The advertising channel scorecard: pick where to spend

Key takeaways

To choose advertising channels, score each one on five lines: audience, targeting, test cost, tracking and staying power. The GBL Channel Fit Scorecard gives 0 to 2 on each line for a total out of 10, and the total tells you whether a channel should lead, support or wait.

• 5 lines: audience, targeting, test cost, tracking, staying power.
• 8 to 10 points: a lead channel that deserves most of the budget.
• 5 to 7 points: a supporting channel worth a small test.
• 4 or below: leave it until something changes.

What is the GBL Channel Fit Scorecard?

The GBL Channel Fit Scorecard is a one-page method for comparing any advertising channels on the same five questions. It works for a leaflet drop and a TikTok account alike, which is the point: it replaces the argument about old and new media with evidence about your own buyers.

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What are the five lines?

Each line is a question you answer with evidence, not opinion. Score 0 for no, 1 for partly and 2 for yes.

• Audience: are your buyers reliably there, in your area?
• Targeting: can you limit spend to them and exclude others?
• Test cost: can you get a readable result for a sum you can lose?
• Tracking: can you trace enquiries back to the channel?
• Staying power: does it keep working after the spend stops?

How do you score audience and targeting?

Score audience from what customers tell you, not from national statistics. Ask your last 20 customers what they read, listen to and scroll. Score targeting on waste: a leaflet drop to the right streets scores 2, a regional newspaper covering three counties you do not serve scores 0.

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How do you score test cost and tracking?

Score test cost on the smallest spend that would give a usable answer. A channel you can test for £300 scores 2, and one that needs a £5,000 commitment scores 0 for most small firms. Score tracking on whether an enquiry can be tied to the channel by a code, a number, a link or a question.

• The minimum budget to test an advertising channel properly
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What does staying power mean?

Staying power is what remains when the spend stops. A paid advert stops working the day it ends, so it scores 0. A signwritten van, a body of reviews or a year of useful posts keeps working, so each scores 2. Channels that build memory through repetition, such as radio, sit in the middle.

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What does a worked example look like?

Take a kitchen fitter covering one town. Paid social scores audience 2, targeting 2, test cost 2, tracking 2, staying power 0: a total of 8. A leaflet drop scores 2, 2, 1, 1, 1: a total of 7. A regional radio campaign scores 1, 0, 0, 0, 1: a total of 2. The figures are illustrative, and yours should rest on your own customers.

• Paid social, 8: lead channel.
• Leaflet drop, 7: supporting channel, test it.
• Regional radio, 2: leave it for now.

What should you do with the scores?

Put most of the budget behind the highest scorer, give the second a small test of six to eight weeks, and decline the rest politely. A common working split is about 70% on the lead channel, 20% on the supporting channel and 10% held back for tests. Re-score every quarter, because audiences and prices move.

• How to split a marketing budget between traditional and digital
• How to test an advertising channel in six weeks

Where does the scorecard fall short?

The scorecard compares channels. It does not judge the advert itself, and a strong channel with a weak message still fails. It also favours what can be measured, so it can mark down slow brand-building activity that pays back over years. Use it to decide where to test, then let real results overrule the score.

• Brand building vs sales activation: the small business view

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see when owners score their channels for the first time: the channel that feels most important scores lowest on tracking, because nobody has ever checked. Scoring does not prove the channel is poor. It shows that the first job is to add a tracking method, and that changes the next renewal conversation.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Scorecard checklist

• List every channel you pay for or are considering.
• Ask 20 recent customers where they notice businesses like yours.
• Score each channel 0 to 2 on the five lines.
• Write the evidence beside each score.
• Choose one lead and one supporting channel.
• Set a quarterly date to re-score.

Next step

Score your two largest advertising costs today. If either scores 0 on tracking, fix that before you renew it.