October 28th, 2020
Like most things in life, that when you think you have a solid grasp on something, there is a shift and you need to pivot. After all, balance is a continuous dynamic state, and sometimes the weight of things on that existential scale can drastically change. We certainly were not alone as we headed into this sixth year of business and had to adjust at a moment’s notice as the globe was suddenly impacted by a pandemic that we had hoped and perhaps didn’t expect, would cause such a drastic effect on our health and our economy.
Early on as COVID-19 infiltrated the United States, we did lose one large client as that client unfortunately also had to lay off some of their own staff and naturally, vendors and contractors are also usually the first to go. Thankfully, they reached back out later this summer to resume advertising. Other clients had to temporarily pull back on advertising budget, some changed their operations altogether, and others kept their hand on the pulse and had a backup plan in case they took a hit. While it was a challenging year for many and we are incredibly grateful that our clients and our own business didn’t have to close its doors as many businesses were sadly forced to this year, we recognize how very fortunate we are. Amidst everything this year, we still make it an effort to celebrate the wins, regardless of size, as we had a successful year. We launched new services, pivoted where needed, continued our business development efforts, collaborated, and it was amazing to see the creativity that stemmed in-house, with our clients, and across industries, as brands pulled all the stops in order to not only survive but to thrive.
As we celebrate our sixth year, we go into it with immense gratitude to our team, our clients, and their resilience and appetite for testing in the unknown landscape that was 2020, to our family, friends, and our peers for the continued support. Here are a few things that we are honored and proud to share about this last year in business:
Highlights
- Even with the onset of a global pandemic and in-person events quickly and seamlessly transitioning to digital mediums, we had the honor and the pleasure of sharing our knowledge, experiences, and strategies while speaking at a number of conferences, such as SEMpdx Engage, SearchHOU, Social Media Online Summit, Multi-Channel Marketing Academy, and recently hosting our first full day paid search and paid social workshop at Pubcon Pro, alongside Navah Hopkins and Steve Hammer. Speaking at this show has been a goal of mine for years and it was a true honor to be selected to speak this year.
- We were honored to be shortlisted for four awards during the 2020 US Social Media Communication Awards for Best Audience Engagement Campaign, Low Budget Campaign, Best Strategic Use of Social Media, and Best Small Agency. Since the in-person gala and awards ceremony also moved online, we were thrilled to learn that we won the Best Small Agency award.
- Our team was published in AdAge, DigiDay, American Marketing Association, Coywolf, Shoutout LA, Wordstream, Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, Swydo, What The Experts Say, Marketing Cheat Guides, Parlor.io, and other news sites and industry blogs.
- We hired our first content specialist.
- We launched our brand new Agency Parental Coverage service for expectant parents that work in marketing and advertising and need temporary coverage for their client accounts.
- Joined Ginny Marvin and Simon Poulton for a special Search Engine Land Live event as we discussed the impact of CCPA on Facebook Ads.
- I was named in the Top 50 Most Influential and the Top 25 Most Influential PPC Experts of 2020 by PPC Hero.
- Joined the Marketing Freaks, PPC Rockstars, Suds and Search, Channel Mastery, HomeLight, Oversharing, Candidly Caffeinated, The Andrew Coelho Show, and other podcasts as a guest to talk marketing, advertising, business, career, and economical and behavioral impacts of COVID-19.
- Worked with a number of exciting, creative, and innovative clients such as FTD and ProFlowers, Birdies, Dansko, Kars4Kids, RVshare, Indow, Grammy-nominated artist Jewel as she collaborated on several live-streamed events with Frankie Grande, Brad Paisley, Tone It Up, and more.
- We saw an unusual influx of consulting and training requests this year which led us to discover a new area of services we can scale within our business, which came in the form of teaching. From small businesses to startups, and other agencies, they were looking to increase their existing paid social knowledge or learn the fundamentals of various paid social channels in an effort to eventually offer it as a service, themselves. We suspect that with the shift in the economy during the pandemic, many brands were looking to improve their digital presence and others understood the importance of leveraging advertising, while possibly being bootstrapped in some instances.
- As an agency that lives to connect people, we referred over 130 leads to talented freelancers and agencies in our network where we thought they would have been a better fit for the client with their expertise or that we did not have the bandwidth for at times.
What’s Next?
As we wrap the remaining weeks of 2020 and head soon into the new year, we look forward to continued growth, new opportunities to work with exciting and innovative brands, sharing the exciting things that we have been working on that could benefit other advertisers and our clients alike, continue collaborating with the many of our talented marketing peers, and to continue giving back to the community that we love so dearly, through speaking, collaborating, and sharing opportunities and resources. Mutual growth and success not only empower us and propel our growth, it’s exciting and rewarding for everyone involved.
If you’re interested in learning from us and connecting in the coming months, you can find us speaking online at Utah DMC on November 4 about “Instagram Stories: A Funnel-Based Approach to Boosting Your Bottom Line”, at the Traject Agency Panel alongside Selena Vidya of Orthris and Mike King of iPullRank on November 12, at the SEJ eSummit on January 12 as we present “Set Your Facebook & Instagram Campaigns Up for Success in 2021” alongside Amy Bishop, and returning to SEMpdx in 2021.
May we all have a healthy, bright, and successful year ahead that also gives us a little relief after the challenging year we have all faced.
Cheers,
Akvile DeFazio
President, AKvertise
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