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Friends of Search > Survival of the Strategic: Rethinking Growth in Search Advertising
Internationally acclaimed speakersPrestigious award showDrinks & Bites13th edition

Survival of the Strategic: Rethinking Growth in Search Advertising

Kirk Williams

09:50 - 10:30

You’re a technical expert. You optimize bids, refine keywords, test continuously, yet growth has stalled. Why? What if the relentless focus on your own channel is the very thing holding back results?

In this session, Kirk will challenge the core assumptions of search marketing growth. You’ll discover why treating PPC as an isolated scaling engine leads to frustration and wasted budget, and how reframing your role from channel technician to strategic business partner is the key to new growth opportunities in an increasingly complex AI-driven landscape.

You’ll learn how to:

Recognize your channel’s true limit: Identify the data signals that show you’ve hit the “Efficiency Plateau” and what you need to do next.
Become a business detective: Based on real-life scenarios, we’ll discuss how to ask the right strategic questions about product, offer, and demand to uncover the actual issues hindering performance.
Turn data into influence: Communicate insights in a way that connects with business goals, shifting the focus from channel blame to collaborative business solutions.

Kirk Williams

OwnerZATO PPC Marketing

Kirk is the founder and owner of ZATO, his micro-agency focused solely on Google and Microsoft Advertising, and has been knee-deep in advertising since 2009 when he needed a job (any job!) to get him through his dense post-grad work. In 2025 he was recognized as the 3rd most influential PPC expert in the world by PPC Survey, and is also known for his TEDx Talk on Redefining Business Success (success is more than just money). Kirk is respected for his pondering PPC articles across various industry publications including Shopify, Microsoft, Moz, and MarketingLand. He is an international conference speaker presenting on all things Paid Search (especially Shopping Ads), and has spoken in London, Dublin, Milan, Sydney, as well as many US cities. Kirk has written three books on PPC marketing and agency ownership and loves to teach PPC whenever and wherever he has the opportunity. Kirk currently resides in Billings, MT with his wife, 6 children, 2 AMGs, 131 Star Wars LEGO sets, 4 road bikes, 3 Taylor acoustic guitars, and probably not as much sleep as he should be getting.

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