Acquisition Channels

The Acquisition Channels workflow helps you identify, test, and scale the customer acquisition strategies that work for your product. From product-led growth to paid advertising, this guide provides frameworks for prioritizing and optimizing your growth channels.

Overview#

Outcomes#

A successful acquisition workflow delivers:

• Prioritized list of channels to test
• Frameworks for evaluating channel performance
• Implementation guides for each channel
• CAC and payback benchmarks
• Scalable growth playbook

Channel Categories#

Channel 1: Product-Led Growth (PLG)#

PLG Models#

Freemium:

• Free forever tier with limited features
• Conversion to paid for advanced features
• Examples: Slack, Notion, Figma

Free Trial:

• Full access for limited time
• Requires payment to continue
• Examples: Netflix, Salesforce

Viral Loops:

• Users invite others as part of product use
• Built-in growth mechanism
• Examples: Dropbox, Calendly

Implementing Freemium#

Upgrade Triggers:

Viral Mechanics#

Referral Program:

PLG Metrics#

Channel 2: Content Marketing#

Content Strategy Framework#

Content Pillars:

1. Educational - How to solve problems (SEO)
2. Thought Leadership - Industry perspectives
3. Product - Feature announcements, tutorials
4. Social Proof - Case studies, testimonials

SEO Implementation#

Blog Post Schema:

Content Calendar:

Social Media Strategy#

Platform Selection:

Content Metrics#

Channel 3: Paid Acquisition#

Channel Selection#

Search Ads (Google, Bing):

• High intent traffic
• Best for known problem/solution
• Competitive keywords can be expensive

Social Ads (Meta, LinkedIn, Twitter):

• Awareness and consideration
• Good targeting options
• Works for creating demand

Retargeting:

• Re-engage website visitors
• High conversion rates
• Lower cost per acquisition

Campaign Structure#

Landing Page Optimization#

Test these elements:

• Headline variations
• CTA button text and color
• Social proof placement
• Form length
• Page length

Paid Acquisition Metrics#

Channel 4: Partnerships#

Partnership Types#

Integration Partners:

• Build into other products' ecosystems
• Examples: Slack apps, Shopify plugins

Referral Partners:

• Other companies refer customers
• Revenue share or flat fee

Reseller Partners:

• Partners sell your product
• Higher touch, enterprise focused

Affiliate Partners:

• Individuals promote your product
• Commission-based

Integration Partnership#

Affiliate Program Setup#

Channel Prioritization Framework#

ICE Scoring#

Rate each channel on:

• Impact - Potential effect (1-10)
• Confidence - Certainty it'll work (1-10)
• Ease - Difficulty to implement (1-10)

Testing Framework#

Minimum Viable Test:

• Budget: $1,000-$5,000 or 2-4 weeks effort
• Goal: Determine if channel can work
• Metric: CAC within acceptable range

Scaling Decision:

• Channel CAC < target CAC? Scale
• Channel CAC > 2x target CAC? Abandon
• Channel CAC between? Optimize or test variations

Recommended Agents#

Deliverables#

Best Practices#

1. Focus on 1-2 channels - Master before diversifying
2. Measure everything - Can't optimize what you don't track
3. Match channel to product - PLG for self-serve, sales for enterprise
4. Iterate quickly - Test, learn, adjust
5. Content compounds - SEO takes time but scales
6. CAC discipline - Never scale unprofitable channels

Common Pitfalls#

• Spreading too thin - Better to master one channel
• Ignoring attribution - Know where customers come from
• Premature scaling - Don't scale before channel is profitable
• Short-term thinking - Some channels take time (SEO, community)
• No testing - Always A/B test before scaling

Related Workflows#

• Product-Market Fit - Validate before scaling
• Metrics Dashboard - Track growth KPIs
• Retention - Keep acquired users
• Landing Page - Convert traffic