The MacKellar Memo | November
The holidays, especially Thanksgiving, can bring to mind a number of things, including the friends and family that we each hold so dearly. One could say those people are part of your “community” that is intertwined throughout your life.
These are the people we see frequently whether that’s in-person, through a Zoom/RingCentral screen or even just via a random assortment of text messages. While you might have groups of similar-minded individuals, each person who you count as part of your community is unique in some ways and can help give you a perspective you might not have thought of. Whether it’s someone who went to a 4 year college or someone who dropped out to start a business, each person you interact with will allow you to borrow their unique lens when discussing any situation, work or otherwise.
While we might think of our community as our close friends and co-workers, I’d encourage you to broaden your community this year to…the actual communities for the tools and platforms we use on a daily basis (there’s the transition you were eagerly awaiting).
But in all seriousness, I strongly recommend spending some time in the communities as we close out this year and head into next year. It might seem like all you’d encounter is other marketers trying to one up each other or intentionally providing bad information to sow confusion, but what you’ll find in almost every instance is marketers who genuinely want to help each other get better, share new features, etc.
Wondering where you can get started? Well isn’t it convenient that I have rounded up a few of my favorite communities for you to check out.
PPC Chat: If your main source of news/engagement is the Winged Elon, you might find #PPCChat to be insightful. With inputs from well-respected industry professionals like Julie Friedman Bacchini (the host!), Kirk Williams and more, it’s a great spot to get quick hit info and/or pointed in the right direction by those who have blazed that path before us.
Marketing O’Clock Discord: Brought to you by the lovely upstate New York folks behind the Marketing O’Clock podcast, this community is a spot where tons of professionals interact in a Slack-like environment about the topic of the day. You’re probably not going to find a deep, 100 answer thread here, but you’ll definitely figure out about the latest issue with Google Ads.
Unbounce Community: Finally! One with the word “community” in it. But seriously, the Unbounce community is wonderful. Just like us, it’s full of marketers who harness the power of Unbounce on behalf of themselves and their clients, but just like us are always saying “well, I wish it could do XYZ.” And in this case, they’ve usually had that same thought and someone has already found the workaround you’re looking for.
Those are just a few of my favorite communities to join/be a lurker in search of answers, and I hope they can either be a good add to your existing communities or be a jump start for you to begin creating your own space!