/acquisition-channel-advisor

Example: Channel Evaluation Conversation Flow

This shows a full conversation using the acquisition-channel-advisor skill.

Scenario: Evaluating Content Marketing Channel

Step 0: Initial Request

User: "Should we scale our content marketing spend? We've been investing in SEO and blog content for 6 months."

Step 0: Context Gathering

Agent: "Let's evaluate your content marketing channel. Please provide:

Channel details:

• Channel name: Organic content (blog, SEO)
• How long: 6 months
• Current monthly spend: $___

Customer acquisition:

• Customers acquired per month (from this channel): ___
• CAC for this channel: $___ (if known)

Business context:

• Blended CAC (all channels): $___
• Blended LTV: $___
• Current MRR/ARR: $___
• Target growth rate: ___% MoM or YoY

You can provide estimates if you don't have exact numbers."

User: "Here's our data:

Channel:

• Organic content (blog + SEO)
• 6 months running
• Monthly spend: $15K (2 content writers + SEO contractor)

Acquisition:

• ~75 customers/month from organic
• CAC: ~$200/customer

Business context:

• Blended CAC: $600 (across paid, outbound, organic)
• Blended LTV: $3,000 (24-month avg lifetime, $125 ARPU, 75% margin)
• Current ARR: $1.8M
• Target: 10% MoM growth ($15K MRR growth/month)"

Step 1: Unit Economics

Agent calculates:

Channel CAC: $200
Blended CAC: $600
Channel is 3x more efficient than blended! ✅

Channel LTV: Need to confirm if similar to blended
Blended LTV: $3,000

Agent: "Great! Your content channel has CAC of $200 vs. blended $600—that's 3x more efficient.

Now let's confirm customer quality:

Do customers from organic content have similar LTV to other channels?

1. Similar — They stick around ~24 months like blended average
2. Higher — They churn less or expand more (longer lifetime or higher ARPU)
3. Lower — They churn faster or are smaller deals
4. Unknown — We need to analyze cohort retention data

Choose a number."

User: "2 — Higher. Content customers tend to be better educated about our product and have lower churn. I'd estimate 30-month avg lifetime instead of 24-month."

Agent calculates:

Channel LTV (adjusted):
- ARPU: $125/month
- Lifetime: 30 months (vs. 24 blended)
- Gross margin: 75%
- Channel LTV = $125 × 30 × 75% = $2,812

Wait, that's lower than $3,000 blended?
Let me recalculate using the LTV formula...

Actually, if lifetime is 30 months:
LTV = $125 × 30 = $3,750 gross revenue
LTV = $3,750 × 75% margin = $2,812 net LTV

Hmm, but blended LTV was $3,000. Let me ask for clarification.

Agent: "Let me confirm: If content customers have 30-month lifetime vs. 24-month blended, and same $125 ARPU:

• Channel LTV = $125 × 30 × 75% = $2,812

But you said blended LTV is $3,000. Does blended include expansion (upsells/cross-sells) that content customers might not have as much of?"

User: "Oh right, good catch. Blended LTV includes expansion. Content customers actually stick around longer (30mo vs. 24mo) BUT they expand less. So their total LTV is about $3,200—slightly higher than $3,000 blended."

Agent calculates:

Channel CAC: $200
Channel LTV: $3,200
LTV:CAC = $3,200 / $200 = 16:1 ✅✅✅ (exceptional!)

Payback Period:
Monthly ARPU: $125
Gross Margin: 75%
Monthly Gross Profit: $125 × 75% = $93.75

Payback = $200 / $93.75 = 2.1 months ✅✅✅ (extremely fast!)

Agent: "Excellent! Here are your unit economics for organic content:

Unit Economics:

• CAC: $200
• LTV: $3,200
• LTV:CAC: 16:1 ✅✅✅ (exceptional—well above 3:1 threshold)
• Payback: 2.1 months ✅✅✅ (extremely fast—well under 12-month target)

This channel has outstanding unit economics. Let's check customer quality next."

Step 2: Customer Quality

Agent: "You mentioned content customers stick around longer (30mo vs. 24mo). Let's confirm quality metrics:

1. What's the churn rate for customers from organic content?

1. Lower than blended — They stick around longer (you mentioned 30mo vs. 24mo, so this is likely)
2. Same as blended — No difference
3. Higher than blended — They churn faster
4. Unknown — Need cohort analysis

2. What's the NRR for customers from this channel?

1. Higher than blended — They expand more
2. Same as blended — No difference
3. Lower than blended — They expand less (you mentioned this earlier)
4. Unknown

3. What's the customer profile?

1. Ideal customer profile (ICP) — Perfect fit
2. Close to ICP — Mostly good fit
3. Off ICP — Many poor-fit customers
4. Unknown"

User: "1. Lower churn—monthly churn is ~2% vs. blended 2.8% 2. Lower NRR—about 95% vs. blended 105% (they don't expand as much) 3. Close to ICP—mostly mid-market companies, which is our sweet spot"

Agent analyzes:

Customer Quality Assessment:

Retention: Lower churn (2% vs. 2.8%) ✅
- 30-month lifetime vs. 24-month blended
- They stick around longer = higher quality

NRR: Lower (95% vs. 105%) ⚠️
- Less expansion/upsell
- But still >90% (acceptable)
- Offset by better retention

ICP Fit: Close to ICP ✅
- Mid-market is sweet spot
- Good product-channel fit

Overall: High Quality ✅

Agent: "Customer Quality: High ✅

Retention: Lower churn (2% vs. 2.8%) — content customers stick around 25% longer Expansion: Lower NRR (95% vs. 105%) — less upsell, but acceptable ICP Fit: Close to ICP (mid-market focus)

Assessment: High-quality customers. Better retention offsets lower expansion. Overall LTV is higher.

Now let's evaluate scalability."

Step 3: Scalability

Agent: "Can you scale this channel to meet your growth targets?

1. What's the S&M efficiency (Magic Number) for this channel?

Let me calculate:

• New MRR from channel per month: 75 customers × $125 ARPU = $9,375
• Channel S&M spend: $15,000/month
• Magic Number = ($9,375 × 4) / $15,000 = $37,500 / $15,000 = 2.5 ✅✅

That's exceptional (>0.75 is efficient).

2. What's the addressable volume for this channel?

1. Large — Can scale 10x+ (lots of keyword opportunities, TAM is huge)
2. Medium — Can scale 2-5x (some saturation risk)
3. Small — Near saturation, maybe 1.5x
4. Unknown

3. What's the CAC trend?

1. Decreasing — Getting more efficient (content compounds over time)
2. Stable — Consistent CAC around $200
3. Increasing — Diminishing returns
4. Unknown"

User: "Addressable volume: 1 — Large. We've barely scratched the surface on keyword opportunities. SEO takes time but TAM is massive.

CAC trend: 1 — Decreasing. CAC was $300 in month 3, now $200 in month 6. Content compounds—old articles still drive traffic."

Agent calculates:

Scalability Assessment:

Magic Number: 2.5 ✅✅✅
- Well above 0.75 threshold
- For every $1 in content spend, $2.50 in new ARR
- Extremely efficient

Addressable Volume: Large ✅
- Keyword opportunities abundant
- TAM supports 10x+ scale

CAC Trend: Decreasing ✅✅
- $300 → $200 (33% improvement in 3 months)
- Content compounds (old posts keep working)
- Efficiency improving over time

Overall: Highly Scalable ✅✅✅

Agent: "Scalability: Highly Scalable ✅✅✅

Magic Number: 2.5 (exceptional—way above 0.75 threshold) Addressable Volume: Large (10x+ potential) CAC Trend: Decreasing ($300 → $200 in 3 months)

Key insight: Content compounds. Old articles continue driving traffic without additional spend. CAC will likely keep decreasing as you scale.

Let me check your growth targets..."

Agent calculates:

Target Growth: 10% MoM
Current MRR: $150K ($1.8M ARR / 12)
Target MRR Growth: $15K/month

Current contribution from content:
75 customers × $125 ARPU = $9,375 MRR/month

Gap: $15,000 - $9,375 = $5,625 MRR needed from other channels

Content covers 62.5% of growth target!

Agent: "Growth Target Analysis:

You need $15K MRR growth/month (10% of $150K MRR). Content currently delivers $9.4K MRR/month. Content covers 62.5% of your growth target!

Other channels need to deliver $5.6K MRR/month.

Ready for my recommendation?"

User: "Yes! Should we scale content?"

Step 4: Recommendation

Agent: "## ✅ Recommendation: Scale Content Aggressively

Why This Is a No-Brainer

Unit Economics: Exceptional

• LTV:CAC: 16:1 (5x better than 3:1 threshold)
• Payback: 2.1 months (6x faster than 12-month target)
• CAC: $200 (3x better than $600 blended)

Customer Quality: High

• Lower churn: 2% vs. 2.8% blended
• 30-month lifetime vs. 24-month blended
• Close to ICP (mid-market sweet spot)

Scalability: Highly Scalable

• Magic Number: 2.5 (exceptional S&M efficiency)
• Addressable volume: Large (10x+ potential)
• CAC decreasing: $300 → $200 (content compounds)

Strategic Fit:

• Covers 62.5% of growth target already
• Capital-efficient (low CAC, fast payback)
• Defensible (SEO moats build over time)

How to Scale

Phase 1: Double Spend (Month 1-3)

• Current: $15K/month
• Target: $30K/month
• Hire 2 more content writers + expand SEO effort

Expected Impact:

• Customers/month: 75 → 150 (if linear scaling)
• MRR impact: $9.4K → $18.8K/month
• CAC: $200 → potentially $180 (economies of scale)

Covers 125% of growth target! You'd overshoot by $3.8K MRR/month.

Phase 2: Triple Spend (Month 4-6)

• Current: $15K/month
• Target: $45K/month
• Add video content, expand to new verticals

Expected Impact:

• Customers/month: 75 → 225
• MRR impact: $28K/month
• Covers 187% of growth target

What to Monitor Weekly

Must-track metrics:

1. CAC by month — Should stay <$250
   • If CAC increases >20%, slow down scaling
2. Magic Number — Should stay >1.5
   • If drops <1.0, optimize before scaling further
3. Customer quality — Churn rate, NRR, ICP fit
   • Make sure quality doesn't degrade with scale
4. Content ROI — Track which topics/keywords drive best customers

Warning signs to watch:

• CAC increasing >20% month-over-month
• Magic Number dropping <1.0
• Churn rate for new content customers >3%
• Quality degradation (more off-ICP customers)

Recommended Scaling Plan

Gradual scaling minimizes risk while testing assumptions.

Budget Reallocation (Optional)

If you scale content 2x and it's working, consider:

Reallocate from underperforming channels:

• Example: If you have a channel with LTV:CAC <2:1
• Move that budget to content (LTV:CAC 16:1)

Impact:

• Reallocating $10K from a 1.5:1 channel to content (16:1)
• Frees up $10K → invest in content = ~50 more customers/month
• MRR impact: +$6.25K/month

Risk Assessment

Risk Level: Very Low ✅

Why:

• Proven channel (6 months data, 450+ customers)
• Improving efficiency (CAC decreasing)
• Fast payback (2.1 months) = low cash risk
• High-quality customers (lower churn)

Biggest risk:

• Scaling too fast and diluting quality (hiring bad writers)
• Solution: Scale gradually (25-50% increase/month), not 100%

Timeline & Milestones

Month 1:

• Increase spend $15K → $20K
• Hire 1 additional content writer
• Target: 100 customers, $12.5K MRR

Month 2:

• If Month 1 hits target: increase to $25K
• Expand SEO to new keywords
• Target: 125 customers, $15.6K MRR

Month 3:

• If Month 2 hits target: increase to $30K
• Test video content (blog posts → YouTube)
• Target: 150 customers, $18.8K MRR

Month 6:

• Re-evaluate: Are we still at 16:1 LTV:CAC?
• If yes: continue scaling to $50K/month
• If no: optimize before further scaling

Comparison to Other Channels

Just for context, how does content compare to your other channels?

Content is your most efficient channel by far.

If you have data on other channels (Google Ads, outbound, etc.), I can compare them and recommend budget reallocation.

Summary

Decision: Scale content spend from $15K → $30K/month over 3 months

Expected Outcome:

• Customers/month: 75 → 150
• MRR impact: +$9.4K/month additional growth
• Total MRR from content: $18.8K/month
• Covers 125% of your 10% MoM growth target

Why it works:

• Best channel economics (16:1 LTV:CAC)
• Fastest payback (2.1 months)
• Content compounds (old posts keep working)
• High-quality, long-lived customers

Risk: Very Low

Next step: Approve budget increase and hire 1-2 content writers.

Want to discuss:

1. Budget reallocation from other channels?
2. Content strategy (topics, keywords, formats)?
3. How to compare this to other acquisition channels?"

User: "This is perfect. One question: Should we also compare this to our Google Ads channel?"

Agent: "Absolutely! Share your Google Ads metrics and I'll run a side-by-side comparison:

• Monthly spend
• Customers acquired/month
• CAC
• LTV (or similar to blended?)
• Churn/NRR (if different from blended)
• Magic Number (if known)

Then I'll recommend optimal budget allocation between content and Google Ads."

[Conversation could continue with multi-channel optimization...]