Channels per growth phase

The lead generation phase begins when pipeline looks thin and the board wants meetings next month, not brand lift next year. High-intent outbound is the fastest lane because you control the approach list and the message timing. Use precise cold email, LinkedIn direct messages and partner referrals aimed at decision-makers who already recognise the pain you solve. A marketing agency might target heads of demand generation with a three-email sequence that opens with a recent campaign insight. An IT consultancy could reach out to operations directors whose LinkedIn posts mention cyber-risk audits.

Measure success by booked meetings and sales-accepted opportunities, never by open rate or subscriber growth. Expect a conversion benchmark of one meeting for every one hundred tailored emails when the list is accurate and the offer urgent. Allocate a single owner to refine copy daily and hold them to the cost-per-meeting ceiling calculated in Chapter 1. Resist the lure of simultaneous experiments in paid search or display; at this stage split focus starves every initiative.

Once outbound calls reveal which messages land and which objections repeat, you are ready to capture prospects who are already searching, which is the next phase.

The inbound intent phase layers on channels where buyers signal active interest. Google Search ads, review site profiles and retargeting banners catch prospects typing problems into a browser or comparing vendors side by side. Because intent is higher than in cold outreach, cost tolerance rises, yet spend must still respect the meeting ceiling. Import the language you heard in outbound calls to raise quality scores and push cost-per-click down.

For a consultancy, bid on niche queries such as “ISO 27001 audit partner” rather than broad terms like “security consulting”. A design agency could sponsor its profile on a review platform to intercept marketers shortlisting vendors. Retarget site visitors with case-study ads that match their page history, but freeze creative at two variants so optimisation data accumulates quickly.

Track cost per meeting weekly. If average CPC climbs past the calculated limit, pause keywords or narrow geography before headlines change. When search and review channels start to plateau and branded search begins to rise, the business gains headroom to invest in authority, which defines the awareness phase.

Awareness investments raise visibility beyond immediate hand-raisers. Niche podcasts, guest webinars and specialist newsletters let you borrow trust from existing audiences while staying relevant. The goal shifts from direct meetings to lifts in branded search, direct traffic and email list quality.

An agency aiming at fintech firms could sponsor a ten-minute segment on a payments podcast, offering a concise teardown of a recent campaign. A legal consultancy might deliver a short webinar on pre-acquisition due diligence for venture-backed scale-ups. Limit spend to ten per cent of monthly marketing budget until you can link awareness touches to downstream pipeline—often through uplift in organic demo requests or referral mentions in discovery calls.

Content created here becomes fuel for retargeting and sales nurture, reducing cost per lead over time. Track results in ninety-day chunks. Once brand signals show steady growth and cost per lead remains inside the ceiling, you can graduate to true reach expansion, the demand generation phase.

Demand generation unlocks broad-reach channels that build market share at scale: LinkedIn Sponsored Content, programmatic display and larger trade events. Costs per click are lower, but intent is diluted, so you must recycle visitors through retargeting and email nurture to defend return on spend.

Set clear guard-rails. Spend no more than twenty per cent of monthly budget on broad awareness until lead and meeting metrics confirm efficiency. Use frequency caps on display to avoid ad fatigue and feed captured audiences back into intent channels like search retargeting. Rotate creative every four weeks, but keep messaging rooted in the pains and proofs discovered during outbound and inbound phases.

Review the channel mix each quarter. Drop any lane that fails to land inside cost-per-lead or cost-per-meeting ceilings after two optimisation cycles. Expansion should feel like controlled layering, not a return to spray-and-pray.

With reach channels humming and unit economics predictable, the company can revisit phase sequencing when launching new products or entering fresh verticals, closing the growth loop.

Channel sequencing protects budgets and focuses effort. Start with high-intent outbound to prove messages, capture existing demand through search once language is clear, raise authority with niche awareness plays and only then open the throttle on broad-reach demand generation. Each phase unlocks the next when cost ceilings hold and pipeline grows.

Commit to one lane for ninety days before layering another. The discipline stops scattered trials and ensures every euro lands where intent and volume meet. Revisit the numbers quarterly, adjust ceilings as conversion rates improve and treat new channels as bets, not experiments. The result is a channel mix that scales revenue instead of scatter-shot impressions.