Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
When I started working with an e-commerce client last year, they had what looked like a solid setup on paper. Consistent revenue through Facebook Ads, decent ROAS at 2.5, everything seemed to be working. But there was a hidden vulnerability that would have killed their business: their entire growth engine depended on Meta's algorithm and ad costs.
This is the story of how I learned that distribution beats "build it and they will come" every single time. Most businesses treat distribution as an afterthought, focusing 90% of their energy on building the perfect product and 10% on getting it in front of people. I used to think the same way until this project changed everything.
Here's what you'll learn from my 3-month distribution overhaul that took a single-channel business to true omnichannel growth:
Why single-channel dependency is a business killer (even when it's "working")
My exact 3-phase distribution system that works for any digital product
How to embrace the "dark funnel" instead of fighting attribution lies
The distribution-first mindset that changes everything about product launches
This isn't about throwing more money at ads or hoping for viral moments. It's about building a distribution system that becomes your unfair advantage.
Reality Check
What most founders get wrong about distribution
Every startup founder has heard the advice: "Build a great product and customers will come." The industry loves to romanticize stories of products that "went viral" or "grew organically." What they don't tell you is that behind every "overnight success" is usually a founder who spent months building distribution channels before anyone noticed.
Here's what the conventional wisdom typically recommends:
Focus on product-market fit first - Get your product perfect before worrying about distribution
Organic growth is better - Paid acquisition is expensive and unsustainable
Find your best channel and double down - Master one channel before expanding
Track attribution carefully - Know exactly which channels drive ROI
Build audience first, monetize later - Focus on followers and engagement metrics
This advice exists because it feels logical and safe. Product quality does matter. Organic growth is cheaper. Attribution tracking gives us the illusion of control. But here's the problem: while you're perfecting your product in isolation, competitors with decent products and superior distribution are capturing your market.
The harsh reality? In most markets, distribution trumps product quality. A mediocre product with great distribution will beat a great product with poor distribution almost every time. The conventional approach treats distribution as a growth "hack" instead of the core business strategy it should be.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I started working with this e-commerce client, they seemed to have figured things out. They were generating consistent revenue through Facebook Ads with a respectable 2.5 ROAS. The numbers looked good, the cash flow was steady, and they were focused on optimizing their ad creative and targeting.
But I saw a huge red flag: 100% of their growth was dependent on one platform. They had built what I call a "single-channel business" - beautiful products, solid conversion rates, but completely vulnerable to algorithm changes, ad cost increases, or platform policy shifts.
The client was a mid-sized e-commerce store with a diverse catalog of over 1,000 SKUs. They'd been successful with Facebook Ads for two years, gradually increasing spend and seeing decent returns. But when I dug deeper into their analytics, I discovered some concerning patterns:
Their customer acquisition was completely dependent on Meta's advertising ecosystem. No organic traffic worth mentioning. No email list growth outside of paid acquisition. No content strategy. No SEO foundation. They were essentially renting their customer base from Facebook.
The wake-up call came when their ad costs started climbing and ROAS began declining. Industry changes, iOS updates, and increased competition were making their single-channel strategy unsustainable. They needed a complete distribution overhaul, not just better ads.
This is when I realized that most businesses confuse "having a working marketing channel" with "having a distribution strategy." They're not the same thing.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of trying to optimize their existing Facebook Ads (which everyone expected), I took a completely different approach. I spent three months building what I call an "omnichannel distribution system" - multiple pathways for customers to discover the business, each reinforcing the others.
Phase 1: Foundation Building (Month 1)
I started with a complete website restructuring focused on SEO optimization. Most e-commerce sites are built for paid traffic - they assume people arrive at the homepage and browse from there. But SEO traffic works differently. Every page needs to be a potential entry point.
I restructured their site architecture around search intent instead of product categories. Created landing pages for long-tail keywords their potential customers were actually searching for. Added blog content that addressed real problems their products solved. Set up proper technical SEO foundations.
Phase 2: Content-Driven SEO (Month 2)
This was the game-changer. Instead of creating generic "buying guides," I developed content specifically targeting their customer's search journey. For their catalog of 1,000+ products, I identified the key problems each product solved and created content around those problems.
The strategy was simple: be everywhere their customers were looking, not just where they expected to find them. I focused on search intent that competitors were ignoring - the "dark keywords" with decent volume but low competition.
Phase 3: Attribution Reality Check (Month 3)
Here's where things got interesting. Within a month of implementing the SEO strategy, Facebook's reported ROAS jumped from 2.5 to 8-9. Most marketers would celebrate this "improved ad performance," but I knew better.
The reality? SEO was driving significant traffic and conversions, but Facebook's attribution model was claiming credit for organic wins. This taught me the most important lesson about modern distribution: embrace the dark funnel instead of fighting it.
Instead of trying to track and control every interaction, I focused on expanding visibility across all possible touchpoints. The goal wasn't perfect attribution - it was maximum coverage.
Dark Funnel
Stop believing in linear customer journeys. Modern buyers research across multiple channels before converting. Focus on coverage, not tracking.
SEO Foundation
Restructure your site for search intent, not just product categories. Every page should be a potential entry point with clear value.
Content Strategy
Create content around problems your product solves, not just product features. Target "dark keywords" competitors ignore.
Attribution Reality
Facebook will claim credit for organic wins. Use this to your advantage instead of fighting platform attribution models.
The results spoke for themselves, though the real story was more complex than any single metric could show. Within three months, we had transformed a single-channel business into a true omnichannel operation.
Traffic Growth: Organic traffic increased by 400% in the first quarter, moving from under 1,000 monthly visitors to over 5,000. But more importantly, this traffic was highly qualified - people actively searching for solutions their products provided.
Attribution Insights: Facebook's reported ROAS jumped to 8-9, but this was because the platform was claiming credit for conversions that started with organic discovery. Rather than fight this, we used it as proof that multi-touch attribution was working.
Business Resilience: By month three, they had reduced their dependency on paid ads from 100% to about 60% of total traffic. This diversification meant they could weather algorithm changes, ad cost increases, or platform policy shifts without losing their entire customer acquisition engine.
The most surprising outcome? Their Facebook Ads actually started performing better because of the SEO work. Brand awareness from organic content made their paid campaigns more effective.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
This experience taught me five critical lessons about distribution that completely changed how I approach digital product growth:
Distribution is your moat, not your product - Competitors can copy features, but they can't easily replicate distribution systems
Single-channel "success" is a trap - If one platform controls your growth, you don't have a business, you have a dependency
The dark funnel is your friend - Modern customer journeys are messy. Build for coverage, not perfect tracking
Content is distribution infrastructure - Every piece of content should serve distribution, not just engagement
Omnichannel reinforcement works - Channels that seem separate actually amplify each other in ways attribution can't measure
What I'd do differently: Start with distribution architecture from day one instead of treating it as a "growth phase" activity. The earlier you build multiple discovery pathways, the stronger your foundation becomes.
This approach works best for businesses with proven product-market fit looking to scale sustainably. It doesn't work for very early-stage products still figuring out their core value proposition.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups implementing this distribution approach:
Build SEO into your product architecture from day one
Create use-case content around problems your software solves
Focus on search intent, not just feature descriptions
Treat every landing page as a potential entry point
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores building omnichannel distribution:
Restructure site navigation around search intent and customer problems
Create problem-solving content for each product category
Build email capture systems across all traffic sources
Use organic content to make paid ads more effective