Developing A Multi-Channel Ecommerce Strategy

73% of B2B companies waste their marketing budget on the wrong channels, according to McKinsey. I've spent 8 years helping tech founders figure this out, and here's the truth: The "best" channel isn't universal. Let me break this down for you: Your ideal channel depends on 3 critical factors: > Your buyer's daily habits > Your strengths with content creation and buyer engagement Here's what we've discovered at PipeBagger: Enterprise deals ($100k+): • Social content + funnels + targeted outreach wins • Decision makers spend 40 minutes daily here • Trust building is paramount Mid-market ($25k-$100k): • Email sequences + funnels + content marketing dominates • 67% of decisions start with online research • Authority matters more than frequency SMB deals ($5k-$25k): • High-conversion funnels + social proof • Quick conversion cycles • Price sensitivity drives decision-making The real magic? It's not about picking ONE channel. It's about building an integrated pipeline that leverages multiple touchpoints. This is exactly why we created our Audience and Sales Pipeline Building program. We combine: > Strategic content that positions you as an authority > Targeted cold outreach that actually gets responses > Converting funnels that turn interest into revenue Want to stop guessing which channel works best for your specific situation? If you're hitting a wall with your current approach, let's talk. Your ideal channel mix is probably simpler than you think. #B2BSales #SaaSGrowth #TechSales #AccountBasedMarketing

Looking back, sticking to ONLY DTC e-com for too long was a big mistake. Expanding to a balanced omni-channel approach was central to creating an asset worth acquiring. Here are 3 mistakes and 3 lessons learned that might help if you’re thinking through your ideal sales channel breakdown. Mistake 1: We must “own the transaction” I used to think it was essential that we ‘owned the transaction’, got that email address or phone number, and, most importantly (at the time), could attribute purchases to our direct response ads. Lesson: Yes, maybe we get a little bit more data on customers in DTC ecom compared to selling in channels we don’t ‘own’, but the value of making other channels far outweighed the cons Mistake 2: “If customers want to buy from us, they’ll come to our website directly” Lesson: I just had to do the math. Only 20% of retail sales happen online. Of online sales, amazon and the other biggies own over 50%. that's crazy. Simultaneously, I had to develop a little bit of humility that even if someone really loves your brand, the reality is they're busy living their own life So expect 100% of your purchasers to have to enter our url in their browser in order to shop our brand is a super high bar to require, creating unnecessary friction we learned that shopping behaviors are sticky - hard to change on the whole - brick and mortar buyers are brick and mortar buyers no matter how good your owned website looks Mistake 3: Thinking channel expansion would weaken our brand We thought we needed to own every single touchpoint in the consumer brand journey. So therefore, as it relates to wholesale partners, it made sense that we'd think, "We can't just show up on a rack in some clothing store" We thought putting the brand in someone else's hands would be suicide Then, as we thought about Amazon in the early days, we didn't want to show up next to all the lower priced copycats, or didn't want amazon to duplicate our product if we saw success Lesson: If we had done a good enough job at building a strong brand, people would see chubbies and purchase chubbies. We were just providing more opportunities to buy. Retail partners are actually experts in selling stuff whether it be in the physical realm with wholesale partners, or in ecommerce with amazon. Finally, just by being in more places, we have more opportunities for the consumer to see our product, which also strengthens the brand. -- hope this helps!

Depending on the segment you’re going after, different channels are relevant. A low ACV with a large TAM and many targets likely needs to focus on SEO, Paid Search and Paid Social. Conversely, having a high ACV with a limited TAM and few targets implies the need for ABM, Sales Enablement and Customer Marketing. As a general rule, the higher the Price and Annual Contract Value for a product, the lower the Total Addressable Market. The lower the ACV, the higher the TAM. These two dimensions largely govern what avenues a particular business should take because as ACV shrinks, a company has a much lower amount of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) to work with to have a healthy Payback Period. To put it another way: When deal sizes are smaller, you need to invest fewer dollars to acquire customers in order to break even in a reasonable amount of time. When there is a mismatch between the approach a company should take and the one it actually takes, havoc ensues: -The chosen channels are ineffective and conversion rates are significantly lower -CAC gets inflated as companies spend too much to acquire customers -Too many of the wrong fit customers come in the pipeline and end up churning too quickly Knowing which channels, programs and campaigns apply to which segments is critical to setting the right Go-To-Market strategy and allocating the right budget to those activities. #marketing

Google Ads or Facebook Ads? Wrong question. The real question is: 👉 Are you capturing demand? 👉 Or are you creating it? Here’s how to decide which channel actually grows your business: ✅ CAPTURE Demand → Google Search & Shopping Best when people already know what they want. Think: “urgent care near me,” “affordable CRM for coaches,” “buy electric standing desk” • Start with Search (Lead Gen) or Standard Shopping (e-commerce) • Segment brand vs non-brand terms • Use Max Conversions or manual CPC to start • Once it’s working → layer on PMax to scoop warm traffic But if your Search Impression Share + Click Share > 80%? You’ve likely tapped out the market. That’s where most brands stall. ✅ GENERATE Demand → Meta, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok Best when people don’t know they need you yet. Or they’ve never even heard of your product or service. • For B2C → Start with Meta (broad reach, creative matters most) • For B2B → Start with LinkedIn (laser targeting by role + company) • For eCom → Meta (low AOV, young demos) • For higher-ticket or visual brands → YouTube (after Meta) Pro tip: These are top-of-funnel platforms. Don’t expect neat attribution. Instead, watch for brand lift, higher direct traffic, and search volume spikes. Make sure you measure the backend of your business and consider typical time to conversion. 🎯 Use Advantage+ and PMax strategically These are warm-traffic engines. • Meta Advantage+ scoops up website visitors • Google PMax works best when fed high-quality cold traffic from somewhere else → Use other campaigns and channels to feed PMax They're not top-of-funnel systems. They shine after you’ve built awareness. The truth most brands miss? They pour more money into the same campaign types... …without realizing they’ve already maxed them out. Your next level of growth doesn’t come from picking the “right platform.” It comes from mapping the right campaign type to the right stage of your buyer journey. That’s how you scale sustainably.

Up until very recently, Amazon was the most important ecommerce marketplace channel for most of our clients. That is starting to shift. It is still a powerful conversion and traffic engine. But it is no longer the default answer. As we have been digging deeper into 1P, 3P, and hybrid dynamics (see recent posts), one theme keeps surfacing: The question is not just which model to use. It is where each SKU truly belongs. Our team is advising every brand we work with to think in terms of portfolios, not platforms. That means retailers, marketplaces, social platforms, and retail media networks. Each should play a specific role. Where is your customer shopping? Where does your assortment have the best shot at volume and margin? For some brands, that still means Amazon. For others, it might mean pulling SKUs entirely and redirecting to DTC, Walmart, Target, or niche marketplaces. The old mindset was “How do we win on Amazon?” The better question now is “What role should Amazon play in the mix?” The answer is not the same for everyone. But the brands getting this right are thinking holistically, moving fast, and building systems that flex across channels. That is where real growth lives.

i've watched WAY too many marketing teams burn out trying to be everywhere at once. and the reason most multichannel strategies fail (or fall off), is because the approach is backwards: → pick trendy channels first → force content to fit those channels → spread resources way too thin → wonder why nothing works after helping dozens of teams fix their channel strategy, i've found a better way. step 1: map the journey before picking channels instead of chasing platforms, start here: → how does your customer realize they have a problem? → where do they go to learn more? → who influences their decisions? → what objections do they need to overcome? → when are they ready to buy? only THEN choose channels that naturally fit this journey. step 2: follow the 40/40/20 rule → 40% resources to content creation → 40% to distribution and promotion → 20% to measurement and optimization ❌ what most do instead: → 80% on creation, alignment, revisions and back and forth → 15% on a prayer → 5% on wondering why nothing worked step 3: set realistic timelines every channel has a different path to results: → paid search: 1-2 months → seo: 3-6 months → linkedin organic: 3-4 months → email: 1-2 months → podcast: 6-12 months step 4: prioritize channels using the 70/20/10 framework instead of spreading yourself thin: → primary (70%): proven channels for your business → secondary (20%): supporting channels that amplify primary → experimental (10%): new channels with potential bonus: know which channels to SKIP entirely yes, sometimes the best strategy is knowing where NOT to be. skip a channel if: → your ICP doesn't actively use it → you lack resources to maintain quality (the biggest issue i've seen so far) → you can't commit to its unique culture think b2b financial services really needs to be on tiktok? probably not. how to track what's actually working: multi-touch attribution is complex, but here's what works: → first/last touch attribution for trends → utm parameters religiously applied → survey data at conversion points → increment testing (pause channels to measure impact) remember: perfect attribution is impossible. focus on directional data. want my multichannel planning template? DM me and i'll send it your way. the goal isn't to be everywhere. it's to be exactly where your customers need you, when they need you. what's your biggest channel strategy challenge? drop it below 👇

Your biggest revenue channel might be your biggest profit leak. Most multi-channel founders I talk to can tell me their top-line revenue by channel in seconds. But when I ask which channel is actually making them money after platform fees, fulfillment, returns, and ad spend? Silence. And that's a problem, especially heading into Q4. Scaling decisions get locked in fast. Let me show you what a channel contribution analysis looks like 👇🏼 Take your Shopify DTC channel. Subtract: - Merchant processing fees (~3%) - Paid ad spend to acquire that customer - Shipping + fulfillment costs - Return rate (DTC tends to run higher) - Shopify platform fees Now what's your gross margin per channel? Run the same math on Amazon: - FBA fees (pick, pack, storage) - Amazon ad spend - Referral fees (~15% depending on category) - Return processing - Any co-op or promotional fees And wholesale: - Retailer margin (often 50%+) - Freight to their DC - Compliance/EDI fees - Chargebacks and deductions The channel pulling the highest revenue is often the thinnest on margin. Amazon looks profitable until you properly allocate ad spend. Wholesale looks safe until you factor in deductions and freight. DTC looks premium until CAC creeps up going into Q4. - - - Mid-Q3 is exactly when you should be running this analysis. Before you commit Q4 inventory, set ad budgets, or double down on a channel that's bleeding margin. I've seen brands reallocate 30-40% of their Q4 spend after doing this analysis for the first time. They finally knew which one deserved more fuel. Remember: Channel revenue doesn't equal channel profit. - - - Which of your channels would survive a full contribution margin breakdown? ♻️ Know a founder heading into Q4 without this analysis? Repost this for them. P.S. If you want to build a channel contribution model for your business before Q4 planning kicks in, I can help ➜ https://lnkd.in/eZ9cu5vR #DTCBrands #EcommerceStrategy #CashFlowTips #FinanceTips #FractionalCFO

If ≥70% of your audience and/or revenue come from ONE channel, your business is in trouble. Here’s the fix (from someone who’s generated $100M+ for clients): Build a 4-legged stool. Leg 1: Organic discovery channel (pick one) - Instagram - YouTube - LinkedIn - Search - ... Leg 2: Paid acquisition channel (pick one) - Google ads - Meta ads - ... Leg 3: Owned audience channel (pick one) - Community - Podcast - Email - SMS - ... Leg 4: Owned audience channel (pick a different one) - Community - Podcast - Email - SMS - ... For example: Leg 1: LinkedIn Leg 2: Meta ads Leg 3: Email Leg 4 SMS 1- and 2-legged stools don’t hold up. 3-legged stools are better. But they’ll never be as stable as 4-legged stools. Each channel carries its own risk, so you want to diversify. As a rule of thumb: If (a) ≥70% of your audience, leads, and/or revenue come from one channel and (b) your business would decline by ≥20% if that channel went away, you have single-channel risk. And you want to eliminate that risk ASAP. At the same time, don’t try to juggle too many channels. Any more than 4 is overkill and will burn you out. Aim for 4 like I showed you, and you’ll be well on your way to building a sustainable business.

TikTok Shop is changing the ecommerce game Over 200,000 sellers in the UK are now on TikTok Shop. That’s double the number from last year. What’s driving this growth? 🎥 Livestream shopping 🎬 Shoppable videos These tools let brands engage directly with their audience. The results? 📈 Livestream sessions are up 64%. 💸 Daily sales have grown 93%. Some sellers are making history: ▪️Made by Mitchell hit $1M in a single 24-hour livestream. ▪️P. Louise reached $1.5M in just 12 hours. But here’s the key: TikTok Shop isn’t for everyone. It works because it matches a specific audience with a unique shopping experience. Compare it to other channels: ▪️Amazon: Great for search-driven buyers who want convenience and trust. ▪️Your own webshop: Perfect for building brand loyalty and owning the customer experience. ▪️TikTok Shop: Best for younger, trend-focused shoppers who love interactive content. If you’re a seller, the lesson is clear: Diversify. ▪️Use Amazon for its massive reach and credibility. ▪️Build your own DTC webshop to control the narrative. ▪️Leverage TikTok Shop for social commerce and real-time engagement. Every channel serves a purpose. The secret is knowing your audience and meeting them where they are. TikTok forecasted triple-digit growth this Black Friday. Let’s see how far off are they in a few days. Let’s discuss how you can diversify and maximize sales across all your channels. What’s your strategy for reaching different audiences? Let me know in the comments! P.S. The ecommerce landscape is shifting fast. Adapt or get left behind. 🌊

Diversifying Your Sales Channels: When and How to Expand Beyond Your Website As the CEO of CrunchGrowth and the host of Crunching Your Growth, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with countless founders about one of the biggest questions in eCommerce: When is the right time to expand beyond your own website? Platforms like Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, and others offer immense opportunities, but they also come with challenges. While they can drive significant revenue and reach new audiences, expanding to these platforms isn’t always the right move—at least, not without a thoughtful strategy. Here are some pros and cons of channel expansion: Pros ✅ Increased visibility: Marketplaces bring built-in traffic, making it easier to reach new customers. ✅ Trust and credibility: Platforms like Amazon have established trust with millions of shoppers, which can remove barriers to purchase. ✅ Streamlined operations: Fulfillment services like FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) can handle logistics, allowing you to focus on scaling. Cons ❌ Fee structures: Most marketplaces take a sizable cut of your revenue, which can eat into margins. ❌ Competition: You're playing in a crowded space, often competing against lower-cost sellers or even the platform’s private labels. ❌ Brand dilution: Building a strong brand identity can be harder when customers are interacting with the marketplace, not directly with you. So, when is the right time to expand? You’ve mastered your own website: Your site should have steady traffic, strong conversion rates, and a reliable customer retention strategy. Your margins can handle it: Ensure you have enough profit built into your pricing to absorb marketplace fees without sacrificing sustainability. Your operations can scale: Expanding to new channels often means more inventory, faster turnaround times, and stricter compliance requirements. How to expand the right way Start small: Test one platform at a time to avoid overextending your resources. Analyze your audience: Choose platforms that align with your target customer demographics and buying behaviors. Optimize listings: Take the time to create detailed, optimized product pages that showcase your value. Leverage advertising: Many platforms have powerful PPC options to boost visibility early on. Measure success: Track key metrics—sales, return rates, and customer acquisition costs—to ensure the new channel is driving profitable growth. I’d love to hear your stories! Have you expanded to platforms like Amazon or Walmart? What worked (or didn’t work) for your brand? What advice would you give to others thinking about diversifying their sales channels? Let’s spark a conversation about growing the right way—share your thoughts and experiences in the comments! #eCommerceGrowth #ChannelStrategy #BrandBuilding #MarketplaceExpansion #crunchingyourgrowth