EP251 - When Platforms Meltdown

0:00 Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of the PPC chat round up this week. We're going to be talking about when platforms meltdown, and Julie will be leading us on this important topic because over the weekend Facebook had a meltdown, there was a Facebook situation where literally, it's stopped serving a lot of ads but caused over spending as well. So yeah, there was a bug of overspending and not showing ads really well and also Google ads did have an issue today in terms of Basically, just an error, where loads of different errors were reported out. Can I quickly check out what it is? They do the dashboard indicated. They've been error messages, High latency and just other unexpected Behavior. So, just different platform issues. So we talked about what do you do when platform issues happen? How do you communicate with clients? How soon do you communicate with clients? You know how to ward off the Panic that you might be feeling inside and things that, you know, to learn. For next time terms of maybe things that Didn't put in place this time.

1:01 So yeah, let's get into that. Hello and a warm, welcome to this episode of the PPC Chad Roundup or podcast where I round up the Twitter discussion that happens on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. GMT. I'm your host, Andrew and I'm recording from my studio here in London UK. And I use this platform to share not just expert but also my ideas and considered best practices about paid media and the direction the digital industry is going in. So if you want to keep up to date with my tips and tricks in the industry, and get the latest on the podcast that has been called your go to if You don't make it to the PPC chat live discussions and even if you do then, like, follow share and retweet on that, right? Twitter with my handle, the marketing annual join us on our LinkedIn group, The PBC chat Roundup podcast, or if you're on Instagram, why don't you check us out at PPC, chat underscore Round Up to get quotes and Snippets from previous episodes. So we have Julie taken us on a very timely topic. What to do when platforms meltdown? So, basically, that's yeah, we, we called it when platforms meltdown, but yeah, this is I'm at the chat about what to do, what we did over this weekend and how we got on with it before we get to the questions, though, this chat is intended for PPC, Professionals of all levels.

2:23 If you have something you want to share, please do we are a friendly and supportive Community. Please don't be afraid to participate. Lurkers. And of course, listeners of the podcast are always welcome. It was actually really nice to get a tweet from Glen smelts lie today, where he tweeted on my 250th episode. Last week, just as I was, you know, putting my mic in and, you know, read out what my intros like preparing with my intro is going to be. He put up this tweet saying, cannot believe you have done, 250 episodes, the dedication. You showed to the PPC chat and sem Community is amazing. And those are the kind of tweets, that makes me go. Okay, it's 8:50, I still have to eat dinner, but let's get this, this episode recorded, so that I can send it to my sound engineer.

3:10 Who's messaging me saying, I knew I need this in the next like half an hour unless I will be able to get this done today. So yeah it's an exciting time for me and I always like I love doing this. I've I didn't love doing this out of stopped, to be honest I would do wish the numbers were a lot higher when you know, I'd love to see, you know, tell that like I like mentioning those tweets. So that, you know, that this is a dedication that I do. I don't do it for sponsorships, I do it. Hoping that you learn a lot about what the community is talking about. And in case you do Miss the live chats and you want to hear what people have tweeted about while you're doing something else. So I hope you do keep that in mind, I hope you do use that and put a, you know, a rating on Spotify by growing truth link three.com /p P c-- chat underscore Roundup. So, yeah, I hope you enjoyed this episode but let's get right into it.

4:03 So, Julie asks us a question one, where you impacted by the Facebook platform meltdown over the weekend. If so, how did you respond? Not many people were Travis goes managing mostly Google ads account, only indirectly. I noticed. Minor volatility in the Echo of branded search campaigns reached out to a partner and SM buyers some of whom surprisingly. We're unaware. It's interesting how we're so plugged in, but also not right. That's very interesting, Chris Ridley response, saying from initial data, we saw a 40 to 50% increase in cpms. We initially responded by reviewing accounts and privatizing accounts that were hit the hardest. Just Diner. Leaner goes.

4:43 Yes, we were impacted. There was just a little over spend by a very high cost per landing page view, which led to a drop in traffic for that day. We didn't stop ads and had conversions on Sunday and Monday as well. Happily things look good for now. So yay. So no. Not too bad over an effect for Diana there. Julie response saying. Yeah, I don't have any clients advertising on Facebook at the moment. So I watched this one from the sidelines. So Good, same here. And yeah, same here as well. Do you have ice response saying? We're still trying to figure that out? A couple of major accounts were unaffected, which is a big relief, but we're still getting to the bottom of any effects across the team phrase Andrews as well response saying we were. But unfortunately, Facebook, spend at the moment is low across client accounts, impact wasn't awful. We noticed that spend was spiking at 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. so altered scheduling to run solely during business hours. Hours.

5:42 I hope the whole altering scheduling happened in the morning or when you came back from the weekend. Because if you noticed it and in real-time at three am were editing scheduling or that worries me anyway, so not ideal but seems to have reduced any mad to am spend. So yeah, I hope that's in terms of future. Now, the important question that I feel everyone should now bring out their pencils and notepad to take notes about. We talked about this somewhat Julie asks. But what if anything do you have in place to alert you of major issues in your accounts? Travis goes a few email alerts that help want act quicker include plus or minus 50 percent spend a owned a plus, or minus 20% CPA week on week, X spend threshold 0 conversion separately at the keyword, ad ad group, and campaign levels and campaign type CTR threshold.

6:42 He's at XX, Impressions, matters for Google ads, separate by campaign, type, and Chris really responds to question 2 saying that we have a few scripts and automated reports in place to inform us of these changing. And we're also currently reviewing automated Solutions as preventative measures at the moment. We're not implementing too many due to the list of automation overreacting than a linear response saying on Facebook, we don't have any rules set up, it would be good as this happened on Can't when live monitoring is not possible? Yeah. Because your life is your life during the weekend and you will not be monitoring that over the weekend. You shouldn't be monitoring that over the weekend.

7:23 Julia, Vice also responds saying rules alerts, and the best tool in the biz as second pair of eyes. Uh when possible, right? And phrase Andrews as well response, a non Facebook wise in platform and LEDs are always handy alongside looker reports. That being said was alerted to this by the community. He's so big love all yeah right you Levi's girls. Love a quick glance at looker no need for the 11 click journey to open the platform if you don't need amazing. Julia herself response saying that wherever possible set up rules and or alert to get notified directly if things go wonky like to have alerts around traffic drops and cost increases and honestly I'm never far from the PPC chat channels. So I see things being talked about to and Diana as well. Also.

8:12 It gives another response to question 2. I don't imagine that was based off even Fraser saying that he noticed the error based on the community chat and she goes in this case LinkedIn and Twitter chats. Where my real time alerts. Yeah, sometimes the real time alerts isn't the platform's themselves. Jude and takes us on to question 3, saying, when you become aware of a major platform issue or malfunction. What are the first steps to take communication is key? Travis response, which I absolutely agree. With never can be too much at a minimum. Let clients know a that we were aware and be here's what we're doing right now today and future if or then steps Shopify support, plus other CMS support accounts are good.

8:57 E-comm resources for early outage or issue alerts. Chris really responds saying, first reaction is always to analyze the data to see if we can resolve it ourselves, if we can't, we next aim to minimize damage, whether this is reducing budgets. Opposing elements all together. Finally, we reach out to see if others are experiencing the same Diana response to. I try to dig and find the cause to understand the situation. Is it something temporary? Is it only affecting the one account or is something larger that affects others to depending on the cause? I take different actions continue to that and Chris goes, great minds, think alike. And Julia rice goes on to answer question 3 as well saying usually I look Look at spend.

9:42 Do we need to pause the campaign's or not? Next, it's best to try and understand what's happening. And then alert the clients with next steps, Julie, then answers question, 3 as well saying, step one is to figure out if my accounts are being impacted and if so in what way and at what level of severity, see. What if anything platform is saying, my pulls everything, while it gets sorted by the platform, let client know as needed. That is needed is very important. Because yeah, they might not need to be the first ones to know that the issues happening. It might be such a short-term issue that you can, you know, pause, you know, not tell the client and the thing resolves itself before the client even notices it. But obviously, if it's something that's going to show up in reporting, definitely let the client know you know, before the reporting day and don't be like, oh yeah, by the way, there was a glitch two weeks ago because clients will get annoyed by that.

10:39 So anyone that's new if it's something that is Gonna show in the reporting definitely let the client know phrase Andrews response to question. 3, same impact always impact. There's a tendency to get sucked into the detail. Whereas if the issue isn't as bad as first thought your approach to fixing, it changes without sounding all Tony Robbins think it's also crucial to learn and react EG adding more data to look up and you live. Ice also gives another answers question. 3 saying, did anyone else find that? Campaigns were largely unaffected. It seemed to be more traffic or conversion campaigns. And then Julie takes us on to question for saying, in the event of platform issues.

11:23 How proactive are you in communicating with your clients or stakeholders at what point in the process? Do you communicate with them? Yeah, the points. So, Travis response saying depends on severity of the issue and client calm preferences. But I are on the side of over communication built trusts for Iker FY is most clients share a slack connection. So that's instant for longer explanations. Email is best with a slack too long didn't read alerts crazed. Also responds saying that I like to get comes out to the client as soon as I'm aware of a platform white issue, or if I spot an issue in their account that has had a significant impact on the accounts performance. Even if it's a high, we're currently monitoring XYZ email. Diana Lena's world's response saying, always, if there's a big change with a Impact.

12:12 And as fast as possible, minor things that don't affect performance. Can be said later as an information. So yeah, I'd always say that if it's a no reported going to show up in the report. As I said earlier, on mention, it, Julie goes. I am very proactive and I would rather have multiple Communications. As I know more than wait until I have a resolution first communication is often. Hey, this is happening, and we are actively on the case. More detail later about impact our actions Etc. She continued saying I would also add that this type of situation is one way. It really helps to know your client or stakeholders. Well, so, you know what to tell them. And when someone to play by plays others, just an acknowledgement and summary of actions taken. Absolutely.

12:55 It's all about knowing your clients and Chris goes and for others, they just want to know the final outcome and our best not to bother until you have the resolution and yeah, Julie goes out. Yes. That's why we pay you to manage this stuff hands of clients. And yeah, all the ones that will go into meltdown mode themselves. These are best kept out of the loop until you need them or it's resolved. So sometimes they are some people will Panic for no good reason and it's best to just be like, by the way, we've resolved, this it was an issue for x amount of time, but don't worry. This is how the things are being resolved, Julie then goes on to question five, saying, in a case, like the Facebook issue over the weekend, how do you handle unexpected and all significant overspend in your account? Yeah, try not to panic and Hope Up that Google or Facebook are going to respond.

13:44 You the money, right? Travis response saying with smaller accounts and it Gregor has overspent May blow the budget for a time and resting the account may be the only option if no refund. Yeah, better path is reduced. Testing consolidate via proven campaign efforts and weather the storm until budget constraints loosen, Chris Ridley response saying own it, whether it's your fault or completely unavoidable, like an ad platform bug be Parent and honest with the client or stakeholders and Robert Brady response to that. I think is maybe just responded question five saying. I think it's important to point out that you can be transparent and own it without accepting the blame.

14:26 If it's the platform's fault, communicate that and work on the path forward, don't beat yourself up over something, out of your control and Chris Ridley response saying that. Yeah, once you've earned it, get it on the control review, how the issue occurred and put measures in. Place to minimize or prevent it in the future. Do additional alert or automated rules need to be set up. Do you need to tighten targeting or set, an account, monthly budget, and then Diner Lena response to question five saying happily. We didn't have a high over spend just a few dollars, I guess, discussing with the client for a solution can help, maybe they are not very budget. Restrained, also, the platform a refund that amount, lastly, you can cut budgets on underperforming campaigns and then we have Julie has self responding to question five saying, first figure out. Just how much of the spend there was in the case of Facebook over the weekend.

15:19 It sounds like for some, it was quite significant provide suggested courses of action for remainder of budget period, and let client weigh in on what they'd like to do. Absolutely. Get them involved in the decision judge Kagan response to question forcing. If the issue appears to persist more than two hours, we communicate it to the client proactively, if it's under two hours. It's reactively that actually does make sense. I like that and then yeah, Julie gives another answer to question five saying, I don't count on a refund happening. It really should when the platform was at fault or broken or malfunctioning, but that is not what happens a lot of the time. So I treat it as a bonus part of any action plan, Dan eleena's, well given Advanced question 5 saying have a lower budget next month. Communicating, with the client will help you feel better and come to the best solution and then Julie takes us on to the last Ginseng.

16:12 Have you successfully gotten or refund, or credit for any of your accounts? When there has been a major platform issue, was the refund sufficient in your opinion. How were you able to achieve that? Yeah. Did you have to fight for it? Did you just come automatically? Chris really goes. None worth writing home about Julie goes soon. We will see the screenshots of people sharing their Facebook. Refunds of $1 67 and Sergeant going. Yeah I can buy a coughing. Travis response saying it's tough to extract spent It's it's gone depending on the severity, who's at fault. There's a Time opportunity cost to consider. Do we bunker down for a while or do we split time managing versus platform? Follow-up attempting to secure. A refund months later than Alina's will respond saying. So few times, I can barely remember. Usually on meta is just some sense on Google. It happened to receive more tens of dollars, but nothing significantly both by communicating with the support or by default.

17:12 If there was a obvious reported platform error why they not given refunds, that's that's a little bit annoying. Anyway, Julie, then also response to question six. Same, the lack of reps and quality support makes getting a deserve refund way harder than it should be. If the platform goes wonky, it should absolutely respond at a minimum for overspend or other account. Parameters, ignoring actions, it took that cost dollars. Absolutely, it's all about you should read Lee definitely do that refund. If it's significant, if we can clearly say that the error was platform side, which in this case, it's definitely sounds like it was on that note we come to the end of that, you know, quick and snappy I believe it was like about 20 minutes chat, but sometimes these are vices.

18:01 It doesn't take too long. We would probably even if we had more people that joined the chatter, they would probably have said the same advice about, you know, it's all about keeping both shallots and do. Beat yourself of about it and, you know, communicate with your client. Well bore, no, no, your client, well know, the kind of communication that they need. Don't over communicate with some of those who can be a little bit of like a worrywart. But yeah, communicate with those who like Hands-On and let them be part of this decisions with you know, budgets moving and the next coming of months if that has been solely affected. So yeah, I hope you keep all those things in mind, but if you do think that we have not exhausted, the advice that can Can be given and you've got a few things on your mind that we could have done or we could be doing in these kind of cases that we didn't mention. Why don't you join us on Thursday, at 5:00 p.m. GMT?

18:52 12 p.m. eastern time to chat on Twitter spaces. Yeah, Julie is going to continue this chat about this or any new news that comes out between now and then you never know with Google and Facebook, maybe we'll get news that everybody is getting a refund for those overspent that happened. So yay, crossed fingers for that for you guys. That did have Issue in terms of spend, if any feedback about the podcast, or maybe even some correction in anything that has been shared, please get in touch with me on my Twitter. My DMs are open on my handle at the marketing. A new, or find me on LinkedIn and pneumatic. Bola, my first and last name we have. We also have the PPC chat Roundup group. So, if you want to join that, please just let us know. It would also be great for long-standing members, brand new listeners, you know and people who share Glen smelt, please opinion about me you know being very dedicated.

19:41 To this after 251 episodes. Now I really happy about that and I Do It For the Love of it, but also for the love of those ratings. So if you can go to link tree.com, so that's link2sd re e.com, /p PC chat on this. Go round up, it'll take you to the links like Spotify and apple where you can, it takes seconds to just leave a rating. Also, a quick note, that PPC live UK is happening on the 25th of May. We've got It for brilliant speakers. We've got early bird tickets going on right now, but sometime next week, I'll be increasing the price. So, yeah. If you want the early bird ticket price, go to www.pdfsupply.com UK.com for those tickets.

20:28 Finally, remember for your campaigns and businesses to Glide smoothly. There's a lot of hard work needed beneath the surface, so keep this one's kicking by and speak to you next week.