Promotion channels.

Why the choice of channel matters more than the budget

A promotion channel is the place where a future client sees you: search, maps, a social network, a mailing list, a friend's recommendation, a notice in the stairwell. There are dozens of channels, and almost all of them make money for someone.

The problem is not that channels are bad, but that they are a poor fit for a specific task. Social media advertising sells brilliantly what a person might want on impulse, and hardly sells what people look for out of necessity. Search works the other way round.

Hence a practical rule: first work out exactly how people arrive at the decision to buy your product, and only then choose where to meet them.

Demand already exists or has to be created

This is the main distinction, on which everything else depends. If a person is already looking for what you sell — typing a query, browsing maps, comparing offers — demand is formed. The task comes down to getting onto their shortlist.

This covers search, maps, classified platforms and search advertising. All of them catch an intent that has already arisen. They work predictably and quickly show whether there is any demand at all for what you do.

If, on the other hand, a person does not know about your solution and is not looking for it, demand has to be created. This is where social media, video, creators with an audience and articles work — everything that catches the eye without a query. The cycle is longer and the result less predictable, but competition is softer too.

Most companies need both types. But it is almost always worth starting with the first: testing your offer on those who are already searching is cheaper than on those who first have to be made interested.

What else drives the choice

Price and the length of the decision. A ₽1,000 product is bought on impulse — formats where you can press the button straight away work. A ₽300,000 service is chosen over weeks, with study of the website, reviews and case studies, and a single ad impression decides nothing here.

It is important to understand exactly where you will be seen. We work a lot with medical clinics, and there the client's journey is built differently from retail: a person reads reviews, compares doctors, checks licences. For such tasks we have a dedicated healthcare practice.

Geography. Companies with an address and a physical space almost always start with maps and local search results: it is the cheapest source of enquiries from people who are already nearby. How this work is organised — in our piece on local marketing.

Purchase frequency. If a client comes back once a month, the main money lies not in acquisition but in retention: mailings and messenger campaigns are cheaper than any advertising. Details — in our article on email marketing.

What you can show. If the process looks spectacular — renovation, manufacturing, a craftsman at work — video and social media will deliver more than text. If there is nothing to show but something to explain, search and articles work better.

How to test a channel rather than believe in it

Any discussion of channels ends in the argument “but it worked for someone I know”. The argument is pointless: that someone has a different product, a different price and a different city. The only way to find out is to test it yourself.

Testing starts not with the launch but with preparation. There has to be somewhere to leave an enquiry and a way to count it: a working form, configured analytics counters, separate phone numbers or tracking tags for each channel.

Next, choose the timeframe and the amount you are prepared to spend without getting a result. For fast channels a reasonable test is two to three weeks and a budget that covers at least fifty to a hundred contacts with the audience per day. Any less, and there will not be enough data for conclusions.

Decide in advance what figure will count as success. Not “lots of enquiries”, but a specific cost per enquiry at which you stay in profit. It is simple to calculate: what you earn per deal, multiplied by the share of enquiries that reach a deal.

And test one at a time. Two channels launched simultaneously give a combined result from which you cannot tell what exactly worked.

Common mistakes

• Launching everything at once. The budget gets spread thin, no channel gathers enough data, and three months later it is unclear what to switch off.
• Clinging to a single source of enquiries. While it works it looks like a saving, but any change in the platform's rules stops sales entirely.
• Choosing a channel by personal habit. What you use and what your clients use are far from always the same.
• Stopping long-term tools too early. Search engine optimisation and content start paying off after months, and stopping in month two wipes out what has been invested.
• Counting clicks instead of enquiries. Cheap traffic that leaves no enquiries costs more than expensive traffic that does.

Where to start

Make a list of the channels where your audience actually spends time — usually you end up with five to seven. Cross out those you have no resources for: regular content, a product range, people to handle enquiries.

From the rest, pick one fast channel to test your offer and one long-term channel that will build up its effect. The fast one will show whether the audience responds. The long-term one will, in six months, reduce your dependence on the advertising budget.

A month later, compare the channels on a single scale — cost per enquiry and share of enquiries reaching a deal. How to set up such a comparison is covered in our piece on data analysis and returns. If you have no channels yet and have to start from the big picture, the steps for building a strategy will help.

A separate common question is search or paid advertising. The answer depends on how long you are prepared to wait; a comparison by timing and cost is given in a separate article.

If you need a fast channel that will reveal demand within a couple of weeks, that is paid advertising set-up. We start with analytics so that the decision to keep or switch off is made on enquiries, not on gut feeling.