Choose one acquisition channel to test first

Start where a qualified buyer already looks for help

An acquisition channel is a repeatable way for likely buyers to discover, evaluate, and start using or buying your product. The first channel is a learning choice, not a permanent growth strategy. Select it from evidence about how the target group handles the problem: where they ask peers, search, compare providers, attend events, receive referrals, or already buy adjacent services.

Start with interviews and observed workarounds and the segment definition in first-user outreach. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s market-research guidance recommends combining existing sources with direct customer research; its U.S. context differs from many IndieWiki readers, but the distinction is useful anywhere: general market data describes a broad picture, while direct conversations can reveal specific buying and discovery behavior. Do not choose a channel just because another founder’s success story made it look easy.

Compare channels against your actual constraints

Shortlist at most three plausible paths. For each, score 1 (weak) to 3 (strong) and write the evidence—not just the number.

Fit question	What to look for
Audience access	Can you identify and reach people who match the segment without violating community or platform rules?
Problem context	Can you meet them when the problem is present, rather than interrupting an unrelated task?
Trust	Does this path allow the buyer to judge your credibility and ask questions?
Time to signal	Can you reach a useful conversation or product attempt within your available time?
Economics	What are cash spend, founder hours, fulfillment work, and possible support costs?
Repeatability	Could you use this path again if the first customers benefit? What would make it stop working?

Choose the highest-fit path you can responsibly operate now. Examples include one-to-one outreach, a niche directory, a relevant community that permits promotion, search content that answers an existing question, a partner who already serves the audience, or a marketplace where buyers compare options. Treat each as a hypothesis: directory listings may be stale, communities may disallow promotion, search may take a long time, and partner introductions may require trust that is not yet established.

For products bought by a team, account for the full path: user discovery, evaluation, approval, procurement, and implementation. A user might discover a tool in a community while the buyer needs a security review and a budget owner. Do not optimize visits if the real bottleneck is qualification or purchasing friction.

For a practical way to identify decision-makers, buyer evidence needs, and a bounded first purchase, see sell software to a business.

Run a bounded channel experiment

Use a one-page experiment brief:

Target segment:
Channel and why these buyers use it:
Offer and next action:
Time or spend limit:
Qualified people reached:
Conversations / trials / purchases:
Founder hours and delivery cost:
What result continues, changes, or stops the test:
Known confounders:

Keep the offer, segment, and time window stable enough to interpret. Use a single channel for the test unless the customer journey clearly needs multiple touchpoints. Count qualified contacts and completed outcomes, not impressions alone. Track how prospects move from discovery to first value and whether they stay; include refunds, poor-fit leads, and support burden as counter-signals. A channel that generates many cheap signups may still be wrong if users do not have the problem or cannot reach the outcome.

The GOV.UK service standard on joining up channels is written for public services and stresses that people may move between online and offline help. A commercial product need not offer every channel, but should recognize the real path users take and avoid making a support or human handoff disappear at the digital boundary.

Decide from the evidence

Continue if the channel repeatedly reaches the intended segment and produces meaningful conversations or product use at a cost you can sustain. Change the message if people are qualified but misunderstand the offer. Change the channel if they are outside the segment or the path is blocked by rules or poor timing. Stop if the channel requires spam, deceptive claims, data collection beyond your purpose, or operating effort that overwhelms delivery.

There is no universal channel or response benchmark. Compare with your own earlier cohorts and keep the denominator visible. If a channel shows promise, repeat it before automating. See first 100 users, respectful cold outreach, and measure product progress for the next parts of the loop.