Channel Discovery

Channel Discovery

Usage

Use when deciding where to spend marketing dollars and time. Ideal after defining your target market but before committing to specific tactics. Also useful when a current channel is underperforming and you need alternatives.

Process

Step 1: Gather Inputs

Ask the user for:

1. Target market definition — who they're targeting ({Identity} + {Industry} + {Business type & stage}). Example: "B2B SaaS CTOs at seed-stage startups"
2. Product context — what they sell, pricing, current stage
3. Constraints — budget (monthly), team size, timeline, skills available
4. Current channels — what they've already tried and results

Step 2: Understand the Target Market

Parse the target market definition. Identify:

• Who they are: Role, seniority, industry
• How they buy: Self-serve vs. sales-led, individual vs. committee, impulse vs. considered
• Deal size signal: Low-touch (< $50/mo) vs. mid-touch ($50-500/mo) vs. high-touch ($500+/mo)
• Digital behaviour: Where do professionals in this role/industry spend time online?

Step 2b: Run the 12 Customer Channel Questions

Before mapping channels, get inside the customer's head. Run through these 12 questions for the target market. Answer them based on research and web searches — not assumptions.

1. Search — Do they use search engines? What are they searching for? What keywords or phrases?
2. Websites — What websites and blogs do they visit?
3. Communities — Which communities and groups do they hang out in (Reddit, Slack, Discord, industry forums)?
4. Video — What videos do they watch? Who do they subscribe to on YouTube?
5. Social — What social media platforms do they use? Which influencers do they follow?
6. Email — What email newsletters do they subscribe to?
7. Podcasts — What podcasts do they listen to?
8. Professional network — Do they have a work email address? Are they active on LinkedIn?
9. Credentials — Do they have specific job qualifications, certifications, or training? Are they part of professional membership bodies or associations?
10. Events — Do they attend trade shows, conferences, or industry meetups?
11. Publications — Do they read trade publications or industry news sites?
12. Books and thought leaders — What books do they read? Who are the thought leaders they follow?

Diagnostic: If the answers to these questions don't come easily, flag it — the market is probably too broad or too poorly understood. "Small businesses" can't answer these. "B2B SaaS CTOs at seed-stage startups" can. Narrow the segment before proceeding.

Channels that appear across multiple answers (e.g., LinkedIn surfaces in questions 4, 5, 8, and 9) are the strongest candidates.

Step 3: Map Candidate Channels

Evaluate the target market against each channel category. For each, assess fit (High / Medium / Low / Skip) based on the market profile.

Paid Channels

Organic / Content Channels

Outbound Channels

Step 3b: Funnel Prioritisation Check

Before investing in channels, verify the funnel can support traffic. Start from the bottom and work up:

If retention is broken: No channel investment will help. Fix retention first. If conversion is below threshold: Don't pay for traffic yet — fix the landing page, messaging, or offer. If activation is weak: Fix onboarding before spending on acquisition.

Step 3c: Extended Channel Map (19 Traction Channels)

Beyond the paid/organic/outbound categories, consider these additional traction channels:

Don't try all 19 — find the 1-2 that work and nail them first.

Step 4: Research Channel Viability

For the top 3-5 candidate channels (rated High fit), do targeted research:

For paid channels:

• Use web search to check if competitors or similar products advertise there
• Check ad libraries (Reddit Ad Library, Meta Ad Library, LinkedIn Ad Library) for competitor presence
• Estimate budget requirements based on typical CPC and required volume

For paid social specifically — score each platform on Concentration / Targetability / Noise:

Fill in Concentration based on the target market. The ideal platform scores High + Excellent + Low.

For organic channels:

• Check if competitors have active presence (blog, social accounts, YouTube channel)
• Assess content gap opportunities
• Estimate content velocity needed

For outbound:

• Check if target buyers are reachable (LinkedIn presence, email findability)
• Assess message-market fit potential

Step 5: Score and Rank Channels

Score each viable channel on 5 criteria (1-5 each):

Rank by total score. For ties, break with:

1. Speed to results (early-stage needs fast feedback loops)
2. Learning value (insights compound across channels)
3. Cost efficiency (preserve runway)

Fast-feedback principle for early-stage founders: Prioritize channels that return meaningful signal within 48 hours. Three channels qualify: paid ads, community participation (Reddit, Slack, forums), and direct outreach (cold email, DMs). SEO, content marketing, video, and podcasting all take months to spin up. Prove the fast-feedback channels work first.

Step 6: Build Channel Recommendations

For the top 3 recommended channels, produce a recommendation with:

• Why this channel fits the target market
• What to do first (concrete next step)
• Expected timeline to meaningful results
• Budget estimate (if paid)
• What success looks like

Output Format

# Channel Discovery Report

**Date:** [current date]
**Target Market:** [Identity + Industry + Business type & stage]
**Constraints:** [budget, team, timeline]

---

## Channel Fit Matrix

| Channel | Audience | Speed | Cost | Effort | Learning | Total | Verdict |
|---------|----------|-------|------|--------|----------|-------|---------|
| Reddit Ads | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | XX/25 | Recommended / Consider / Skip |
| Google Search | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | XX/25 | |
| LinkedIn Ads | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | X/5 | XX/25 | |
| ... | | | | | | | |

---

## Recommended Channel 1: [Channel Name]

**Why it fits:** [2-3 sentences on why this channel suits the target market]

**What to do first:**
1. [Concrete step 1]
2. [Concrete step 2]
3. [Concrete step 3]

**Timeline:** [Expected time to first meaningful results]
**Budget:** [Estimated monthly spend or time investment]
**Success looks like:** [Specific metrics and targets]

---

## Recommended Channel 2: [Channel Name]
[Same structure]

---

## Recommended Channel 3: [Channel Name]
[Same structure]

---

## Channels to Revisit Later

| Channel | Why not now | When to reconsider |
|---------|------------|-------------------|
| [Channel] | [Reason] | [Trigger or timeline] |

---

## Next Steps

1. [Most important next action]
2. [Second action]
3. [Third action]

Rules

• Recommend 1-2 channels to nail first, with a 3rd as a backup. "Try everything" is bad advice for early-stage.
• Paid channels are faster for validation but burn cash. Organic channels compound but take months. Match the recommendation to the founder's stage and constraints.
• Don't recommend channels just because they're popular. A plumber doesn't need TikTok. A dev tools founder doesn't need Facebook Ads. Match the channel to the market.
• If the founder has already tried channels, ask what happened. Failed channels often failed due to execution, not fit.
• If Step 2b is hard to answer, either you don't know enough about the customer yet, or the segment is too broad. Push for specificity first.