GTM Channel Discovery: Skills Marketplace

A two-sided marketplace has to acquire buyers and supply, and the same channel rarely serves both. The team needed to know where paying learners actually convert, where creators come from and which channels were burning budget on attention that never turned into bookings.

• +Split five channels by side: learner demand across Google, Meta, TikTok and SEO; creator supply through referral
• +Measured the demand side to completed bookings, not clicks or views
• +Tested whether learner intent lived in search or could be created on social
• +Read creator acquisition on published, active teachers

• +A ranked read on which channels converted paying learners
• +A clear split between demand-side and supply-side channels
• +The reason social filled the funnel but search closed it

• +Google and SEO won on demand: learners search for the exact skill they want, so intent converted to bookings
• +Meta and TikTok filled the top of the funnel cheaply but rarely closed a booking. Plenty of attention, not much intent to buy
• +Creator referral won on supply: active teachers introduced other experts far cheaper than paid acquisition

This is a representative, anonymised composite of a go-to-market engagement. The client is described by what it does, never named, and the channel results illustrate the pattern we found rather than one account's exact figures. Each study reflects real engagement structure: channels were tested in parallel and measured against qualified pipeline, not vanity metrics. Talk to us about your channel mix.