Start with where your buyers already are
Before picking channels, write down how your last ten customers found you. Patterns appear quickly, and they are a better guide than any industry report.
Match the channel to buying intent
Search captures people who already know what they want. Social and video create demand from people who don't yet. Most businesses need a little of both, weighted by how complex their product is.
Prove one channel before adding the next
Give each channel enough budget and time to learn. A channel judged on two weeks of thin spend has not really been tested.
Measure the whole journey
Customers rarely convert on the first touch. Look at assisted conversions so you don't cut a channel that quietly starts most of your sales.
Putting it into practice
Put this into practice with a one-page channel plan. List your last ten customers and note the first place each one heard of you and the last thing they did before buying. Group the answers by channel. The two or three that appear most often are your starting shortlist, whatever competitors happen to be doing.
For each shortlisted channel, write down what a fair test looks like: the budget, the period, the one number you will judge it on and the result that would make you stop. Agree this before spending, so the decision is not made on mood. Run tests one or two at a time, so you can tell what caused a change.
When a channel passes its test, keep it running and only then add the next one from your list. Review assisted conversions every quarter, because a channel that rarely closes a sale may still be where many customers first meet you.
Key takeaways
- Ask your recent customers how they found you
- Balance demand capture with demand creation
- Fund tests properly before judging them