Choose where and how to operate from evidence, fit, and capacity—not popularity.
Define the decision
Name the product, audience, outcome, candidate channels, time horizon, operator capacity, and what would change the choice. A channel audit without a decision becomes a fact dump.
Keep evidence types separate
Collect and label:
- owned/account performance with source, window, sample, and comparable format;
- operator-supplied experience and constraints;
- current primary platform documentation and policy;
- current observed examples or manual sampling;
- third-party benchmarks with population and comparability;
- inference and unknowns.
Use freshness appropriate to the claim. Reverify volatile formats, ranking signals, policy, pricing, and platform features at execution time. Owned results can guide account-specific choices without overriding brand, safety, or channel-fit floors.
Compare fit
For each channel assess:
- audience habitat and intent;
- native format and value delivered in-channel;
- proof available;
- distribution/access advantage;
- feedback speed;
- production and participation capacity;
- destination readiness;
- safety, policy, and reputation risk;
- primary outcome and realistic diagnostics.
Include a veto: when the product should not use the channel.
Deliver
Return:
- decision and evidence boundary;
- owned-evidence readout;
- public evidence with source/freshness notes;
- focused channel comparison;
- recommended channel, role, format, and first test;
- channels to defer and why;
- next evidence and revisit date.
Do not publish, contact communities, access private analytics, or change live channel settings without explicit approval.