Channel Selection Guide

Choosing paid channels

by swan-gtm · MIT license · ★ 159 on GitHub · updated Sep 23

Use this skill when choosing paid channels — where Meta, LinkedIn, and search each win for B2B, and how to sequence them by budget and motion.

---
name: "ads-channel-selection"
title: "Channel selection guide"
description: "Use this skill when choosing paid channels — where Meta, LinkedIn, and search each win for B2B, and how to sequence them by budget and motion."
category: Ads
---

# Channel Selection Guide

## Five Primary Channel Categories

| Category | Channels | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| Paid Social | YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Quora, Reddit | Advertising on social networks |
| Paid Search | Google, Microsoft | Advertising on search engines |
| Paid Review | Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, SelectHub | Advertising on review listing sites |
| Programmatic | Display, Digital Audio, Connected TV, Native | Advertising on the open internet |
| Sponsorships | Influencers, Newsletters, Events, Podcasts | Advertising directly with individuals or organizations |

Overview

Run a test campaign for $100 on channels you're seriously considering to get real average CPC & CPM.

Manual install (npx, ZIP)

Claude Codenpx skills add swan-gtm/gtm-skills --skill ads-channel-selection -g -a claude-code

Claude Code (manual)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -sL https://codeload.github.com/swan-gtm/gtm-skills/tar.gz/e65d97205fd2 \
  | tar -xz -C ~/.claude/skills --strip-components=3 gtm-skills-e65d97205fd2/skills/ivan-falco/ads-channel-selection

Windows (PowerShell)

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.claude\skills" | Out-Null; Invoke-WebRequest "https://m.agentalley.io/zip/df143a18eedab40e6006/ads-channel-selection.zip" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\ads-channel-selection.zip"; Expand-Archive "$env:TEMP\ads-channel-selection.zip" -DestinationPath "$HOME\.claude\skills" -Force

Claude.ai / desktopDownload the ZIP and upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Codex, Cursor, other agentsPoint them at SKILL.md. The other files are plain text.

Connects with Agent Alley MCP · agentalley.io/mcp

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Outline

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Channel Selection Guide

Five Primary Channel Categories

Category	Channels	Description
Paid Social	YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Quora, Reddit	Advertising on social networks
Paid Search	Google, Microsoft	Advertising on search engines
Paid Review	Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, SelectHub	Advertising on review listing sites
Programmatic	Display, Digital Audio, Connected TV, Native	Advertising on the open internet
Sponsorships	Influencers, Newsletters, Events, Podcasts	Advertising directly with individuals or organizations

Programmatic Breakdown

Display: Banner ads on websites (most familiar form)
Digital Audio: Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio ads
Connected TV (CTV): Ads on streaming services like Hulu
Native: Similar to display but with native ad placements that blend with content

Four Key Criteria for Choosing a Channel

Criteria	Description
Targeting options	Can you reach your ICP based on available targeting options?
Media cost	How much does it cost per click and per 1,000 impressions? (CPC & CPM)
Reach	How large is your audience size with your available targeting options?
Policy	Does this platform allow your industry to serve ads without restriction?

Pro Tip

Run a test campaign for $100 on channels you're seriously considering to get real average CPC & CPM.

Recommended Channels by Stage

Stage	Channels
Create	YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Display, Twitter
Capture	Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, YouTube
Accelerate/Activate	LinkedIn, Facebook, Display
Revive	LinkedIn, Facebook
Expand	LinkedIn, Facebook

These are recommendations to use as inspiration, not as restrictions. Your specific situation may warrant different channel choices.

Fictional Examples

Product Hero Channel Selection

Create (Problem Aware): LinkedIn - job title targeting for Product Managers, excluding existing customers and website visitors
Capture (Solution Aware): Google Ads + Microsoft Ads - non-brand keywords (product roadmap planning), competitive campaigns (bidding on competitor names)
Capture (Product Aware): LinkedIn + Facebook remarketing - staying top of mind with product managers who've visited the site

Sales Hero Channel Selection

Create (Problem Aware): LinkedIn + Display - targeting top 50 accounts (account-based approach)
Capture (Product Aware): LinkedIn remarketing - getting in front of key accounts
Accelerate (Offer Aware): LinkedIn - targeting open opportunities at key accounts

By Ivan Falco - Frontal

1	---
2	name: "ads-channel-selection"
3	title: "Channel selection guide"
4	description: "Use this skill when choosing paid channels — where Meta, LinkedIn, and search each win for B2B, and how to sequence them by budget and motion."
5	category: Ads
6	---
7
8	# Channel Selection Guide
9
10	## Five Primary Channel Categories
11
12	\| Category \| Channels \| Description \|
13	\|----------\|----------\|-------------\|
14	\| Paid Social \| YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Quora, Reddit \| Advertising on social networks \|
15	\| Paid Search \| Google, Microsoft \| Advertising on search engines \|
16	\| Paid Review \| Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, SelectHub \| Advertising on review listing sites \|
17	\| Programmatic \| Display, Digital Audio, Connected TV, Native \| Advertising on the open internet \|
18	\| Sponsorships \| Influencers, Newsletters, Events, Podcasts \| Advertising directly with individuals or organizations \|
19
20	### Programmatic Breakdown
21
22	- Display: Banner ads on websites (most familiar form)
23	- Digital Audio: Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio ads
24	- Connected TV (CTV): Ads on streaming services like Hulu
25	- Native: Similar to display but with native ad placements that blend with content
26
27	## Four Key Criteria for Choosing a Channel
28
29	\| Criteria \| Description \|
30	\|----------\|-------------\|
31	\| Targeting options \| Can you reach your ICP based on available targeting options? \|
32	\| Media cost \| How much does it cost per click and per 1,000 impressions? (CPC & CPM) \|
33	\| Reach \| How large is your audience size with your available targeting options? \|
34	\| Policy \| Does this platform allow your industry to serve ads without restriction? \|
35
36	## Pro Tip
37
38	Run a test campaign for $100 on channels you're seriously considering to get real average CPC & CPM.
39
40	## Recommended Channels by Stage
41
42	\| Stage \| Channels \|
43	\|-------\|----------\|
44	\| Create \| YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Display, Twitter \|
45	\| Capture \| Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, YouTube \|
46	\| Accelerate/Activate \| LinkedIn, Facebook, Display \|
47	\| Revive \| LinkedIn, Facebook \|
48	\| Expand \| LinkedIn, Facebook \|
49
50	These are recommendations to use as inspiration, not as restrictions. Your specific situation may warrant different channel choices.
51
52	## Fictional Examples
53
54	### Product Hero Channel Selection
55
56	- Create (Problem Aware): LinkedIn - job title targeting for Product Managers, excluding existing customers and website visitors
57	- Capture (Solution Aware): Google Ads + Microsoft Ads - non-brand keywords (product roadmap planning), competitive campaigns (bidding on competitor names)
58	- Capture (Product Aware): LinkedIn + Facebook remarketing - staying top of mind with product managers who've visited the site
59
60	### Sales Hero Channel Selection
61
62	- Create (Problem Aware): LinkedIn + Display - targeting top 50 accounts (account-based approach)
63	- Capture (Product Aware): LinkedIn remarketing - getting in front of key accounts
64	- Accelerate (Offer Aware): LinkedIn - targeting open opportunities at key accounts
65
66	---
67
68	> By Ivan Falco - Frontal
69