Quick answer
Start with the business objective, economics and customer journey. Only then decide which channels deserve investment. Strategy is the set of choices that prevents the business from trying everything at once.
A practical plan should state what you will do, what you will not do, what success means and how often decisions will be reviewed.
What I would check first
I would establish the baseline: revenue or lead target, average customer value, close rate, existing acquisition sources, website conversion rate and tracking quality.
I would then identify the biggest constraint. If demand is available but the website leaks qualified visitors, more acquisition may be premature. If the site converts but demand is weak, acquisition may be the constraint.
Decision framework
Use Objective → Audience → Offer → Demand → Conversion → Measurement → Capacity. Every channel should have a role in that chain.
A local service business might prioritize high-intent search capture, a strong service page and follow-up before investing heavily in broad awareness. A product brand may need a larger creative and retention system. The correct mix follows the economics.
Implementation steps
Write one primary business objective, select a small number of channel jobs, establish budgets, define primary conversions and create a 90-day test plan. Assign an owner to every measurement and implementation task.
Review monthly at the strategic level. Do not let platform-level optimization obscure the question of whether the overall customer acquisition system is improving.
Common mistakes and current platform considerations
Avoid choosing channels because competitors use them, spreading small budgets everywhere or treating a strategy document as finished once it is written.
Automation is increasing across advertising, analytics and content platforms. Strategy therefore shifts toward defining objectives, quality signals, measurement and business constraints while platforms handle more delivery mechanics.
Measurement and business implications
Build a scorecard with business outcomes first, then leading indicators such as qualified traffic, conversion rate, CAC and pipeline. Keep channel metrics secondary to the business objective.
Use the Digital Marketing Audit Checklist, Marketing Budget Calculator and the Google Ads versus SEO guide to turn the strategy into concrete decisions.