Channel Selection

What It Is

Channel selection is matching demand-gen channels to product type, ACV, and audience rather than running all of them. The five core channels each have a distinct fit profile:

  • Video (YouTube/TikTok) — top-of-funnel reach and education; compounding library value.
  • Paid acquisition — fast, measurable, but margin-sensitive; works when LTV:CAC supports it.
  • SEO — slow-compounding moat; high payback for content-fit products (e.g. Ahrefs, Notion public pages).
  • Community-led growth — Discord/Reddit/HN; high-trust, high-maintenance; best for dev tools and consumer apps.
  • Partnerships + co-marketing — integration partnerships are the highest-leverage type for SaaS (attach to a tool users already use).

Fit Signals

  • ACV sets the motion: low ACV favors self-serve/PLG channels (SEO, community, video); high ACV justifies sales-assisted and partnership motions.
  • Audience location decides the channel: developers → Hacker News / Reddit / Discord; executives → LinkedIn / events.
  • Affiliate/comparison-site channels work only once you already have traffic — affiliates promote what already sells.

How It Applies to Marketing Factory

Channel selection is a portfolio decision an analytics agent can support but a human should set: pick 2–3 channels matched to the product and double down, rather than spreading thin. Each channel needs its own agent workflow and its own success metric; feed performance back through marketing-attribution to reallocate. Community channels in particular are a 6+ month commitment — a dead Discord is worse than none.

Referenced from: demand-gen-channels