DG-101 · Module 2

Channel Selection Framework

3 min read

You do not need every channel. You need the right three, coordinated. Channel selection starts with one question: where does your ICP actually spend attention? A VP of Engineering lives on GitHub, Hacker News, and technical Slack communities. A VP of Sales lives on LinkedIn, in their inbox, and at industry conferences. Choosing channels based on your comfort instead of your ICP's behavior is the most common demand gen mistake, and it is invisible because you still get some results — just a fraction of what the right channels would produce.

Do This

  • Select channels based on where your ICP consumes information and makes decisions
  • Start with two to three channels and coordinate them before adding more
  • Test each channel for 90 days before declaring it does not work

Avoid This

  • Choose channels because your team is comfortable with them
  • Spread budget across six channels with no coordination between them
  • Abandon a channel after two weeks because replies were slow

The three-channel rule works for most B2B demand gen programs. A primary outbound channel (usually email or LinkedIn), a content/inbound channel (blog, podcast, or community), and an event channel (conferences, webinars, or roundtables). Three channels, coordinated, will outperform six channels running in parallel with no shared narrative.