The short answer is no, you don’t need to advertise on every platform. Being everywhere is a budget trap and can lead to spreading your resources too thin. If you try to grow a presence on three or more platforms at the same time, you’ll burn through your budget quicker. No clear focus on strategy can also dilute learning, leading to insufficient data and fragmented optimization. 

Instead, focus on one or two platforms at a time that can prove impact before expanding or increasing your budget. With a more focused and consistent approach to advertising, you can avoid shallow learnings, weak results, and messy attributions. 

We’re here to walk you through the most effective way to identify the best advertising platforms for your brand. Here’s everything you need to know about choosing advertising platforms:

How to Choose Channels

The best way to determine which platforms to advertise on is to use the scoring method. Scoring the advertising channels will help you evaluate key metrics and understand audience concentration on the different platforms. You’ll also know which platforms will deliver the best results for your ad budget allocation and specific KPIs. 

The Platform Fit Matrix

When assessing different platforms, start by rating them on a 5-point scale. The platform fit matrix is a 5-point scale, where 1 is a poor fit and 5 is a strong fit. This scale assesses each platform to determine if it’s a good opportunity for your brand. For example, if you own an e-commerce or clothing brand, TikTok would score a 5 for the target audience, and LinkedIn would score a 3 or a 2.

With the platform fit matrix, you can evaluate the platform’s audience, goals, and creative needs to determine which platforms you should prioritize in your omnichannel advertising strategy. 

Here is an example of a platform decision matrix:

The platform fit matrix will vary for each business. For example, what works for an e-commerce business will likely not work as well for a service-based local business. Understanding your unique needs will help you identify the best possible platforms for your ad budget. 

Budget Guardrails: How Many Platforms per Spend Level

Before you can choose between ad platforms or determine which ones are a priority for your brand, review your budget and spending level. The bigger the budget, the more opportunities you have to test different ad platforms and strategies. If you have a smaller budget, you’ll need to focus on core advertising platforms that will deliver the best results to maximize ROI. 

Here’s an example of how to determine ad budget allocation:

A Simple 5-Step Channel-Selection Framework

Another way to identify the best channels for your brand is to use this simple 5-step paid media channel selection framework.

Define Your Outcomes

Before you can determine which advertising platforms will deliver the best results, you’ll need to identify your desired goals and outcomes. Are you looking to increase web traffic or brand awareness? Are you focused on a lead-generation project to generate more marketing-qualified leads for your sales team? Maybe you want to boost sales and conversions for Black Friday. Your outcomes should be clearly defined before you choose a channel, to ensure the intent aligns with your overall goals. 

Map Audience & Intent

Once you clearly define your desired outcomes, it’s time to start thinking about your target audience. You want to build and maintain your presence on channels your target audience uses the most. The best way to ensure you’re choosing the right channel is to create personas of your audience. Clearly outline your ideal client’s demographics, interests, and buying behaviors. Use this information to create a persona of your target audience and determine which channels will deliver the best results.

Set a 90-day plan

Once you’ve decided on the best channels for your strategy based on your audience personas, you’ll want to develop a 90-day plan. The 90-day plan should clearly define KPIs, budget, and the agenda for each channel you plan to capitalize on.

Establish Scale & Kill Rules

Developing an effective paid media strategy will take some trial and error. Once you launch your ads, you’ll want to assess the success of your campaigns continuously. Don’t be afraid to break the rules, make adjustments, and continue fine-tuning your approach to see results.

When to Add a New Platform

If your cost per incremental conversion is rising or the current channels you’re using aren’t delivering consistent results, you’ll want to explore testing different platforms. Instead of a full transition to a new platform, do a phased transition, where you’re using 10-30% of your budget.

If the CTRs, CPCs, and conversion rate are where you want them, slowly increase the budget. As you go through the testing phase, you’ll want to actively compare the ROAS to determine if a full transition to the new platform is necessary.

Measurement Essentials Before Expanding

Before adding a new platform to the mix, you’ll want to ensure your current campaigns are fully optimized and that there aren’t any ongoing attribution issues. You’ll also want to:

• Review and track relevant KPIs regularly
• Set benchmarks and guardrails for each channel
• Combine measurement methods like MTA + simple MMM-lite
• Limit testing to one primary hypothesis a month to avoid inconsistent data

B2B vs B2C (and Local) Nuances

It’s important to note that ad strategies will vary, depending on the business. What works well for a B2B brand will likely not have the same success for an e-commerce or a local service-based business. 

• B2B Industries: Google Search and LinkedIn have professional audiences, making them great choices for retargeting. Both of these channels also deliver better leads for B2B businesses. 
• B2C Industries: Search, Meta, and PMAX campaigns are top choices for B2C businesses. Meta helps create intent through visual creative, while search and PMAX capture intent, leading to higher conversions. A paid ad strategy with all three channels offers full-funnel coverage for B2C brands.
• Local/Services: Search with location extensions helps you capture local intent, leading to more bookings, phone calls, and form submissions for local businesses.

Develop a High-Performing, Media Mix Strategy for Small Business

Not sure which platforms to advertise on? Kanbar Digital is here to help. Our team of experts will work with you to develop a cost-effective strategy using compelling creative. Whether your goal is to increase conversions or improve your ROAS, we will help you optimize your campaigns to deliver results. 

Not sure where to spend next? Let’s map it out together. We’ll conduct a strategic review of your current channels, goals, and budget, and help you find an approach that delivers results. Contact us today. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be on TikTok/Reddit/LinkedIn?

No, your business doesn’t need to have a presence on TikTok, Reddit, or LinkedIn if your target audience isn’t actively using those platforms. You also want to ensure you have the creative and measurement requirements necessary for these platforms before developing a strategy.

How many platforms should I start with?

You should start with at least one to two core channels when developing a paid media strategy. You’ll want to measure the results of these platforms until the CPA and ROAS stabilize, then you can consider testing with a different channel. 

When do I know a platform “works”?

You’ll know a platform works for your brand after you reach your CAC and ROAS targets for at least four to six weeks, with a repeatable audience and creative.

Can I reuse the same creative everywhere?

Yes, you can reuse the same creative on different platforms. You’ll want to stay consistent with your hook, format, and length, but also ensure your content adapts to each platform’s norms.