True Competition Analysis
by Timothy Davis • Performance Marketing Lead at Shopify
Timothy leads performance marketing for Shopify and previously consulted for major tech companies like Pinterest, LinkedIn, Redfin, and Eventbrite to kickstart and scale their paid growth teams.
🎙️ Episode Context
Timothy Davis breaks down the tactical playbook for building and scaling performance marketing engines, from running initial "signs of life" tests to structuring high-performing teams. He demystifies platform selection, offering granular advice on Google, Meta, and LinkedIn, while introducing operational frameworks to separate signal from noise in data analytics.
Problem It Solves
Eliminates 'Ego Marketing' where companies obsess over competitors appearing above them due to personalization or random variance, rather than actual market threat.
Framework Overview
A data-driven method using Google Auction Insights to identify actual threats versus perceived ones. It involves creating custom metrics to measure how often a competitor actually ranks above you in relevant auctions over time.
🧠 Framework Structure
Ignore Search Results Page: Your pers...
Calculate 'Position Above Rate': Use ...
Identify Anomalies vs. Trends: Look f...
Actionable Defense: Only react (e.g.,...
When to Use
When executives complain that 'Competitor X is beating us' or when deciding whether to bid on competitor brand keywords.
Common Mistakes
Reacting to a competitor appearing on a 'close variant' keyword (accidental broad match) as if it were a strategic attack.
Real World Example
Timothy showed a report where a competitor seemed to be surging (green line), but the data revealed it was likely an accidental 'close variant' match that disappeared a few weeks later once the competitor fixed their negatives.
It's not about showing as often as possible... It's about showing to the right person as often as possible.
— Timothy Davis