How to Pick the Right Growth Channel
Testing frameworks for micro-budgets.
“You don't have budget to try every channel. You have budget to pick the right one — and the difference is a diagnostic, not a bet.”
The Insight
Channels don't work or fail universally — they work or fail for your specific customer, your specific product, and your specific price point. The founders who pick well are the ones who diagnose the match before spending, not the ones who try everything and hope.
01
The Bullseye Framework
List 19 possible channels (SEO, paid search, paid social, content, email, referrals, partnerships, events, outbound sales, direct sales, PR, affiliates, community, viral, platforms, speaking, podcasts, newsletters, ABM). Pick the three most plausible for your business. Run small tests in all three, for 90 days, with the same small budget. Pick the one that wins by the end. You then spend the next 18 months mastering that one channel, not hopping.
02
Match Channel to Purchase Price
A £50/year product cannot afford salespeople. A £50,000/year product cannot afford Google Ads bidding. Channels have price-point compatibility, and founders who ignore this waste six months. Roughly: under £500 ACV needs product-led or organic; £500–£5,000 needs paid or inbound sales; £5,000–£50,000 needs outbound sales or partnerships; above £50,000 needs relationship-led enterprise selling. Be honest about where you sit.
03
Measure Leading Indicators, Not Lagging
A channel test that measures only 'did we close a deal?' is too slow and too noisy. Measure the leading indicators: replies to cold outbound, signups from paid, engagement on content, time on page from SEO. Leading indicators show a channel's potential in weeks, not quarters. If the leading indicators are dead at week four, the lagging ones won't save it at week twelve.
The Takeaway
Test three channels small, pick one, master it for 18 months. Marketing is not a casino — it's a craft, and the craft rewards focus over variety.
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