Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
When I started working with a B2B SaaS client, their acquisition strategy looked solid on paper. Multiple channels, decent traffic, trial signups coming in. But something was broken in their conversion funnel.
The real issue? They were throwing spaghetti at the wall across 15 different channels without understanding which ones actually drove quality users. Sound familiar?
Most startups I've worked with make the same mistake - they read about growth hacking tactics and try everything at once. Facebook ads, LinkedIn outreach, content marketing, partnerships, influencer collaborations. The list goes on.
But here's what I discovered after testing acquisition channels across multiple client projects: 95% of your growth will come from 2-3 channels maximum. The trick is finding which ones work for your specific business.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
The complete list of 30+ acquisition channels I've tested with clients
My systematic approach for testing channels without burning cash
Real examples of which channels worked (and failed) for different business types
The bullseye framework I use to prioritize channel testing
How to identify your golden channels before your competitors do
This isn't another generic growth hacking article. It's a practical guide based on actual testing with SaaS startups and ecommerce brands that went from scattered efforts to focused growth engines.
Framework
What the growth gurus always recommend
Walk into any startup accelerator or read any growth blog, and you'll hear the same tired advice: "Test everything, fail fast, growth hack your way to success." The conventional wisdom follows a predictable pattern.
The Standard Acquisition Playbook:
Start with paid ads (Facebook, Google) because they're "scalable"
Build content marketing for "long-term organic growth"
Add social media because "you need to be where your customers are"
Try influencer marketing for "social proof"
Experiment with partnerships for "mutual benefit"
The problem? This approach treats all channels as equal opportunities. Most growth advisors will hand you a list of 20+ channels and tell you to "test them systematically." But they never tell you how to test or when to double down.
This scattered approach leads to what I call "channel hopping syndrome" - constantly jumping from one shiny tactic to another without giving any single channel enough time or resources to show real results. You end up with mediocre performance across multiple channels instead of excellence in a few.
The industry also pushes the myth that successful companies use dozens of channels. In reality, most successful startups I've studied built their foundation on 1-2 primary channels, then gradually expanded. But that doesn't sell courses or consulting services.
What the gurus don't tell you is that channel effectiveness varies dramatically based on your business model, target market, product complexity, and dozens of other factors. A B2B SaaS selling to enterprises needs a completely different approach than a DTC ecommerce brand targeting millennials.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I started working with that B2B SaaS client I mentioned, they were burning $15K monthly across Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn campaigns, and content marketing. The results? A mixed bag of low-quality leads that rarely converted to paid users.
Here's what their "diversified" acquisition looked like:
Google Ads: High CPC, lots of trial signups, terrible trial-to-paid conversion
Facebook Ads: Cheap clicks, but users who barely engaged with the product
Content marketing: Driving traffic, but mostly tire-kickers
LinkedIn outreach: Manual, time-intensive, inconsistent results
The founder was frustrated. "We're doing everything the experts recommend, but we're not seeing the growth we need."
That's when I introduced them to the bullseye framework from the book "Traction" by Gabriel Weinberg. Instead of spreading efforts thin, we would systematically test channels to find their golden opportunities.
But first, I had to challenge their assumptions. After diving deep into their analytics, I discovered something interesting: a significant portion of their highest-quality leads were actually coming from the founder's personal branding on LinkedIn. Not the paid LinkedIn campaigns - the organic content and relationships the founder was building.
The "direct" conversions in their analytics weren't really direct. They were people who had been following the founder's content, building trust over time, then typing the URL directly when they were ready to convert.
This discovery changed everything. Instead of trying to optimize 10 different channels, we focused on amplifying what was already working while systematically testing new ones.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's the systematic approach I developed for identifying and scaling acquisition channels, based on multiple client projects and the principles from "Traction."
Phase 1: The Complete Channel Audit
First, I create an exhaustive list of every possible acquisition channel for the business. Here's the complete list I use, organized by category:
Targeting Blogs & Publications:
Industry blogs and publications
Guest posting on relevant sites
Podcast guest appearances
Newsletter sponsorships
YouTube channel collaborations
Publicity & PR:
Traditional media coverage
Industry award submissions
Speaking at conferences
Product Hunt launches
Press release distribution
Unconventional PR:
Viral marketing campaigns
Controversy marketing
Newsjacking trending topics
Guerrilla marketing tactics
Search Engine Marketing:
Google Ads (Search, Display, YouTube)
Bing Ads
SEO content marketing
Local SEO optimization
Social & Display Ads:
Facebook & Instagram ads
LinkedIn ads
Twitter ads
TikTok ads
Pinterest ads
Snapchat ads
Reddit ads
Offline Ads:
Radio sponsorships
Billboard advertising
Direct mail campaigns
Event sponsorships
Content Marketing:
Company blog
YouTube channel
Podcast hosting
Email newsletters
Free tools and calculators
Educational webinars
Email Marketing:
Cold email outreach
Newsletter partnerships
Email list rentals
Automated drip campaigns
Viral Marketing:
Referral programs
Social sharing incentives
User-generated content campaigns
Community challenges
Business Development:
Strategic partnerships
Integration partnerships
Affiliate programs
Reseller networks
Joint ventures
Sales:
Outbound cold calling
LinkedIn outreach
Trade show participation
Industry networking events
Phase 2: The Bullseye Prioritization
Next, I use the bullseye framework to categorize channels into three rings:
Inner Ring (Top Priority): 3-5 channels that seem most promising based on target customer behavior, budget, and company resources.
Middle Ring (Secondary): 5-8 channels that could work but require more investigation.
Outer Ring (Low Priority): Everything else that's probably not worth testing right now.
Phase 3: Systematic Testing
For each inner ring channel, I run focused 4-6 week experiments with specific success metrics and budget caps. The key is testing one channel at a time to get clean data.
Channel Testing
Run focused 4-6 week experiments with $500-2000 budgets per channel. Test one at a time for clean attribution data.
Data Collection
Track quality metrics, not just volume. Customer LTV and engagement matter more than raw signup numbers.
Scaling Strategy
Double down on channels showing positive unit economics. Kill underperforming channels quickly and reallocate budget.
Hidden Channels
Look for unconventional opportunities your competitors miss. Industry forums, niche communities, or partnership opportunities.
Using this systematic approach across multiple client projects, here's what I discovered:
For that original B2B SaaS client:
Founder-led LinkedIn content became their #1 channel (40% of qualified leads)
Strategic partnerships with complementary tools drove 25% of new customers
We killed Google Ads, Facebook, and 3 other channels to focus resources
For an ecommerce client with 1000+ SKUs:
SEO became the primary channel due to catalog complexity
Facebook ads failed because customers needed time to browse and compare
Email marketing to existing customers drove 30% of repeat purchases
The pattern became clear: successful companies don't use more channels - they use the right channels more effectively. My most successful clients typically dominated 1-2 primary channels rather than spreading thin across many.
Interestingly, the highest-performing channels were often the least "sexy" ones. Personal relationships, direct outreach, and industry-specific tactics consistently outperformed trendy growth hacks.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After implementing this framework across 15+ client projects, here are the key lessons that shaped my approach:
Product-channel fit matters more than product-market fit. A great product in the wrong channel will fail. Your product needs to align with how customers discover and evaluate solutions in that channel.
Timing kills more channels than poor execution. Being too early to a channel (like TikTok for B2B in 2020) or too late (Facebook organic reach in 2023) can doom otherwise good strategies.
Channel saturation happens faster than you think. What works today might not work in 6 months as competition increases and costs rise.
Distribution beats product quality every time. I've seen inferior products win through superior channel strategy, and amazing products fail through poor distribution.
The best channels are often industry-specific. Generic advice fails because it ignores the unique dynamics of your market. A fintech startup and a fashion brand need completely different approaches.
Personal relationships scale better than automation. Founder-led sales, personal branding, and relationship-building consistently outperform automated funnels for early-stage companies.
Channel diversification is a luxury, not a necessity. Only diversify after you've maximized 1-2 primary channels. Premature diversification kills growth.
If I were starting over, I'd spend 80% of my time on channel selection and only 20% on optimization. Most founders do the opposite - they pick channels randomly then obsess over conversion rates.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups specifically:
Start with founder-led content and personal relationships before scaling paid channels
Focus on channels where you can demonstrate product value before asking for payment
Prioritize high-intent channels over high-volume ones for better trial-to-paid conversion
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores:
Visual channels (Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok) work best for lifestyle and consumer products
SEO becomes more valuable as your catalog grows beyond 100+ products
Email marketing to existing customers often outperforms new customer acquisition