Growth & Strategy
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Medium-term (3-6 months)
When I started working with an e-commerce client generating consistent revenue through Facebook Ads, everything looked solid on paper. Their ROAS sat at 2.5, products were quality, and they had steady sales. But there was a hidden vulnerability that most retailers miss—their entire growth engine depended on a single channel.
Here's what I discovered after three months of distribution overhaul: most businesses oversimplify their customer journey. They want to believe it's linear—see ad, buy product. But real customer behavior is messy. A typical journey actually involves Google searches, social media browsing, retargeting exposure, review site research, and multiple touchpoints across channels.
Instead of trying to control every interaction (impossible in today's dark funnel), I learned to focus on expanding visibility across all possible touchpoints. More distribution channels mean more opportunities for customers to discover and trust your brand—regardless of which touchpoint gets the "credit."
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why single-channel dependency is killing your growth potential
The real truth about attribution and the dark funnel
My 3-month distribution system that transformed a Facebook-dependent store
How to embrace attribution chaos and still grow revenue
When to expand channels vs. when to focus
This isn't about following the "build it and they will come" myth. It's about building everywhere they already are. Let me show you exactly how I did it.
Conventional wisdom
What every retailer thinks they know about distribution
Most retailers follow the same distribution playbook: start with one channel, optimize it until it works, then maybe—if you're ambitious—add another. The conventional wisdom goes something like this:
Focus on one channel first: Master Facebook Ads or Google Ads before expanding
Attribution is trackable: You can measure exactly which channel drives which sale
Quality over quantity: It's better to have one great channel than multiple mediocre ones
Linear customer journeys: Customers see your ad, visit your site, and buy
Channel optimization is the key: Perfect your funnel and the results will follow
This conventional wisdom exists because it's easier to teach and seems logical. Single-channel focus feels manageable, attribution gives us the illusion of control, and linear thinking simplifies complex customer behavior into neat spreadsheet rows.
Here's where it falls short: real customer behavior is fundamentally different from what attribution models show us. Customers research across multiple touchpoints, compare options on different platforms, and make decisions influenced by channels that never get credit for the final sale.
The single-channel approach works until it doesn't—and when it stops working, you're left scrambling with no backup plan. I've seen too many businesses go from hero to zero because they put all their eggs in one distribution basket.
What the industry gets wrong is thinking you can control the customer journey. You can't. But you can be present wherever that journey takes them.
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 had what most would consider a success story. They were generating consistent revenue through Facebook Ads with a 2.5 ROAS and around €50 average order value. Their products were solid—over 1,000 SKUs across their catalog—and customers seemed happy.
But here's what became clear during our first strategy session: they were completely dependent on Meta's algorithm and ad costs. Their entire customer acquisition was tied to a platform they couldn't control. When iOS updates hit, when ad costs spiked, when algorithms changed—they had no backup plan.
The client knew this was risky, but like many retailers, they fell into the trap of optimizing what was working instead of building what was missing. Their team spent hours tweaking ad copy, testing new audiences, and adjusting bids, but they hadn't invested in building other distribution channels.
What really struck me was their mindset about customer acquisition. They believed in the linear model: Facebook ad → website visit → purchase. But when I started analyzing their customer behavior more deeply, I found something interesting. Many of their best customers weren't actually "Facebook customers" at all—they were people who had discovered the brand through multiple touchpoints over time.
The breaking point came when I realized that their product catalog complexity was fundamentally incompatible with Facebook Ads' quick-decision environment. While most successful paid ads campaigns thrive on 1-3 flagship products, my client's strength was their variety. Customers needed time to browse, compare, and discover the right product for them.
This wasn't about their products being broken or their Facebook ads being poorly executed. It was about product-channel fit—and we had a mismatch. That's when I knew we needed to completely rethink their distribution strategy.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of doubling down on Facebook optimization, I proposed something that made the client uncomfortable: a complete distribution overhaul focused on channels that matched their product catalog strength.
Here's exactly what we implemented over three months:
Phase 1: SEO Foundation (Month 1)
I led a complete website restructuring focused on discoverability. This wasn't about pretty design—it was about creating multiple entry points for their 1,000+ product catalog. We optimized category pages, product descriptions, and site architecture specifically for search engines.
Phase 2: Content Strategy (Month 2)
We developed a content creation system targeting long-tail keywords around their products. Instead of fighting for competitive head terms, we went after the specific, intent-driven searches that matched their diverse catalog. Each piece of content became a potential entry point.
Phase 3: Multi-Channel Presence (Month 3)
We expanded beyond just SEO to include email marketing, affiliate partnerships, and strategic social media presence. The goal wasn't to replace Facebook Ads but to create a distribution ecosystem where multiple channels supported each other.
The key insight was this: don't try to change the rules of a marketing channel; understand how your product plays within those rules. Facebook Ads demands instant decisions. SEO rewards patient discovery. Email allows for relationship building. Each channel has its own physics.
Within a month of implementing the SEO strategy, something interesting happened. Facebook's reported ROAS jumped from 2.5 to 8-9. Most marketers would celebrate their "improved ad performance," but I knew better. 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 distribution: embrace the dark funnel instead of fighting it. Instead of trying to track and control every interaction, focus on expanding visibility across all possible touchpoints where customers might discover your brand.
Channel Physics
Each distribution channel has its own rules and optimal use cases. Understanding these physics is crucial for success.
Attribution Chaos
Modern customer journeys span multiple touchpoints. Attribution models are flawed—focus on overall growth, not perfect tracking.
Catalog Matching
Your product catalog type determines which channels will work best. Complex catalogs need patient discovery channels.
Dark Funnel Strategy
Accept that you can't track everything. Focus on being present everywhere customers research and make decisions.
The results spoke for themselves, though the attribution was messy—which was exactly the point.
Traffic Growth: Organic traffic increased by 400% within three months, providing a sustainable acquisition channel that didn't depend on ad spend.
Revenue Diversification: What started as 95% Facebook-dependent revenue became a more balanced mix, with organic search driving 40% of new customer acquisition by month six.
Customer Quality: Organic customers showed higher lifetime value and lower churn rates compared to paid traffic. They were more engaged, browsed longer, and made more repeat purchases.
But here's the most important result: business resilience. When iOS 14.5 hit and Facebook ad costs spiked across the industry, this client barely felt the impact. Their diversified distribution system continued generating customers through multiple channels.
The "attribution chaos" that worried them initially became their greatest strength. While competitors scrambled to fix their tracking and optimize single channels, they had built a robust system that kept working regardless of platform changes or algorithm updates.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After implementing this distribution strategy across multiple clients, here are the key insights that emerged:
Single-channel dependency is a business risk, not a strategy: No matter how well one channel works, having backup options is essential
Attribution is broken, and that's okay: Focus on overall business growth rather than perfect channel attribution
Product-channel fit matters more than channel optimization: Some products simply don't belong on certain channels
The dark funnel is your friend: Multiple touchpoints create trust and brand awareness that single-touch attribution can't measure
Distribution ecosystems compound: Channels support each other in ways that isolated optimization never achieves
Patience beats performance marketing for complex catalogs: Some products need discovery time that paid ads can't provide
Resilience is more valuable than efficiency: A diverse distribution system survives platform changes and algorithm updates
What I'd do differently: Start the multi-channel approach from day one instead of waiting for single-channel problems to emerge. The cost of building distribution diversity is always lower than the cost of emergency channel pivots.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies looking to optimize distribution:
Focus on content marketing and SEO for educating complex B2B buyers
Build email nurture sequences for longer sales cycles
Use organic social for thought leadership and community building
Develop partner and referral channels for credibility
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores implementing distribution optimization:
Prioritize SEO for product discovery and long-tail searches
Build email lists for customer retention and repeat purchases
Use content marketing to support complex or considered purchases
Develop affiliate and partnership programs for expanded reach