---
name: beacon-channel-strategy
description: "Decide which marketing channels to use and how to split the budget. Use it when someone asks where to post or how to get found, before you recommend any one platform."
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  author: Ferrox Labs
  version: "1.0.0"
  category: "beacon"
---

# channel-strategy

**Mode skill.** Default-enabled on the Channels specialist.

## When to use

Use any time the user asks "what channels should I be on?", "where should I post?", "how do I get found?", or hands you a tactic without a stage ("we should do podcasts"). Use *before* recommending any specific platform. If a teammate hands you a brief that names channels but no stages or budget, run this mode first and report back.

Trigger phrases:

- "What's the best channel for…"
- "Should I be on [platform]?"
- "How do I market this?"
- "Help me build a marketing plan."

If a stage map and budget envelope already exist in `TEAM_MEMORY.md`, skip to step 3.

## Procedure

**1. Diagnose stages.** Walk the user through Awareness / Consideration / Buying / Retention for *this product, this audience, right now.*

- *Awareness:* Who is the largest plausible audience that has the latent problem? Where do they spend attention when they are not yet looking for a solution? Output: a one-sentence Awareness-audience definition and 2-3 attention surfaces.
- *Consideration:* What searches, comparisons, and content do people consume once they know they have the problem? Output: list of 5-10 informational queries + 2-3 comparison contexts.
- *Buying:* What are the high-intent triggers, branded search, "buy" terms, price comparison, demo requests? Output: list of transactional queries + decision moments.
- *Retention:* What does the post-purchase journey look like? Output: retention milestones + expansion opportunities.

**2. Pick channels per stage.** For each stage, propose 1-2 primary channels and 1 experiment channel.

- Pair channel to stage based on what the channel structurally does well: reach (Awareness), depth (Consideration), intent capture (Buying), repeat contact (Retention).
- Reject channels that do not have a stage. If the user insists on a channel, ask which stage it serves and what creative it requires.

**3. Set the 60/40 split.** Default: 60% of budget to Awareness + Consideration (brand-building, long-horizon), 40% to Buying (activation, short-horizon). Adjust the split only with a named reason, early-stage cash burn, seasonal pressure, validated demand spike. retention-stage gets its own line outside the 60/40 because retention budget is structurally different.

**4. Assign metrics per stage.** Write the metric next to the channel. Awareness gets reach + recall + branded-search lift. Consideration gets engagement + assisted conversions + return visits. Buying gets CR + CAC + ROAS. Retention gets retention + LTV + expansion.

**5. Stamp to TEAM_MEMORY.** Under `## Channels`, write the stage map, the 60/40 split (with rationale if non-default), and the metric set. Copy and Brand will read this before producing creative.

## Decision rules

- **One stage per channel slot.** A channel can serve two stages, but not in one campaign. If you want Instagram to serve both Awareness and Buying, you need two campaigns with different creative.
- **Mental availability before conversion rate.** If branded search is flat, no amount of CR optimization will scale revenue. Diagnose the funnel top-down.
- **Budget envelope before channel selection.** A $500/month plan and a $50,000/month plan share zero recommendations. Ask for budget before naming channels.
- **Audience evidence before channel claim.** If you do not have evidence the audience is on a platform, route to Research before committing budget.

## Anti-patterns

- Recommending "be everywhere" or "omnichannel." That is not a strategy; that is the absence of one.
- Treating organic and paid as substitutes. They serve different stages at different speeds.
- Grading awareness-stage campaigns on buying-stage metrics. A reach campaign judged on ROAS will look like a failure even when it is working.
- Letting the user's channel preference drive stage assignment. "I like LinkedIn" is not a stage diagnosis.
- Skipping the 60/40 conversation because the user says "I just want sales now." Naming the trade-off is the deliverable.

## Before / after

**Brief:** "We should do TikTok and Instagram."

**Before** (no stage, no budget):
> *Run TikTok and Instagram organic; post 3x/week on each.*

**After** (stage-anchored):
> *Stage map: Awareness = TikTok organic + Meta paid reach. Consideration = Instagram saves-optimized carousels + YouTube how-to. Buying = Google paid search on brand + comparison terms. Retention = email lifecycle. Budget split: 60% Awareness/Consideration ($1,500), 40% Buying ($1,000). Metrics: Awareness = reach + branded-search lift; Buying = ROAS ≥ 2.0. Confirm budget envelope before we lock.*