Why 90% of Growth Marketers Struggle at Channel Fit—And How to Succeed
Originally published on LinkedIn September 6, 2023
Regularly assessing channel fit is vital for the success of any growth marketing initiative. Over time, various elements inevitably change: your target users or ideal customers may develop new priorities, your product features and packaging could evolve, or shifts in market dynamics and competition may demand a fresh approach.
Do you have an up-to-date understanding of your users' relationships with the channels you are targeting? Is your current channel mix still relevant? If not, it may be time for a reassessment.
Below is a framework to guide you in evaluating a channel's effectiveness:
1. Relevance
Is your target user or ideal customer present in the channel? What percentage of the audience in the channel aligns with your target demographic? Can you tailor your campaign to focus specifically on your target user or ideal customer within this channel?
Example Product: A tool for sales forecasting.
Example Channel: Advertising on LinkedIn.
A revenue operations manager engages with her community on LinkedIn and is precisely targeted based on her job title, company name, industry, and professional experience.
2. Context
Given your understanding of your target user / ideal customer's use cases for your product, do these use cases naturally arise within the channel you're targeting?
Example Product: An out-of-the-box AI chatbot SDK for mobile developers.
Example Channel: SEO content focusing on building an AI chatbot using ChatGPT.
While a developer searches online for optimal chatbot implementation methods, she encounters an article detailing how to code a basic AI chatbot using ChatGPT. This article also highlights the existence of an out-of-the-box solution that is feature-rich, secure, and scalable, emphasizing that a pre-built AI chatbot can be implemented in a matter of hours rather than weeks or months.
Tip: For optimal go-to-market strategy, don't forget to ensure alignment on use cases with your product management and sales teams.
3. Intent
At what stage of the buying journey is your target user / ideal customer within the channel? Are they searching for a product to buy now? Or are they researching to learn more about the problem and potential solutions?
Example Product (Immediate Intent): Concert tickets.
Example Channel: Google Ads.
A fan of Taylor Swift is researching when and where the next concert will be performed. A relevant ad is displayed with the upcoming concert locations to buy the tickets before they sell out.
Example Product (Research Phase): Machine learning platform.
Example Channel: AI & Big Data Expo vendor talks and booths.
A data scientist attends the AI & Big Data Expo to learn about the latest tools and techniques to train and operate large-scale machine learning models. The data scientist listens to a vendor talk on the latest ML Ops practices and checks out various products on the showroom floor to see who has the best approach.
4. Growth
Model How does your advertising investment scale within the channel? Is the relationship linear and proportional to your investment, or does it stimulate a growth loop where output feeds back into the input, thereby providing exponential returns?
Example Product: Cybersecurity code scanning tool.
Linear Example: Stack Overflow advertising.
A developer is searching on Stack Overflow for a solution to a security coding challenge. Advertising on Stack Overflow targets security coding questions, leading to ad impressions and engagement. The relationship is directly proportional; increased spending results in higher levels of engagement within the channel.
Growth Loop Example: A growth loop is part of the code scanning tool workflow.
A developer initiates a GitHub pull request, allowing peers to review the code before it merges into the main branch. The results of a security code scan are included in the pull request, identifying potential issues and linking to detailed explanations on the vendor's website. Developers who review the code recognize the value of the security scan and download the product for use on their workstations. This cycle encourages broader community engagement with the product, accelerating its adoption.
5. Metrics
Which metrics will be impacted by this channel? For example, will asset downloads, product sign-ups, or plan purchases be improved?
If metrics already exist, assess whether they are stable, improving, or declining. A deterioration in metrics may signal that the channel is losing effectiveness and warrants reconsideration. For new channels, start with small tests to gauge efficacy before committing to more significant investments. Regardless, data-driven insights are crucial for each channel to understand ROI and optimize the channel mix.