Ever seen “Field of Dreams”? It’s the story of Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer who hears a mysterious voice urging him to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield with the promise, “If you build it, they will come.” 

Despite the financial risk and doubts from everyone around him, Ray mows down part of his crop to construct the field, taking a leap of faith that somehow, people will find their way to it. By the film’s end, crowds are indeed drawn to his farm, seemingly guided by some magical pull. 

You could argue that this story is an example of product-market fit: Ray bets on people’s nostalgia for classic baseball fields, and he’s right – they want it. But it doesn’t explain how those people discovered Ray’s hidden baseball diamond, kilometres out in an Iowa cornfield. 

Why product-market fit isn’t enough for marketplace success

In the real world, people don’t just come because you’ve built it. In fact, one of the most common stumbling blocks in getting a marketplace startup off the ground is building a fantastic product and assuming any marketing channel will attract the right audience at scale. While achieving product-market fit (PMF) is a major milestone – it confirms there’s demand for your product – it doesn’t guarantee growth. For that, you need product-channel fit (PCF): a specific channel that effectively reaches, engages, and converts your target audience.

Common acquisition channels for marketplaces include email marketing, third-party platforms (e.g. Google Shopping), social media, mobile marketing, paid search, display ads, technical SEO, and content marketing.

Finding product-channel fit is not a once-off challenge. Startups that fail to develop a diversified, dependable set of acquisition channels can find themselves overly dependent on one platform, risking their entire business model if that channel becomes unreliable. PMF may indicate that customers want your product, but without a reliable and scalable channel strategy, your product might not consistently reach them.

How channels shape marketplace product design

Choosing the right channel is about more than just about finding a way to reach your audience. It often shapes how you design and present your marketplace product. Ignoring this can seriously limit your growth potential.

MobyPark, a marketplace for parking spots, leveraged its own platform’s search data to enhance visibility in Google search results. When users search for specific terms, such as “parking in Amsterdam,” within the MobyPark app, the platform dynamically creates new categories and landing pages tailored to those keywords. These pages are optimised to rank high in Google’s search results, which drives organic traffic back to the MobyPark app in a cost-effective manner.

Affordable Art Fair (AAF), a marketplace for art, integrated their users’ browsing data with Google Shopping to improve product recommendations, making it easier for internet shoppers to find art they’d love. This resulted in higher traffic volumes, since AAF’s audience values browsing and discovering new art, instead of quick transactional searches. In fact, their average visitor browses thirteen products before making a purchase. A good example of tailoring your marketing channel to the behaviour of your marketplace users.

Acquisition channels vs. marketing strategies

It’s essential to distinguish between channels and strategies, as they play complementary but distinct roles in reaching your audience effectively. Acquisition channels are the infrastructure – pathways that connect your product to potential customers, such as social media, email, or search engines. Marketing strategies, on the other hand, are the tailored approaches or techniques you use within those channels to engage and convert your audience.

Think of social media as one such channel. Within it, strategies could include influencer partnerships, organic content creation, or paid ad campaigns, each designed to leverage social media’s reach in different ways. 

Understanding the distinction between channels and strategies provides flexibility – you can adjust strategies without losing momentum if a particular approach isn’t working as expected. If, for example, email marketing is performing well as a channel, but a specific strategy – such as personalised newsletters – needs adjustment, you can test alternatives (like automated onboarding sequences or promotional emails) without needing to abandon the entire channel. This framework empowers you to adapt and refine tactics while maintaining a stable pipeline for customer acquisition and engagement.

Choosing the right channel – it’s all about timing and planning

Choosing the right channel early on, ideally during or even before PMF testing, can save startups from costly mistakes. Conversely, investing in the wrong channels too soon can drain resources without results. 

For example, if your marketplace is targeting a younger audience, Instagram or TikTok might work better than traditional media. On the other hand, if your target market is older, TV or email marketing could offer a better return. 

A highly effective way to evaluate and optimise marketing channels is by using a channel matrix, a method recommended by growth expert Brian Balfour. This structured framework allows marketplace startups to systematically assess the pros and cons of each channel based on your product type, audience habits, and competitive landscape.

How to create an acquisition channel matrix for your marketplace startup

Step 1: Set up your spreadsheet:

  • Use a spreadsheet application like Google Sheets or Excel.
  • List all the potential marketing channels in the first column, including SEO, paid search, social media, affiliate marketing, and niche options like podcast sponsorships or Reddit ads. Consider channels that align with your specific marketplace business model, such as LinkedIn for B2B service marketplaces or TikTok for retail marketplaces aimed at younger audiences.

Step 2: Define channel attributes:

In the header row, include key evaluation criteria:

  • Targeting: Precision in reaching your desired audience.
  • Cost: Are there upfront (e.g. blog posts), incremental (e.g. CPC) or fixed (e.g. marketing software) costs?
  • Input Time: The time needed to implement campaigns.
  • Output Time: How quickly results and data are available.
  • Control: Flexibility to adjust or pause campaigns.
  • Scale: Potential audience reach.
  • ROI: Return on investment specific to your market (e.g., FMCG vs. SaaS).
Startup channel matrix

Step 3: Customise for marketplaces:

Adapt the matrix for attributes unique to marketplaces, such as user behaviour patterns, niche appeal, and competitive dynamics. For example, marketplaces with low ARPU (average revenue per user) should prioritise channels with lower CAC (customer acquisition costs) to maintain profitability.

Step 4: Score and compare:

Assign qualitative or quantitative scores for each attribute and channel. Compare the results to identify which channels align best with your product and business model.

The channel matrix offers a methodical approach to channel selection, avoiding random experimentation. It highlights channels that fit both your product and audience habits while considering competition and scalability. This approach is particularly vital for marketplaces where product-channel fit and ARPU-CAC alignment are essential for growth.

Factors that influence channel selection in marketplaces

Your product type, audience, goals, and how closely your marketplace is tied to a marketing or distribution channel all influence the choice of channels. Marketplaces can range from being tightly integrated with a specific channel to being more loosely connected. Factors that determine the closeness of this relationship include:

1. Product type and complexity

For complex products, specialised channels can make a significant impact. The Rolex Certified Pre-Owned marketplace is a good example of this. This program ensures the authenticity of second-hand Rolex watches sold by official retailers displaying the Certified Pre-Owned plaque. By leveraging Rolex’s controlled retail environments and its global network of experts, the program guarantees that every preowned watch meets the brand’s strict quality standards.

Customers exploring physical Rolex stores are directed to the Pre-Owned marketplace, where they can continue their journey with confidence in the product’s authenticity and condition. This dedicated approach ensures a seamless, high-touch experience tailored to the needs of Rolex’s discerning clientele, emphasising the value of using specialised channels for niche or complex marketplaces.

2. Brand image and control

Brand image plays a big role in choosing channels. Luxury marketplaces, for instance, often stick to selective channels to maintain exclusivity, while mass-market brands need broader distribution. Think of how 1stDibs, an upscale marketplace, keeps its brand prestigious by only working with selected sellers, while a platform like eBay thrives by being accessible to everyone.

3. Target audience reach

For niche marketplaces, specialised channels may be the right choice. LinkedIn, for example, is a great channel for B2B marketplaces looking to target professionals, whereas TikTok works well for Gen Z and millennial-focused marketplaces.

4. Cost and efficiency

Broad, low-cost channels tend to work best for low-margin products that need high volume, while premium services might do better with a targeted, high-touch approach. A marketplace offering affordable products might choose mass email marketing, while a premium service marketplace could focus on LinkedIn outreach to capture high-value customers.

5. Market competition

In competitive markets, channel strategy plays a critical role in standing out. Some marketplaces focus on partnerships with a few select channels to secure preferential treatment, such as premium placement or promotion. Others expand their reach by making their products available across as many channels as possible to capture every potential sale.

SoShop, a French neobank, exemplifies the power of strategic partnerships. By collaborating with well-known brands like Samsung and Nike to promote its loyalty program, SoShop leveraged its partners’ credibility to build trust and engagement among users. This selective, partnership-driven approach enabled SoShop to stand out in the crowded financial services space, delivering a thirty-fold increase in revenue.

Distribution of desktop site traffic sources by channel

Don’t ignore the risks of relying on a single channel

Relying too heavily on one channel is risky, especially if that channel is subject to frequent policy changes or algorithm updates. For instance, marketplaces that grew solely through Facebook ads saw acquisition costs rise dramatically as competition intensified or algorithm changes limited reach. 

But that doesn’t mean you should start with multiple channels from the get-go. Most new marketplaces benefit from focusing on a single, high-potential channel until they find traction. Once you have a steady base of engaged users, then you can consider expanding to other channels for diversification and growth. This will often be the case when offering new product ranges or moving into new geographical markets.

LinkedIn is a rare example of a successful platform built on a multi-channel approach from the start. They combined virality, recruitment, sales prospecting, and user-generated content (UGC) all within one platform, allowing LinkedIn to scale rapidly. However, this is only feasible for marketplaces that have already hit PMF and are ready to go big.

Get your marketplace out of the cornfield

According to Brian Balfour, successful growth relies on the seamless collaboration of cross-functional teams. When product, marketing, and software engineering teams work closely together, they ensure that both product-market fit and product-channel fit are fully aligned and optimised, creating a stronger foundation for growth.

The real strength of product-channel fit lies in its ability to not only fuel growth but also build long-term resilience for your marketplace. It ensures that your business isn’t just growing – it’s growing smartly, with the flexibility to adapt to change and the stability to scale effectively over time.

So yes, if you build it, they will come. As long as you’re doing the right things to help them find you.