Clarify the channel's job
Some activity introduces an offer; other activity captures existing intent or encourages a repeat purchase. Define the audience, stage and next action. Comparing a discovery channel with a high-intent search channel using only last-click sales can obscure their different roles.
Use complete economics
Include creative production, management, promotions and relevant fulfillment costs when evaluating contribution. Separate new and returning customers and identify overlapping attribution. A low acquisition cost may reflect customers who already intended to buy rather than additional demand created by the activity.
Set a controlled expansion rule
Choose a test budget, observation period and guardrails. Monitor response capacity, customer quality and marginal performance as spend changes. Keep a record of concurrent promotions and seasonality. Expansion should follow evidence that remains credible at the next spending level, not a single favorable period.
Put the decision into practice
- Define the channel's role.
- Separate customer cohorts.
- Include relevant costs.
- Set a bounded spending test.
- Monitor marginal performance and capacity.
Bring the business question, the evidence already available and the constraints that matter. Discuss your next step with Nancy Chou.
Use a common comparison sheet
For each channel, record audience, offer, attributed orders, reconciled orders, acquisition cost and contribution boundaries. Note where several platforms claim the same transaction. Add delivery, fees and return implications where relevant. A low reported cost per order may reflect an existing-customer audience or omitted costs rather than stronger incremental acquisition.
Choose the next test from the gap
If one channel reaches a different purchase occasion, compare that role explicitly rather than force an identical benchmark. If measurement is unreliable, reconcile a sample before increasing spend. If the audience is appropriate but completion is weak, inspect the buying path. The result should be a decision about continue, repair, test or stop, supported by a defined observation period. Connecting online marketing with offline sales.
A cheap channel with a different customer mix
Hypothetical decision exercise. Imagine one channel reporting inexpensive orders from existing customers and another bringing more costly first-time purchasers. A direct cost-per-order ranking answers the wrong question if the objective is new-customer acquisition. Separate populations, reconcile costs and clarify each channel’s role. The next decision may be to retain both for different purposes rather than declare one universally superior.