Zato’s Kirk Williams joins Nicole and Jon to discuss deep thoughts about the PPC landscape and how changes have altered their business models. The group talks through Google’s strategies over the years especially given the sheer influence Google has on the direction of PPC-centric businesses. They cover recent decisions by Google that seem to work against agencies and, in turn, affect the software solutions that agencies use.

Shape the Conversation

The Evolving PPC Landscape for Agencies and Software with Kirk Williams

What is PPC Management Software and what can it do to help your company stand out against your competition? On this episode of 'Shape the Conversation', Nicole and Jon dig into the world of PPC Management Software from the perspective of both builders of their own platform as well as the purchasers looking into platforms for use in a PPC agency.

PPC Management Software For Agencies

"Who wouldn’t want to experience a little more freedom in life? And what does that have to do with Accountability." Michael Mack is back on this episode of Shape the Conversation. Discussing his new post regarding accountability and freedom in and out of the professional space with our host Jon Davis. Join us for a long conversation about what a life of accountability looks like and how it applies to your own life today.

Accountability & Freedom with Michael Mack

Ad fraud is an issue that plagues digital advertisers/marketers every day. Fake ads that utilize bots to gain incredible amounts of impressions and build up gross amounts of money have caused even users, who recognize it, to start questioning advertising altogether. Nicole and Jon break down BuzzFeed's report on ad fraud in this episode of Shape the Conversation.

Breaking Down BuzzFeed's Report on Ad Fraud on Mobile Apps

Making something new is no easy task, but it only steps one to genuinely getting off the ground. You have to make sure people know about it. Digital advertising is a powerful way to get eyeballs on your new product/service fast. Today on 'Shape the Conversation', Nicole and Jon dive into formulating a PPC strategy for emerging products or services that may have low search volume on Google.

Creating a PPC Strategy for a Brand New Product/Service

How can you figure out if there is actually a market for your idea? In this episode, Nicole and Jon discuss ways to find, describe and communicate to the people that make up your target market.

The Importance of Defining Your Target Market for Anything

When analyzing why your customers churn, do you consider how long it’s been since you last spoke with them? Whether you offer SaaS, services, or something else, a long stretch of silence from a customer is often an indicator that your relationship is not as strong as it could be. In this episode, Nicole and Jon explore why it’s essential to constantly be talking to your customers and how to do so in a way that is feasible for both parties. They discuss what they learned from personal communication wins and failures, and provide tips on going the extra mile to create happy, engaged customers.

Don't Assume a Quiet Customer is a Happy Customer

Google and Facebook have established themselves as the market share leaders in digital advertising world. Bing/Twitter have matured over the years and everyone is thinking about Amazon (which is growing but still only a small percentage of spend when compared to overall Google and Facebook revenue). But what other options are there out? In this episode, Nicole and Jon explore the pros and cons of six alternative advertising options to consider experimenting with.

Exploring Six Emerging Digital Advertising Platforms

If we aren't sleeping, our attention is being drawn somewhere. We are consuming more advertising and content than ever. It's also harder than ever to stand out because of all the noise. In this episode, Nicole and Jon talk through how the changes in people's attention habits have influenced marketing decisions at Shape and how that led to filming a plane doing a fly by in the Oregon desert for a recent video.

Attracting Eyeballs in the Modern Attention Economy

Andy Raskin says he "helps CEOs align their teams around a strategic story — to power sales, marketing, fundraising, product and recruiting". Nicole and Jon have been mildly obsessed with Raskin's ideas and in this episode breakdown his 5 elements for developing a powerful strategic story of your own.

The Ideas of Andy Raskin

In his book "Lost and Founder", Rand Fishkin chronicles his journey leading Moz.com from the early days, through raising ~$30 million from investors, to ultimately leaving the company he founded. In this episode, Nicole and Jon discuss what resonating the most for them after reading the book and their thoughts on Rand's idea of a "startup cheat code" based on our experience in the startup world.

A Review of Rand Fishkin's Book "Lost and Founder"

Nicole and Jon both have made their careers as advertising professionals and heard all the sarcastic jokes at dinner parties about it. But why does it feel like more than ever people distrust advertisers and marketing? Polls show that advertising professionals rank alongside lawyers as some of the least trusted professions by the general public. While our hosts are a little biased, they have some theories as to why the climate is so negative in advertising and what our industry can do to correct it.

The General Stigma Around Advertising

You have a big idea you want to implement at your company but you don't have the autonomy to pull it off. You need buy-in from your boss and maybe even the next layer of management. In this episode, Nicole and Jon talk through day-to-day steps you can take to "manage up" the ranks of the corporate ladder and increase your chances of getting approval for a new idea from management when it counts.

Day-to-Day Ways to "Manage Up"

If you have tried to raise money for an early stage startup in Oregon in the last 5 years you have probably been in a room pitching Julie Harrelson, Fund Manager at Cascade Angels. She is an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist with a lot of great perspective on early stage companies and the changing demographics of the startup world. In this conversation, we dive deep into why Julie and her investors are looking for much more in a pitch deck then just graphs that go up and to the right.

Inside the Mind of a VC with Julie Harrelson, Fund Manager, Cascade Angels

The months leading up to and following Facebook's congressional hearings in April of 2018 have been a roller coaster for the company. The stock took a massive hit when they announced on the last earnings call that revenue growth would slow over the coming quarters. Have all the scandals and bad PR truly inhibited the future of Facebook? Or is this just another stumbling block along the way for a company that will be around for generations. Nicole and Jon dig into what moves the needle for Facebook's business: advertising. As Facebook continues to mature their advertising business and company as a whole, what ripple effect will this have on people and businesses spending time on the platform.

The Facebook Roller Coaster

A shape.io podcast hosted by Nicole Mears and Jon Davis. Broadcasting from Bend, Oregon.

hubhopper

Shape the Conversation

hubhopper