17 Actionable PPC Insights from Optmyzr during COVID-19

Last week I attended a great town hall for PPC managers on the latest happenings in the PPC world and the transition to working from home. The virtual event was led by Fred Vallaeys of Optmyzr and several fantastic panelists.

In short, I was inspired by the information shared and wanted to pass along my key takeaways to those of you who are managing PPC campaigns.

Highlights & Takeaways

(Additional notes & summary below)

I've seen a lot of things happen over the last 20 years, there have been ups and downs but this is by far the scariest. That being said, it has been inspiring to see the volume of information shared between marketing professionals. Closely held knowledge and gated content is now flooding the digital world in an effort to support one another.  This is one of the reasons I wanted to give a second shoutout to Fred at Optmyzr for hosting the town hall and galvanizing this knowledge share. If you would like to watch the town hall yourself, you can watch it here.

Panelists:
Fred Vallaeys - Optmyzr
Kirk Williams - Zato Marketing
Mike Rhodes - AgencySavvy
Susan Winograd - AimClear
John Lee - Client Experience Design & Delivery - Bing Ads
Christi Olson - Head of Evangelism for Bing at Microsoft

Top Takeaways:

Okay, so here are some key takeaways I thought other PPC managers would find useful and be able to implement immediately. For context, our agency, Digitopia, is a Platinum Solutions Partner with HubSpot. Most of our clients are in the B2B space with longer sales cycles and higher price point offerings. If any of these recommendations resonates with you, let me know. 

1. Manual vs Automation
   1. Automated systems may fail right now due to the systems not being aware of the current climate and the impact that is having on peoples behaviors.
   2. When in unchartered territory, it’s more important than ever to have a great process for monitoring
   3. Second order effects are hard to predict
2. In certain situations, there is opportunity to gain market share or simply protect turf
3. Consumers are being retrained
   1. Buy online or pickup in store are now the defaults
   2. Scaled back support
4. Focus on relationships for the long-term game
5. Routine is key for businesses internal teams working from home
6. Focus more on marketing and less than tactics
7. How brands can be helpful during this pandemic
   1. Different than how they’ve had to do in the past
   2. Having brands look at their products/service in a fresh way
8. May not be search volume with the immediate shift
   1. Search ads is not necessarily the best way to convey an emotional message
9. YouTube:
   1. Great CPC
   2. Make sure to be sensitive to the current situation
10. Drip campaigns or any existing marketing
    1. Make sure that it’s not insensitive
11. Reminder that during 08 downturn, Search was still running
12. Make sure if there are changes to the business due to Coronavirus, to communicate with clients (e.g. hours, limited resources, etc.) 
13. Leverage DSA and RSA for industries doing well
    1. Use as a catchall for opportunities missed by keywords
    2. Search engines will be able to better show what headlines/description variations
14. Be careful when looking at blog articles that speak about averages for their clients or industries
    1. Every agency is going to see different results
    2. Don’t react to posts published now, the landscape is changing by the hour so stick to the fundamentals and what you know 
15. Watch ROI closely (ROAS)
16. Lookback Windows
    1. Make it smaller because of huge shift in the market
17. Look at Google Recommendations
    1. Keyword recommendations are becoming helpful again

Let's Keep It Going!

I'd love to hear from you and learn what are some things you're putting into place, what you're hearing from your clients, and from your peers. Let's continue to share.

Connect with me on LinkedIn or leave a comment below and I will get back to you.

Stay safe, stay healthy and remember to stick with foundational truths, be adaptive, and we have to continue to push forward.

We'll get through this together!