Shaun Bell

A quick introduction, before the coffee goes cold: I'm Shaun Bell, and I work with paid search. Beyond the Click is where I write about the parts of a campaign that keep going after the account has counted its exciting little event.

The advertisement makes a promise. The page explains it. The form, the checkout, the email and the eventual reply either keep the promise understandable or give the customer something new to worry about. I like looking at that whole sequence.

I have a freelancer's interest in work that earns its place. Some months need a substantial account change. Some need a careful review and one correction outside the account. I don't think the second kind of month has to pretend it was busier to be useful.

An automatic email carrying an old condition can matter more than another round of headline variations. A clear handover can matter more than an impressive slide of things we touched. These are awkward opinions if your report is trying to fill every page with activity.

I keep them anyway.

This blog grew around the sort of questions I want to hear in a review. What did the customer expect? What happened next? Which part of the explanation was missing? Has enough time passed to assess the outcome we are discussing?

A returning visitor interests me because they come back with some context. They might need a dimension, a delivery answer or a clearer sense of the next step. Repeating the entire introduction can make the website feel like a shop assistant who never remembers the conversation.

A second order interests me for a related reason. The customer now has some experience. That doesn't make every repeat purchase a perfect proof of loyalty, but it does invite a better question than whether the first advertisement got a click.

I am fond of ordinary examples. A sandwich menu. A parcel confirmation. A person ordering the same coffee. They keep the conversation close to what people actually do.

They also remind me not to treat every missed second purchase as a tragedy. A household may simply have enough lamps. Sending another offer does not change the number of tables in the house.

My working notes are usually short. I record the question, the change, the context and the review point. I leave room for the answer to be uncertain. A pleasing anecdote should not quietly become a claim about the entire customer base.

When I need an operational answer, I ask the person doing that work. Advertising cannot decide the delivery arrangement by writing it confidently. It can help explain the arrangement the business has actually agreed.

You'll find some scepticism here about agency habits, including the habits freelancers can acquire. I have no interest in pretending that being independent makes anyone immune to pointless faff. Give me a polished report template and I can waste time as efficiently as the next person.

The useful discipline is to connect the work back to a customer decision and a business arrangement. If I can't explain what improved or what we're trying to learn, I probably need another look.

I write conversationally, occasionally sharply, and sometimes with language that would make a formal minutes document uncomfortable. The irritation is generally aimed at busywork and broken promises, not at the person asking an ordinary question.

I want the customer to get a sensible answer. I want the business to be able to deliver it. I want the report to tell the truth about what we know.

Then I would quite like somebody to fix the bloody confirmation email.