Channelsmost

Channelsmost is a term used in multi-channel engagement analytics to identify the subset of communication channels that accounts for the majority of audience interactions on a platform. It serves as a practical focal point for resource allocation and strategic planning in marketing, product communications, and user support.

Definition and calculation: In practice, channelsmost refers to the smallest set of channels whose combined share of engagement meets a predefined threshold, commonly 80 percent. The remaining channels are considered part of the tail. The metric is calculated from attribution data that aggregates interactions across channels, such as email, push notifications, SMS, social media, in-app messages, and website or app visits. Normalization is often required to compare channels with different scales of activity, and the result can depend on the attribution model and the time window used.

Applications: Marketers use channelsmost to prioritize budget, creative development, and channel-specific experiments. Product teams apply it to shape notification strategies and onboarding flows. Analysts may track changes in channelsmost over time to detect shifts in audience behavior or the impact of channel diversification.

Limitations: The metric does not measure reach, engagement quality, or anticipated lifetime value, and it can be sensitive to data quality, window length, and attribution rules. It also risks oversimplifying multi-channel interactions where cross-channel pathways generate value that is not captured by a single prefix of channels.

History and status: The exact term "channelsmost" is not widely standardized and appears mainly in informal analytics discussions and some vendor blogs. The underlying idea aligns with the Pareto principle and with multi-channel optimization practices that emphasize high-impact channels.

See also: 80/20 rule, channel mix, omnichannel marketing, attribution modeling.