Work out which advertising channel to back first.
Four parts: who you are, what you are actually trying to achieve, how each channel scores against that, and the split you commit to. Fill it in on screen or print it and use a pen. It ends with a primary channel and a number beside it.
FUEiNT Technologies is a software studio in Coimbatore, India, building custom software since 2014. This is a free worksheet that accompanies our article on choosing an advertising channel — nothing is submitted anywhere, and the scores are yours.
Part 1 — Your business
Be specific. "Everyone" is the answer that makes the rest of the sheet useless.
Part 2 — What you are buying
Rank these one to three, where one is what you most need in the next six months. Most plans fail because all three were ranked first.
Part 3 — Score the channels
Score each one out of ten against the goal you ranked first. The last two columns are yours to fill: what it would cost you to run properly, and how long you are willing to wait.
| Channel | What it is good at | Your monthly cost | Patience needed | Score /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search Ads | Meeting someone already looking for what you sell | |||
| Facebook and Instagram | Visual products, consumer audiences, reach | |||
| LinkedIn Ads | Reaching named roles at named companies | |||
| SEO and content | Being found without paying per click, eventually | |||
| Selling again to people who already bought | ||||
| Answering an enquiry in the channel people actually read |
How to read your scores
The highest score is your primary channel, and it should take most of the money. A channel that scores well on the goal you ranked third is not a compromise candidate, it is a distraction — put it away until the first goal is met.
Two channels within a point of each other usually means the goal in part two is not sharp enough. Go back and rank again, forcing a genuine first place.
If your budget will not fund the primary channel properly, the honest answer is to run one channel underfunded rather than three channels pointlessly. Splitting a small budget across five channels is the most common way to spend a year learning nothing.
Part 4 — The plan you commit to
A conventional split is roughly 70% to the primary channel, 20% to the secondary and 10% held back for testing. Adjust it, but write down what you chose.
The worksheet gives you an answer. It does not tell you whether the answer is right.
Send us what you scored and what you are spending now, and a senior engineer will write back with where we would disagree and why.
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