The 3 most important signals to track

Summary

---

MarTech Podcast // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth

Episode: The 3 Most Important Signals to Track

Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Nick Zeckins, Chief Fire Starter at Smoke Signals AI
Date: March 4, 2026

---

Overview

In this episode, Benjamin Shapiro sits down with Nick Zeckins, the Chief Fire Starter at Smoke Signals AI—a HubSpot agency specializing in using AI to help B2B firms track and act on key buying signals. The discussion zeroes in on the three signals Nick believes are most vital for marketers to monitor in order to grow pipeline and move beyond vanity metrics in the modern, AI-driven landscape.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Magic Lamp” Question

(03:02 - 03:13)
Benjamin sets the stage with a hypothetical: If Nick could only track three signals for the rest of his career, what would they be?

---

1. Public Filings / SEC Filings

• Explanation:
  • Nick singles out public filings (e.g., SEC 10-Ks and 10-Qs) as his top pick:

    “10Ks and 10Qs, they go on and have a full discussion about everything that matters in the business. Risks, concerns, upsides, projections, performance reviews. I mean, it is the executive team taking an hour to talk about how the quarter has gone and why and what they think is coming next.” (03:25–03:46)

• Why it matters:
  • Comprehensive view into a company's trajectory, risks, priorities, and financial details.
  • Often underutilized by smaller B2B companies, but crucial as they mature and target enterprise clients.
  • Contains “line by line, items of budgets and where they're projecting them to go… wholly underutilized." (03:48–04:06)
• Who should care:
  • Especially vital for anyone selling into or working with public companies and those aiming to “grow up” to sell to the enterprise.

---

2. Executive Hires (VP and Up)

• Explanation:
  • The hiring of senior executives signals strategic shifts and potential changes in direction and budget.
  • Nick explains:

    “So VP and up, certainly C level and up. I would take those, those signals all day. The indicator, changing, changing guard, fresh budget eyes, you know, an indication of potentially changing strategy.” (04:10–04:31)

  • By examining backgrounds, sales and marketing teams can infer where the company—and its departments—might be headed.
• Why it matters:
  • Signals "fresh budget eyes" and can herald realignment of priorities or entire department changes.
  • Nick stresses:

    “Everybody should be aware of senior leadership changes in the organizations that they’re selling to. I don’t care what you sell and who you sell to, that’s going to matter.” (04:39–04:48)

• Who should care:
  • Any business engaging in B2B sales or partnerships; especially in complex sales environments.

---

3. Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Activity

• Explanation:
  • Acquisitions and mergers can have massive implications for company priorities, budgeting, and challenges—often for years following the event.
  • Nick states:

    "So acquisitions substantially change how an organization is going to behave and the types of problems that they’re going to be facing for at least the next 18, if not 36 months." (05:13–05:25)

• Why it matters:
  • Completely reshapes company structure, resource allocation, and strategic focus.
  • Most relevant for those playing in “large, complex sale environments.”
  • Nick’s context:

    “Doesn't help you sell to the small guys, right? But I live in those large, complex sale environments. That's home for me, and that's where I'd like to spend my time.” (05:37–05:49)

---

2. Benjamin’s Analogy and Wrap-Up

(05:52 – 06:12)
Benjamin summarizes Nick’s three signals in a memorable analogy:

"How's the company doing? Who's driving the car, and what groceries did they put in the back? That's really good. Yep, that's pretty much it." (05:52–05:58)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On public filings:

  "I mean, it is the executive team taking an hour to talk about how the quarter has gone and why and what they think is coming next."
  — Nick Zeckins (03:35)

• On executive hires:

  “You can kind of look at their backgrounds and understand where they came from, the types of things they've done and built before to get an idea about where the company's going to go next.”
  — Nick Zeckins (04:25)

• On M&A:

  "Acquisitions substantially change how an organization is going to behave and the types of problems that they're going to be facing for at least the next 18, if not 36 months."
  — Nick Zeckins (05:16)

• Benjamin’s analogy:

  "How's the company doing? Who's driving the car, and what groceries did they put in the back?"
  — Benjamin Shapiro (05:52)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:02] — Benjamin asks the “magic lamp” question about Nick’s top three signals.
• [03:13–04:06] — Nick explains public filings as the first, most robust signal.
• [04:07–04:48] — Discussion about tracking senior executive hires as a key indicator.
• [04:49–05:49] — M&A activity as the third essential signal, with context for enterprise sales.
• [05:52] — Benjamin recaps Nick’s framework succinctly with his car-and-groceries analogy.

---

Conclusion

This concise, insight-packed conversation underscores the enduring value of deep, contextual business signals over superficial marketing metrics in the age of AI and automated research. Nick Zeckins champions a strategic approach: focus on rigorous external triggers (public filings, executive changes, M&A) that truly inform company readiness to buy—not just intent signals or engagement blips.

---

Connect with Nick Zeckins:
Find his LinkedIn profile and company, Smoke Signals AI, via show notes or martechpod.com.

Host’s Parting Advice:

"Just focus on keeping your customers happy." — Benjamin Shapiro

---

Transcript

[Podcast Announcer]

The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

From advertising to software as a service

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

to data across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55 to 65% open rate.

[Nick Zeckins]

Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs

[Benjamin Shapiro]

better than TV advertising. Typical lifespan of an article is about 24 to 36 hours.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

We're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action. Then it's just a matter of timing.

[Podcast Announcer]

Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that you use technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro

[Benjamin Shapiro]

I'm Benjamin Shapiro and joining me today is Nick Zeckins, the chief fire starter at Smoke Signals AI, an AI first HubSpot agency that helps B2B companies generate, capture and activate buying signals to measure pipeline, not vanity metrics. And today Nick is going to share his process for redesigning demand generation from the ground up for the age of AI.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Time for a short break to hear from our sponsor, Scrunch. When was the last time you actually visited a website to research something? For me, AI does all that work now. So if AI is doing the discovery research and deciding who or what is your brand's website really for the rise of AI bots, becoming as important as new visitors is a massive change in user behavior. And that's what Scrunch is taking head on. Scrunch is the AI customer experience platform that helps marketing teams understand how AI agents experience their site. They tell you how your brand shows up in LLM results, where it doesn't, and what's preventing your content from being retrieved, trusted or recommended. It's not just visibility. Scrunch shows you the content gaps, citation gaps, and how to fix the technical blockers that matter so your brand is found and chosen in AI answers. Face it, your most important site visitor isn't human anymore. It's the AI deciding what gets surfaced. And for Martech podcast listeners, Scrunch is providing a free website diagnostic that uncovers how AI sees your site, where you have content gaps and where you're showing up versus your competition. To see how LLMs evaluate your site, go to scrunch.com martech that's scrunch s c r u n c h dot com martech Nick, I'm going to give

[Benjamin Shapiro]

you a magic lamp. And when you rub it, the blue genie comes out. And he's going to say, I'm going to grant your wish for three signals that you can track for the rest of your career.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Which signals do you choose?

[Nick Zeckins]

Public filings. So SEC filings. And that's incredibly robust conversations about the business.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

So you're getting, you're getting funding data. Tell me what you mean by public filings.

[Nick Zeckins]

Yep. So 10Ks and 10Qs, they go on and have a full discussion about everything that matters in the business. Risks, concerns, upsides, projections, performance reviews. I mean, it is the executive team taking an hour to talk about how the quarter has gone and why and what they think is coming next.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

All your public company information.

[Nick Zeckins]

Amazing, amazing information. Line by line, items of budgets and where they're projecting them to go. I mean, really unbelievable data. And wholly underutilized, oftentimes underutilized in the HubSpot customer ecosystem because very few of them have, quote, unquote, grown up to sell to the enterprise. But as they do, I think that data is going to become ever more important. That's 1, 2. I would definitely go with executive hires. So VP and up, certainly sea level and up. I would take those, those signals all day. The indicator, changing, changing guard, fresh budget eyes, you know, an indication of potentially changing strategy. Right. You can kind of look at their backgrounds and understand where they came from, the types of things they've done and built before to get an idea about where the company's going to go next. You know, the potential change, what an entire department looks like. Right. They might hire or fire based upon kind of where their brain is on various functions. So I mean, the implications of a senior executive hire are significant. It takes a little bit more digging to understand the relevancy. I wouldn't say it's a discrete, quote unquote, alpha signal, but it's a big one. Right. Everybody should be aware of senior leadership changes in the organizations that they're selling to. I don't care what you sell and who you sell to, that's going to matter. Okay, let me see a third one that I would durably want to know. I would say M and A activity. Right. So acquisitions substantially change how an organization is going to behave and the types of problems that they're going to be facing for at least the next 18, if not 36 months. So again, larger organizations doesn't help you sell to small guys. Right? But. But I live in those large, complex sale environments. That's. That's home for me, and that's where I'd like to spend my time.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

How's the company doing? Who's driving the car, and what groceries did they put in the back? That's really good. Yep, that's pretty much it. All right, that wraps up this episode of the Martech Podcast. Thanks to Nick Zeckic, the chief firestarter at Smoke Signals, for joining us.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

And a special thanks to Scrunch for sponsoring this interview. Scrunch is the AI customer experience platform that helps marketing teams understand how AI agents experience their site. They tell you how your brand shows up in LLM results, where it doesn't, and what's preventing your content from being retrieved, trusted, or recommended. And for Martech podcast listeners, Scrunch is providing a free website diagnostic that uncovers how AI sees your site, where you have content gaps, and how you're showing up versus your competition. To see how LLMs evaluate your site, go to scrunch.com that's Scrunch S C R U N C H if you'd

[Benjamin Shapiro]

like to contact Nick, you could find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on martechpod.com or you can visit his company's website. It's SmokeSignals AI and if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or subscribe on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed every week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.

[Podcast Announcer]

Thanks for listening to the Martech podcast and I hear everything. Production Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything.com.