactions often include rapid reductions or eliminations of spend. Agencies worry about staying in business. Marketers worry about their livelihoods.
For the past six weeks, though, Optmyzr has hosted our weekly online PPC Town Hall events. We initially launched the concept to simply get PPC pros together to commiserate, dust off, share some fears and optimism, and maybe get a few ideas about what to do next.
The result has far exceeded what we hoped to achieve.
To date, nearly 1,000 viewers have logged on, with the vast majority staying for the duration. We’ve had stellar panelists – marketing leaders who graciously share their insight and wisdom. Typically, these are the folks keynoting and leading sessions at those now-canceled industry conferences.
PPC pros prove they are a solutions-focused bunch
Interestingly, starting about halfway through our inaugural Town Hall, questions started coming in about “what can we do now?” It was as if the PPC community knew it had a responsibility to the brands we serve as a higher calling. Rather than wallowing in dread, our community wanted to move forward and do great work.
But how? There’s no roadmap for what we’re experiencing.
Maybe we have a few things working in our favor. Many PPC pros are used to working in relative isolation. Whether agency or at-home consultant or in-house marketer, many PPC pros had unknowingly pioneered the concept of social distancing! We spend our time in the data, detecting anomalies, solving problems, coming up with strategies, and figuring out how to connect those searching with the brands that solve needs.
The evolution of discussion from Episode 1 to Episode 6 last week has been amazing. Our community has done the very things noted above. Panelists have figured out ways to get up-to-the-minute data. We’ve examined, analyzed, opined, and theorized. Viewers have asked probing questions.
Sharing the opportunities and potential pitfalls on a weekly basis has provided hundreds of PPC pros with the information they’ve needed to go beyond surviving the times to thriving in the times.
One Hour Each Week Can Change Your Life
Okay, we all may be a little fatigued spending our days meeting via webcam and sometimes struggling to hear what someone is saying through a cheap laptop microphone. Folks are a little “Zoom Meeting’d” out right now. Understandable, since that’s how we’re forced to meet.
We’ve been sourcing and testing different options and tech to make sure we have good audio, useful graphical information to share, and crisp messaging to make the one-hour Town Hall as valuable as it can be. Feedback tells us it’s getting better by the week.
I invite you to join us for next week’s Town Hall on Wednesday, May 6 at noon ET. Our guests will be Navah Hopkins, and David Szetela, both on the list of 2019’s Top 25 PPC Influencers. They’ll be joined by Brandon Jones who has a unique perspective on how SMBs are reacting to COVID-10 through his role at agency un(Common) Logic.
Now that we’re into May, many states are actively easing business restrictions and slowly reopening commerce, creating big questions for PPC pros:
- What does reopening commerce mean for PPC?
- What are the limits and challenges with restrictions varying by state or even city?
- Will people continue to morph their search purpose and start converting again?
- Where do we need to focus on inexpensive funnel-filling branding?
- How can I guide our brand or our clients when they are living in fear?
The next few weeks are critical. We want to help you navigate the times and be the leader that is needed.
Our next Town Hall will be available live on our site this coming Wednesday. If you’d like to stay in the loop about upcoming topics and panelists, consider registering for the PPC Town Hall reminders or subscribing to our shared calendar.
It might very well be the most valuable hour of your week.
