Marketplaces typically start acquisition with the two cheapest levers available — SEO on the demand side and direct sales on the supply side — then progressively layer on more expensive channels (paid acquisition, TV, incentivized referrals) only as the marketplace's accumulated, proven LTV justifies the added cost.
The ordering is deliberate, not arbitrary: each new channel is unlocked by evidence that the existing base can pay for it, rather than launched simultaneously with the others on day one. This keeps early growth capital-efficient and ties channel expansion to a measured payback discipline.
Related to Blitzscaling Subsidy Growth vs. Payback-Period Discipline (the broader tension this ordering is designed to avoid) and Core Growth Loop Mapping & Acquisition Grafting (treating each new channel as a loop grafted onto the core).