A client recently asked me: “Should we focus on growing new channels, or maximise the ones we already have?”
Naturally my first reaction was: ‘this is exactly the kind of question LinkedIn loves!'
Because on the surface, it sounds like a neat strategic choice. In reality, it’s usually much messier.
Most businesses are not choosing between “channel growth” and “channel optimisation” in any clean, discreet way. More often than not, there’s a lot more headroom in existing channels than people realise. And if there isn’t, the data will usually make that clear fast.
But in 2026, the channel debate can be a red herring.
When I started out in marketing, channels were more obvious: TV, radio, print, direct mail, in-store, and the internet as this shiny new thing. Today, the same customer can touch half a dozen routes to purchase before converting.
So the real question is not: “Which channel should we choose?”
It’s: Where is the incrementality?
That matters, because not every channel is creating new demand.
Some channels capture demand that already exists.
Some simply cannibalise another route.
And some actually add something new.
That’s the difference between growth and noise.
And yes, you can test this.
Because in the real world of retail, 1+1 rarely equals 2.
The job is to find out how close you are to 2, and where the biggest gaps are.
Protip: There’s one essential rule though: keep the playing field as level as possible: Don’t let one channel get an unfair advantage on budget, timing, price, creative, or service. If you do, you’re not testing incrementality, you’re just confirming your own bias.
So before you ask which channel to grow, ask a better question:
What is actually incremental?
That’s usually where the answer is hiding.
Comments
Post a Comment