Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
Last year, I watched a client burn through €15,000 on Facebook ads for their B2B SaaS product. Perfect targeting, beautiful creatives, optimized landing pages - everything the growth gurus tell you to do. The result? A 0.3% conversion rate and zero paying customers.
Here's what every marketing "expert" won't tell you: perfect execution on the wrong channel is worse than mediocre execution on the right one. But most businesses are stuck playing channel roulette, jumping from Facebook to LinkedIn to Google Ads without any systematic way to figure out what actually works.
After working with dozens of startups and watching them waste thousands on the wrong channels, I developed a framework that actually works. Not the theoretical BS you read in marketing blogs, but a practical system I've used to help clients identify their best channels in weeks, not months.
Here's what you'll learn:
Why the "test everything" approach is killing your budget
The 3-layer framework I use to evaluate channels before spending a dime
How to spot channel-product mismatch early (and avoid expensive mistakes)
Real metrics from channel optimization projects that moved the needle
When to double down vs when to kill a channel (most get this wrong)
This isn't another "growth hacking" guide. It's a systematic approach to finding channels that actually convert, based on real experiments with real businesses. Check out more growth strategies here.
Framework Reality
What most optimization guides miss completely
Pick up any marketing guide and you'll see the same advice: "Test Facebook ads, try LinkedIn, experiment with Google, measure everything." The conventional wisdom treats channel optimization like a science experiment where you just need enough data points to find the winner.
Here's what the industry typically recommends:
Multi-channel testing - Run campaigns across 5-7 platforms simultaneously
Equal budget allocation - Give each channel the same investment to "fairly" test them
Vanity metric focus - Optimize for clicks, impressions, and engagement rates
Time-based decisions - "Test for 30 days then analyze results"
Platform-first thinking - Start with channels, then figure out messaging
This approach exists because it's what agencies sell and what platforms promote. Facebook wants you to spend on Facebook. LinkedIn wants you to spend on LinkedIn. Marketing agencies want retainers that justify testing "everything."
But here's where this falls apart in practice: channels aren't neutral testing grounds. A Facebook ad optimized for quick decisions will always lose when you're selling complex B2B software that requires months of consideration. Your product isn't failing Facebook - Facebook is failing your product.
The real problem? Most businesses are optimizing execution when they should be optimizing selection. They're making Facebook ads 10% better when they should be asking if Facebook is even the right place to be.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The breaking point came when I was working with an e-commerce client who had over 1,000 SKUs. Beautiful products, solid margins, decent website conversion rates. They'd been running Facebook ads for months with a 2.5 ROAS, which looked decent on paper but was actually bleeding money when you factored in their slim margins.
The client kept asking me to optimize their ad creative, improve their targeting, test new audiences. Classic optimization mindset - if it's not working perfectly, just optimize harder. But something felt wrong about the whole approach.
Here's what I realized: Facebook Ads thrives on quick decisions and impulse purchases. You scroll, you see something you like, you buy it within minutes. But this client's strength was their massive catalog variety - customers needed time to browse, compare different products, read reviews, think about which option worked best for them.
The platform physics were completely wrong. Facebook's "see it, want it, buy it" environment was fighting against their business model of "explore, compare, consider." We were forcing a discovery-based shopping experience into a decision-based advertising platform.
Instead of optimizing Facebook ads, I shifted the entire strategy to SEO and organic discovery. The results were immediate - customers who found them through search had 3x higher average order values and 40% better lifetime value. They weren't impulse buyers; they were intentional shoppers who had done their research.
That's when I realized most businesses aren't failing at channel optimization - they're failing at channel selection. The framework I developed came from this insight: you can't optimize your way out of a channel-product mismatch.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of starting with platforms, I developed a 3-layer framework that evaluates channel fit before you spend a single dollar on optimization. Here's exactly how it works:
Layer 1: Product-Channel Physics
Every channel has its own "physics" - the natural behavior patterns and decision-making styles it rewards. Facebook favors impulse. LinkedIn rewards thought leadership. Google captures existing intent. YouTube builds trust over time.
I map the client's product against these physics:
Decision complexity - How much consideration does your product require?
Price point - What's the financial risk for customers?
Purchase frequency - One-time, occasional, or recurring?
Differentiation level - How unique is your value proposition?
Layer 2: Audience-Channel Alignment
Where does your ideal customer actually spend time, and what mindset are they in when they're there? I've seen B2B companies waste thousands on Instagram because "our customers are on Instagram" - ignoring that they're there to relax, not research business software.
The key questions:
Where does your audience go to solve the problem you're solving?
What content format builds trust with your specific market?
How do they prefer to discover new solutions?
Layer 3: Resource-Channel Match
This is where most frameworks stop, but it's crucial. Some channels require content creation skills. Others need advertising budget. Some demand consistent posting. Others work with sporadic high-quality efforts.
I evaluate what the client actually has capacity for:
Content creation ability - Can they produce what the channel rewards?
Budget sustainability - Can they maintain spend long enough to see results?
Team skills - Do they have the expertise needed?
Time commitment - Does the channel fit their bandwidth?
Only after all three layers align do we move to execution. This prevents the expensive mistake of optimizing tactics on fundamentally mismatched channels.
Channel Physics
Every platform rewards different behaviors - Facebook wants impulse, LinkedIn wants expertise, SEO wants patience
Audience Mindset
Your customers might be on Instagram, but they're not there to buy B2B software - context matters more than presence
Resource Reality
Some channels need daily content, others need big budgets - pick what matches your actual capacity, not your ideal capacity
Mismatch Signals
High engagement but low conversions usually means wrong channel, not wrong creative - learn to read the real signals
The results from applying this framework have been consistent across different types of businesses:
For the e-commerce client with 1,000+ SKUs: Switching from Facebook Ads to SEO-focused content increased customer lifetime value by 40% and reduced customer acquisition cost by 60%. More importantly, they built a sustainable growth engine that didn't require constant ad spend.
For a B2B SaaS startup: Instead of spreading budget across Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google Ads, we focused entirely on the founder's LinkedIn personal branding. Result: 300% increase in qualified leads and a much lower cost per acquisition than paid channels.
The framework consistently reveals mismatches early. One client was spending heavily on Google Ads for a product with no existing search demand - people didn't know they needed it yet. We pivoted to content marketing that educated the market first, then captured demand second.
Timeline matters: Most channels show true performance within 4-6 weeks when there's proper alignment. If you're not seeing positive signals by week 6, you're probably fighting channel physics rather than optimizing tactics.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here are the key lessons from implementing this framework across dozens of projects:
Channel physics beat creative genius - A mediocre ad on the right channel outperforms brilliant creative on the wrong one
Engagement without conversion signals mismatch - High likes and comments but low sales means you're entertaining the wrong audience
Platform recommendations are biased - Facebook's "optimization" suggestions optimize for Facebook's revenue, not your results
Resource constraints are features, not bugs - Limited capacity forces better channel selection
Timing beats targeting - Being on the right channel when someone's ready to buy beats perfect audience segmentation
Distribution always beats perfection - Consistent presence on one aligned channel beats sporadic optimization across many
Channel success compounds - Once you find alignment, doubling down creates exponential returns
The biggest mistake I see? Treating channel optimization like a science experiment instead of a strategic decision. Your goal isn't to find "the best performing channel" - it's to find the channel where your specific business model has the best chance of long-term success.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups implementing this framework:
Start with founder personal branding on LinkedIn before testing paid channels
Focus on channels that allow relationship building, not just lead capture
Prioritize platforms where you can demonstrate expertise, not just advertise features
Test community engagement before scaling paid acquisition
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores using this approach:
Match product complexity to channel decision speed - simple products on social, complex ones through SEO
Consider catalog size when choosing channels - vast selections work better with search than ads
Align visual content with platform native formats for better organic reach
Use customer research to identify where they actually discover similar products