Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Two years ago, I was working with a B2B SaaS client who was convinced they needed to double down on Facebook Ads because "that's what all the successful SaaS companies do." Their conversion rates were mediocre, their cost per acquisition was climbing, and they were burning through budget faster than a startup burns through free coffee.
Here's the thing nobody talks about: most businesses are following playbooks that worked for someone else, in a different market, with different constraints, at a different time. While everyone's chasing the "proven" channels, the real opportunities are hiding in the places nobody's looking.
After running dozens of channel experiments across SaaS and e-commerce clients, I've learned that the channels that seem "obvious" are often the most expensive and least effective. The magic happens when you treat your marketing like a scientist treats hypotheses: test everything, assume nothing, and let data guide decisions.
In this playbook, you'll discover:
Why the "bullseye method" fails without proper experimentation
My framework for testing channels that actually scales
How I found hidden growth channels by going against conventional wisdom
The counterintuitive approach that saved my clients thousands in ad spend
A step-by-step process for finding your unique channel mix
This isn't about following someone else's playbook—it's about building your own growth strategy based on what actually works for your specific business.
Industry Reality
What the growth gurus won't tell you about channels
Walk into any marketing conference or scroll through LinkedIn, and you'll hear the same recycled advice about marketing channels. The growth gurus will tell you to start with content marketing, then layer in paid ads, maybe throw in some influencer partnerships, and definitely don't forget about SEO.
Here's what the industry typically recommends:
Follow the "proven" playbook: Start with the channels that worked for other successful companies
Focus on 2-3 channels max: Don't spread yourself too thin across multiple channels
Scale what works: Once you find a working channel, double down and optimize
Use industry benchmarks: Compare your performance to "average" metrics
Copy successful case studies: If it worked for Company X, it should work for you
This conventional wisdom exists because it's safe. It's easier to sell a service or course based on "proven" methods than to admit that marketing is messy, unpredictable, and highly dependent on context. VCs love to see startups following the same playbooks because it feels like reducing risk.
But here's where this approach falls short: the channels that everyone knows about are also the most competitive and expensive. When every SaaS company is bidding on the same Facebook ad placements and targeting the same LinkedIn audiences, costs go up and effectiveness goes down.
The real problem? Most businesses never actually test whether these "proven" channels work for their specific market, product, and customer base. They assume that because it worked for a case study, it'll work for them. That's not strategy—that's cargo cult marketing.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The wake-up call came during a project with a B2B SaaS client in the HR tech space. They'd been following the standard playbook: investing heavily in LinkedIn ads, content marketing, and Google Search campaigns. Their marketing team was stressed, their budget was stretched, and their growth had plateaued.
The numbers told a frustrating story: their cost per acquisition through LinkedIn was $400+ for a product with a $99 monthly price point. Their content marketing was generating traffic, but it wasn't converting. Their Google ads were performing "within industry benchmarks," which is consultant-speak for "not great, but not terrible."
What struck me was how they'd never questioned whether these channels actually made sense for their business. They were a workflow automation tool for mid-sized HR teams, but they were marketing like they were targeting individual freelancers on Twitter. The disconnect was massive.
I suggested we step back and actually test some unconventional channels. The head of marketing looked at me like I'd suggested they start advertising on billboards. "But LinkedIn is where B2B happens," she said. "Everyone knows that."
That's when I realized the problem wasn't just about optimization—it was about challenging assumptions that had never been tested. We were optimizing the wrong channels instead of finding the right ones. The solution wasn't better LinkedIn ads; it was discovering where their actual customers were spending time and how they preferred to discover new tools.
This experience taught me that most channel strategies fail not because of poor execution, but because of poor channel selection. Everyone's trying to win in the red ocean of "proven" channels instead of finding their own blue ocean opportunities.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's the framework I developed after working through this challenge with multiple clients: the Channel Discovery Engine. Instead of starting with what "should" work, we start with systematic experimentation to discover what actually works.
Step 1: Map Your Customer Reality
Before testing any channels, I spend time understanding where customers actually spend their time. For the HR tech client, this meant surveying existing customers about their daily workflows, the publications they read, and the communities they participate in. The results were eye-opening: most were active in niche HR Slack communities and industry-specific forums that weren't on anyone's marketing radar.
Step 2: Build the Testing Pipeline
Instead of betting big on single channels, I created a systematic testing approach. We allocated 60% of budget to current channels and 40% to experiments. Each experiment ran for exactly 30 days with clearly defined success metrics. No exceptions, no "let's try it for another week to see if it improves."
Step 3: Test Uncommon Channels First
This is where the magic happened. While competitors were fighting over LinkedIn placements, we tested:
Industry Slack communities: Direct engagement where HR professionals were already discussing challenges
Podcast sponsorships: Targeting niche HR podcasts with highly engaged audiences
Strategic partnerships: Collaborating with complementary tools instead of competing for the same ad space
Industry newsletter placements: Small, targeted placements in newsletters HR managers actually read
Step 4: Measure Total Cost, Not Just Performance
Here's what most people get wrong: they optimize for metrics like click-through rates or cost-per-click instead of looking at the full customer acquisition picture. A channel might have a higher upfront cost but deliver customers with better lifetime value and lower churn.
For example, customers acquired through industry partnerships had a 40% higher lifetime value than those from LinkedIn ads, even though the initial "cost per acquisition" appeared higher when you factored in relationship-building time.
Step 5: Create Channel Combinations, Not Channel Competition
The breakthrough insight was that channels work better together than in isolation. Instead of picking winners and losers, we created channel sequences: industry newsletter placement → targeted follow-up in Slack communities → personalized email sequences. Each touchpoint built on the previous one, creating a compound effect.
Testing Framework
30-day experiments with clear success metrics and budget allocation rules
Customer Mapping
Survey existing customers to discover where they actually spend time and discover new tools
Channel Sequences
Combine multiple touchpoints to create compound effects rather than single-channel optimization
Partnership Focus
Collaborate with complementary tools instead of competing for the same advertising space
The results were transformative, but not in the way you might expect. Instead of finding one "winning" channel, we discovered that channel combination was the real unlock.
Our unconventional approach delivered:
67% reduction in customer acquisition cost by shifting budget from LinkedIn to industry partnerships and community engagement
3x higher engagement rates when reaching customers in their natural environments rather than interrupting them with ads
40% better customer lifetime value from partnership-driven acquisitions compared to paid advertising
85% faster time-to-purchase when prospects were pre-educated through industry content rather than cold outreach
But the most important result wasn't a metric—it was mindset. The marketing team stopped asking "How do we optimize our LinkedIn ads?" and started asking "Where else might our customers be that we haven't considered?"
This shift led to discoveries we never would have made following conventional wisdom: their highest-value customers were actively participating in very specific subreddits, attending virtual meetups nobody was sponsoring, and reading newsletters with 500 subscribers that had 10x the engagement of major publications.
The timeline was crucial: we saw initial signals within the first 30 days, meaningful traction by month 3, and compound growth by month 6. The key was not giving up on experiments too early while also not dragging them out beyond their useful testing period.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After implementing this framework across multiple clients and industries, here are the most important lessons I've learned about channel experimentation:
Your customers' behavior trumps industry best practices every time. What matters isn't where B2B customers "should" be—it's where YOUR customers actually are.
Small, engaged audiences often convert better than large, generic ones. A newsletter with 500 highly relevant subscribers can outperform a Facebook campaign reaching 50,000 people.
Channel timing matters as much as channel selection. The same message can succeed or fail depending on when and how it's delivered in the customer journey.
Relationships scale differently than ads. Building partnerships and community presence requires more upfront investment but often delivers compounding returns.
Test uncommon channels first, not last. If you wait until your budget is exhausted to try unconventional approaches, you won't have resources to scale what works.
Measure lifetime value, not just acquisition cost. Cheaper isn't always better if it brings in customers who churn quickly or have lower purchase intent.
Channel combinations create compound effects. Instead of optimizing individual channels in isolation, design sequences that amplify each other.
The biggest mistake I see companies make is treating channel experimentation like A/B testing—changing one variable at a time. Real channel discovery requires bigger leaps and more systematic exploration of customer behavior.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies implementing this approach:
Start with customer interviews to map where prospects discover and evaluate tools
Test industry-specific communities before broad social media platforms
Focus on trial quality over trial quantity
Build partnerships with complementary SaaS tools in your ecosystem
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores implementing this approach:
Test niche influencers and micro-communities before broad social advertising
Experiment with product placement in unexpected contexts
Focus on lifetime value optimization over acquisition volume
Build relationships with industry publications and newsletter owners