Channel Strategy: Are you in the right places with the right products?

Great products fail when they're sold in the wrong way, to the wrong people, in the wrong places.

You've nailed your offer. You've priced it smartly. You've defined your ideal customer.

Now comes a critical, and often overlooked part of the growth engine:

How, where and through whom are you selling it?

In recurring revenue businesses, channel strategy isn't just about distribution. It's about visibility, margin, control and customer experience.

And if your channels don't match your customers' preferences, or your commercial priorities, you're making growth harder than it needs to be.

What is channel strategy?

Simply put, it's the method and location of how your product reaches your customer.

In recurring models, this might include:

• Direct-to-consumer (DTC) via your website

• Marketplaces or third-party platforms (e.g. Amazon, App Store)

• Affiliate or referral partners

• Retail partnerships or resellers

• Influencer or ambassador programmes

• Paid subscription aggregators (e.g. telecoms or fintech bundles)

  
  

Common Channel Mistakes

I often see businesses falling into these traps:

• Relying too heavily on one channel (usually paid social or Google)

• Expanding into a new channel too quickly, without proof of fit

• Undervaluing the cost to serve in partner or aggregator channels

• Failing to tailor product / offers per channel (same bundle, different needs)

• Sacrificing margin or retention for reach

  
  

Let's break it down.

5 Steps to build a smarter channel strategy

1. Map your current channel effectiveness

Start with a simple table:

Channel | CAC | CLV | Churn | Margin | Volume | Fit with ICP

This helps you spot:

• High-churn or low-margin channels

• Undervalued but high-potential ones

• Gaps between customer preference and current routes to market

Tip: Review this quarterly. Performance shifts as markets and behaviours change which can happen regularly.

2. Understand customer buying behaviour

Where do your best customers expect to find and engage with products like yours?

Do they want:

• Direct control through your website?

• The convenience of app store billing?

• The trust of a known marketplace?

• The familiarity of offline retail?

  
  

3. Tailor the offer to the channel

Different channels = different customer needs, expectations, and behaviours.

Examples:

• A bundled offer in a telco aggregator should be frictionless and low-effort

• A high-value DTC customer might want more customisation or flexibility

• A product sold through affiliates might need clearer onboarding to avoid early churn

  
  

Don't just copy-paste your DTC offer into other channels….. adapt it.

4. Balance reach, retention and margin

More exposure doesn't always equal more value. Evaluate each channel across three key lenses:

1. Reach - volume, discoverability, exposure

2. Retention - customer stickiness, likelihood to churn

3. Margin - direct vs. third-party costs, support burden, discounting

Example: A marketplace might drive big numbers, but if customers churn quickly and cost 30% in fees, are they really helping your model?

5. Test small, scale fast when you’ve proved it works.

Before expanding into a new channel:

• Run a pilot

• Track metrics by cohort

• Use feedback to refine offer and onboarding

• Only scale once CLV, churn and CAC look healthy

Tip: Ask new customers how they found you, not just where. You'll learn a lot about what's really working.

Real-World Snapshot

I was brought in to drive both market share and value growth. At the time, the business only sold through direct channels: online, retail, and voice.

One major drain on margin was 'dilution'. Customers upgrading to 'cheaper' deals that earned less than their previous contracts.

The solution?

I opened up indirect channels through third-party distributors to bring in new business at competitive rates, without cannibalising our existing customer base.

At the same time, we repositioned direct pricing to reduce dilution.

The result: market share growth and protected margin

Don't Forget Internal Channels

Channel strategy isn't just external.Think about how internal routes impact customer value:

• How does onboarding flow between marketing and CX?

• Is product discovery happening within your app or platform?

• Do existing customers know what else you offer?

  
  

When I led a large call centre, service became our best acquisition routes. A customer would call with a billing query and leave with a new product they actually needed. It became a growth channel hiding in plain sight.

Right product, wrong place = No growth

You might have the perfect offer but if you sell it in the wrong channel, to the wrong customer, in the wrong way, it won't stick.

• Know your customer's buying habits

• Balance reach with control and profitability

• Tailor your offers and onboarding to the channel

• Start small, learn fast, and scale with confidence

  
  

Which channel is working best for you right now, and why?