Most PPC conversations tend to focus on what happens inside the platforms.
Bid strategies, audience targeting, automation, and creative testing usually dominate the discussion.
While these areas matter, Tom Cox explored a different perspective during his recent talk at Hero Conf UK.
His session focused on the idea that some of the biggest opportunities for improving performance actually exist outside the ad platforms themselves.
Rather than concentrating on more tools, more complexity, or endless optimisation tactics, Tom’s talk centred around a much simpler idea.
Better marketing decisions often come from using the data, insights, and behaviours that already exist around you.
Download Tom’s Frameworks Here.
A Different Perspective on PPC Performance
With more than a decade of experience across paid media and client services, Tom has worked with brands including Legal & General, Bennetts, Tyrrells, and Dunlop Sport.
Throughout the session, one message became very clear.
Marketers often spend too much time chasing marginal gains inside ad accounts while overlooking the wider customer and competitive landscape that has a much greater influence on results.
The strongest campaigns are not built solely inside Google Ads or Meta Ads Manager.
They are built on a deeper understanding of people.
Your Competitors Are Already Providing Valuable Insights
One of the key themes of the talk was the value of competitor research.
Businesses are constantly testing messaging, offers, creative approaches, positioning, and calls to action.
Over time, patterns begin to emerge. When certain themes or propositions repeatedly appear across campaigns, there is usually a reason behind it.
Those repeated signals can become valuable sources of insight for your own marketing strategy.
The Internet Is Full of Customer Insight
Tom also discussed the importance of understanding customer language and sentiment.
Platforms like Reddit provide direct access to honest conversations where people openly discuss frustrations, needs, motivations, and experiences in their own words.
For marketers, this kind of insight is incredibly valuable because it helps shape more relevant messaging, stronger value propositions, and more effective campaigns.
Instead of relying on assumptions about what customers care about, marketers can learn directly from the conversations people are already having online.
What Happens After the Click Matters Most
Another major focus of the session was post click experience.
Tom highlighted how even the best performing ads can struggle if the landing page experience introduces confusion, friction, or fails to deliver on the promise made in the ad itself.
This is where tools like Microsoft Clarity can play an important role.
By analysing user behaviour through heatmaps, session recordings, and interaction data, marketers can gain a clearer understanding of where users hesitate, become frustrated, or leave the journey entirely.
That visibility makes it much easier to identify what is helping conversions and what may be preventing them.
A More Complete Approach to Paid Media
At its core, Tom’s Hero Conf UK talk encouraged marketers to broaden the way they think about paid media.
The conversation should not only focus on optimising ads. It should also focus on understanding customers, competitor behaviour, and the full user journey.
The session at Hero Conf UK has now taken place, and the recordings should be available soon. We will share them as soon as they are released.
In the meantime, you can still explore the ideas and approaches covered in the talk through Tom’s downloadable frameworks, which are now available on our website.
These resources include frameworks for ad campaign research, post click optimisation, and practical ways to uncover customer insights and improve landing page performance.
