athina-ai/paid-channel-prioritizer

Paid Channel Prioritizer

Answer the question every early-stage founder asks: "Where should I run ads?" This skill analyzes your product, ICP, competitors, and budget to recommend the right 1-2 channels to start with — plus a 90-day plan to get there.

Core principle: A $3K/month ad budget split across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and TikTok means $750/channel — not enough for any platform to learn and optimize. This skill picks the best 1-2 channels and concentrates budget where it'll compound fastest.

When to Use

• "Where should I run ads?"
• "Which ad platform is best for us?"
• "I have $X/month for ads — where should I spend it?"
• "Should I do Google Ads or Facebook Ads?"
• "Help me choose a paid channel"

Phase 0: Intake

1. Product name + URL — What are you selling?
2. Business model — SaaS / Marketplace / E-commerce / Service / App
3. B2B or B2C? — Drives channel selection heavily
4. ICP — Who are you selling to? (Role, company size, industry)
5. Monthly ad budget — Be honest — how much can you spend?
6. Average deal size / LTV — What's a customer worth?
7. Current acquisition channels — How are you getting customers today? (Organic, referral, outbound, etc.)
8. Competitor names — 3-5 competitors
9. Landing page ready? — Do you have a dedicated LP or just a homepage?
10. Conversion goal — Free trial / Demo / Purchase / Lead magnet download

Phase 1: Channel Scoring

1A: Buyer Intent Analysis

Where does your buyer look when they have a problem?

| Buyer Journey Stage | Likely Channel | Signal | |--------------------|---------------|--------| | "I need a tool for X" (active search) | Google Search | High-intent keywords exist | | "I'm browsing and see something relevant" (passive) | Meta (FB/IG) | Visual/emotional product | | "I need to solve this at work" (professional) | LinkedIn | B2B decision-maker targeting | | "Everyone's talking about this" (social proof) | Twitter/X Ads | Category is trending | | "I watch content about this" (education) | YouTube | Long consideration cycle | | "I discovered it through content" (entertainment) | TikTok | B2C, young audience, visual |

1B: Competitor Ad Presence Research

Use web search to check publicly accessible ad libraries and gather competitor ad intelligence:

web_search: site:facebook.com/ads/library "[competitor name]"
web_search: "[competitor name]" Google Ads OR PPC OR paid search
web_search: "[competitor name]" LinkedIn Ads OR sponsored
web_search: "[competitor name]" advertising strategy

The Meta Ad Library (facebook.com/ads/library) and Google Ads Transparency Center (adstransparency.google.com) are publicly accessible — search them directly to see what competitors are running.

Build a competitor channel map:

| Competitor | Google | Meta | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok | |-----------|--------|------|----------|---------|---------|--------| | [Comp A] | [Active/Not found] | [N ads] | [Active/Not found] | ... | ... | ... | | [Comp B] | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

Insight: Where competitors are spending = validated channel. Where they're absent = opportunity or dead end.

1C: Channel Scoring Matrix

Score each channel for this specific product:

| Factor (Weight) | Google Search | Meta | LinkedIn | YouTube | Twitter | TikTok | |----------------|--------------|------|----------|---------|---------|--------| | Buyer intent (25%) | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | | Targeting precision (20%) | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | | Competitor validation (15%) | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | | Budget efficiency (15%) | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | | ICP reachability (15%) | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | | Creative requirements (10%) | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | [1-10] | | Weighted Score | [X/10] | [X/10] | [X/10] | [X/10] | [X/10] | [X/10] |

Channel Context Notes

| Channel | Best For | Worst For | Min Viable Budget | Creative Needs | |---------|---------|-----------|-------------------|---------------| | Google Search | High-intent capture, B2B, established category | New categories nobody searches for | $1K/mo | Text ads (low barrier) | | Meta (FB/IG) | Visual products, B2C, retargeting, lookalikes | Niche B2B with tiny audience | $1K/mo | Images + video (medium) | | LinkedIn | B2B enterprise, specific titles/industries | B2C, budget-conscious startups | $3K/mo | Professional content (medium) | | YouTube | Education-heavy products, long consideration | Impulse purchases, tiny budgets | $2K/mo | Video production (high) | | Twitter/X | Dev tools, trending categories, tech audiences | Mainstream B2C, precise targeting | $1K/mo | Short-form copy (low) | | TikTok | B2C, Gen Z/millennial, visual/fun products | B2B enterprise, older audience | $500/mo | Short video (high frequency) |

Phase 2: Recommendation

Primary Channel Selection

Pick the #1 channel based on:

1. Highest weighted score
2. Budget viability (can they afford minimum viable spend?)
3. Creative readiness (can they produce the required content?)

Secondary Channel Selection

Pick channel #2 only if:

• Budget > $3K/month (enough for two channels)
• It serves a different funnel stage than channel #1
• It doesn't require creative they can't produce

Budget Allocation

| Budget Level | Recommendation | |-------------|---------------| | < $1.5K/mo | 1 channel only — concentrate everything | | $1.5K-3K/mo | 1 primary + retargeting — primary channel + Meta/Google retargeting ($300-500) | | $3K-7K/mo | 2 channels — 65% primary, 25% secondary, 10% retargeting | | $7K+/mo | 2-3 channels — diversify with testing budget |

Phase 3: 90-Day Ramp Plan

Month 1: Foundation (Days 1-30)

Week 1: Setup

• Set up conversion tracking (Pixel, GTM, GA4)
• Create landing page (if needed)
• Build initial audiences / keyword list
• Launch 2-3 ad variants on primary channel

Week 2-3: Learn

• Collect data — do NOT optimize yet
• Monitor for setup issues (tracking, disapprovals, targeting)
• Minimum 500 impressions per variant before judging

Week 4: First Optimization

• Pause worst-performing ad variant
• Add 1-2 new variants based on early signals
• Adjust bids/budgets based on CPM/CPC data

Month 2: Optimize (Days 31-60)

• Review conversion data — any ads producing results?
• Launch retargeting campaign (if not already)
• Test new audiences / keywords
• A/B test landing pages (if conversion rate is low)
• Begin secondary channel test (if budget allows)

Month 3: Scale or Pivot (Days 61-90)

• If working: Increase budget 30-50% on winning audiences/keywords
• If not working: Diagnose (bad targeting? bad LP? bad offer?)
• Evaluate secondary channel test results
• Re-run this analysis with real performance data to validate or adjust channel selection

Phase 4: Output Format

# Paid Channel Strategy — [Product Name] — [DATE]

## Your Profile
- Product: [Name]
- Model: [SaaS / B2C / etc.]
- ICP: [Summary]
- Monthly budget: $[X]
- Conversion goal: [Goal]

---

## Channel Scoring

| Channel | Score | Verdict |
|---------|-------|---------|
| [Top channel] | [X/10] | **PRIMARY — Start here** |
| [Second channel] | [X/10] | **SECONDARY — Add in month 2** |
| [Third channel] | [X/10] | Test later if budget grows |
| [Others] | [X/10] | Not recommended now |

---

## Why [Primary Channel]

**Top reasons:**
1. [Reason — tied to their specific product/ICP]
2. [Reason]
3. [Reason]

**What competitors are doing there:** [Evidence]

**Minimum viable budget:** $[X]/mo
**Expected cost per conversion:** $[X-Y] range (category benchmark)

---

## Why NOT [Channel They Might Assume]

[Brief explanation of why the obvious choice isn't right — e.g., "LinkedIn is too expensive for your $2K budget — you'd only reach ~500 people/month"]

---

## Budget Allocation

| Channel | Monthly Budget | Purpose |
|---------|---------------|---------|
| [Primary] | $[X] | [Prospecting / Lead gen] |
| [Retargeting] | $[X] | [Bring back visitors] |
| [Secondary — Month 2] | $[X] | [Test — evaluate after 30 days] |

---

## 90-Day Ramp Plan

### Month 1: [Primary Channel] Launch
[Specific weekly actions]

### Month 2: Optimize + Test [Secondary]
[Specific actions]

### Month 3: Scale or Pivot
[Decision criteria]

---

## Pre-Launch Checklist
- [ ] Landing page live and tested
- [ ] Conversion tracking installed and verified
- [ ] Initial audiences / keywords built
- [ ] 3 ad variants ready
- [ ] Daily budget cap set ($[X]/day)
- [ ] Weekly review scheduled

Save to channel-strategy-[YYYY-MM-DD].md in the current working directory (or user-specified path).

Cost

| Component | Cost | |-----------|------| | Competitor ad research (web search) | Free | | Channel analysis and planning | Free (LLM reasoning) | | Total | Free |

Tools Required

• web_search — for competitor research, ad library lookups, and channel validation

Trigger Phrases

• "Where should I run ads?"
• "Which ad platform should I use?"
• "Help me pick a paid channel"
• "Google Ads or Facebook Ads?"
• "I have $[X]/month — where should I advertise?"
• "What paid channels work for [product type]?"