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How often does your business lose money and waste energy in the race for the imaginary effect of being ‘everywhere’? Almost every company today has accounts on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, X. At first glance, this seems reasonable: the more advertising channels you have, the more people will learn about you.
In practice, the opposite is true.
Posts are published irregularly. Promotion gradually turns into an endless routine with no noticeable return. Even well-configured end-to-end analytics – UTM tags, pixels, and tracking codes – don’t help. Traffic is fragmented, and over time it becomes difficult to understand which ads really worked and what brought in customers.
At this point, companies usually make another mistake – they try to ‘add control.’ They introduce new reports, complicate funnels, and argue about metrics. But instead of clarity, they get even more problems. Stelvel Ltd. invites you to discuss this topic.
The illusion of reach
The idea of ‘being everywhere’ is based on simple logic: if the audience is spread across different channels, then the business should be there too. Spreading yourself thin seems safe. It creates the feeling that the business is not missing out on anything. But more often than not, this is an illusion.
A video can get thousands of views, and a social media post can get hundreds of likes, but only a few people will visit the website. When you have a lot of resources, this strategy can work. But most e-commerce businesses don’t have those resources. In reality, ‘everywhere’ turns into profanity: the content is mediocre, the landing pages are raw and unfinished, and the creativity is blurred.
First of all, you need to change your channel selection strategy and make sure that each channel turns attention into interest, interest into action, and action into purchases.
How to choose channels rationally
‘Let’s create and register here and post stuff. Maybe it will take off!’ Or, ‘Let’s add this platform and advertise there.’ Sound familiar? In e-commerce, this is especially tempting: it seems that a new channel is a new opportunity. To avoid spreading yourself too thin, Stelvel EOOD offers the RICE methodology – a model for comparing and prioritising advertising platforms.
RICE = Reach × Impact × Confidence × Ease
RICE can be calculated in numbers or in relative points: it is not the ‘perfect calculation’ that is important, but the order of priorities. When evaluating any channel, it is enough to answer four questions.
First: how many people will actually see your ad or content, become interested, and take real action? It is not views or reach that are interesting, but actions – visiting the website, adding to the basket, requesting a price, calling, messaging, placing an order. This is what matters in e-commerce.
Second: can this channel bring in the ‘right’ customers? Some platforms tend to attract an audience that is already making choices and ready to buy. Others attract an audience that is simply scrolling through their feed. This is normal, but it is a mistake to evaluate them equally.
Third: how confident are you that the channel will work for your business? This means that you have data, test results, experience, or at least a clear hypothesis that can be tested in a short period of time.
Fourth: how much effort and expense will it take to launch and maintain the channel at a normal level? If you need serious production, serious and expensive content, and the constant involvement of a creative team or founder, the channel will quickly become unstable.
B2C: focus on channels where purchases are made more quickly
One of the most common mistakes in the retail business is trying to cover all types of purchases with a single strategy, according to managers at Stelvel Bulgaria. But in e-commerce, there is a simple fork in the road: some goods are purchased quickly, while others take a long time to choose, and the ‘Quality of organic leads by channel’ diagram clearly illustrates why the ‘be everywhere’ strategy is usually a losing one.
In e-commerce and goods that are bought quickly, spontaneously and emotionally, such as inexpensive accessories, household goods, impulse gifts and trendy items, channels where you can quickly show the product or quickly test creativity work better. In B2C, these are search engines and videos, which provide a more informed audience. Social networks generate a surge of interest, but without a structured funnel and regular content, interest disappears as quickly as it appeared.
But even in this case, it is not only the content that is important, but also what accompanies it: a clear link, landing page, terms and conditions, reviews, and ease of ordering. In this case, ‘ease of implementation’ and speed of testing are often more important than perfect content.
B2B: channel selection strategy, less reach, more trust
B2B e-commerce is more common than it seems: wholesale sales, corporate purchases, supplies for salons, HoReCa, manufacturing. And here the fork is even more noticeable. LinkedIn, with its relatively small reach, consistently provides the most interested audience. Search remains key – because verification always happens: after the first touch, people go to Google, read, compare, and look for confirmation. YouTube helps explain complex products and demonstrate an approach – especially where ‘simple product cards’ are not enough.
The main conclusion here is simple: a channel with a smaller audience can be much more useful than one where ‘everyone is sitting.’ And there is no universal advice to ‘go to TikTok’ or ‘strengthen SEO,’ according to experts at Stelvel company. There is a correct choice of priority behaviour for the buyer.
How to apply RICE in practice in B2C
RICE assessments do not have to be accurate: at the start, it is enough to compare channels in relative points. It is not the absolute value that is important, but the order of priorities – and a quick check in reality.
- Narrow down your selection to 6–8 channels that you can realistically maintain on a regular basis: you have content and a budget for testing.
- Evaluate each channel using RICE: expected volume of real actions (clicks on cards/add to basket/orders), impact on purchase, level of confidence in the forecast, complexity of launch and support.
- Keep three channels: two as a basis for promotion for the next 8–12 weeks, and the third to test in short cycles.
How to apply RICE in practice in B2B
Stelvel managers believe that a simple scale (e.g., low/medium/high or 1–5) is sufficient to see priorities and decide what to test.
- Select no more than 10 channels where you can demonstrate expertise and maintain a steady pace of publication, answer questions, and respond to discussions.
- Evaluate each channel using RICE: expected volume of target contacts (requests for terms/prices/meetings), impact on trust and decision-making, level of confidence (are there any case studies/data/tests), complexity of launch and systematic maintenance.
- Identify two priority areas, one channel – as an experiment with clear deadlines and criteria.
Stelvel helps build strong marketing in the right channels, consistently, with predictable results and maximum limitations. Being everywhere is expensive and ineffective. Being where marketing really works is a strategic advantage.