Marketers Must Shift Focus from Channels to Audiences

As marketers build 2027 media plans, a common pitfall is structuring budgets around channels rather than customers. This article argues for an audience-first approach, where strategy begins with identifying business goals like acquiring new customers, increasing purchase frequency among occasional buyers, or retaining loyal ones. For each audience segment, KPIs differ, and media mixes should be tailored accordingly. The author cautions against relying solely on channel-level ROAS, which may over-credit search without revealing true incrementality. Instead, marketers should use attribution, modeling, and incrementality testing to evaluate performance. The article recommends planning analyses before launch, defining consistent audience segments, and considering cross-segment overlap to avoid double-counting. Ultimately, shifting budget between audience strategies may yield more profitable growth than reallocating within a single channel, and decisions should be based on audience value, not just channel reports.