B2C motion alignment

Not all motion combinations work well together. Some create friction, others create synergy (yes, I love that word and no, I won’t apologize).

Understanding alignment is critical for building an efficient growth engine.

⚖️ The Four Alignment Factors

When evaluating motion combinations, the key is how well they align across four dimensions:

1. 🧨 Time to Ignite: How long it takes for a motion to reach its full velocity potential.
2. ⚡ Velocity: Once established, how quickly a motion moves users through it.
3. 💍 Commitment: The level of effort a user must give to move through a motion.
4. 💵 Cost: the resources required to build and run the motion.

Time-Based Traits: Velocity & Time to Ignite

Two of the most important alignment factors are time-based:

• Velocity
• Time-to-Ignite

Why this matters: A high-velocity acquisition motion, such as a virality-led motion, requires a monetization motion that can also process users at the same speed. i.e. a product-led monetization motion. Pairing it with a slow, sales-led motion would overwhelm the monetization motion while limiting the full potential of the acquisition motion.

Time to ignite, on the other hand, has to do with the speed at which a motion can reach its velocity potential. Paid-led motions have very short ignition times. Paired with product-led or monetization and retention motions, which also have short ignition times, and alignment is strong. However, paired with a sales-led motion, which takes a considerable amount of time to develop, we encounter the same issue as seen in the first example.

Let’s look at how the core motion types stack up here:

Acquisition Motions

Monetization Motions

Retention Motions

👉 Ignition here refers to the time to set up the structure. We’re not asking, “how long will it take to get the degree of product-market fit needed to unlock our product-led monetization motion?” In practice, that’s a very real consideration. But all things equal, if PMF is strong and you deploy a product-led retention motion, ignition time is very fast relative to the other motion types.

Commitment Alignment

Commitment alignment is about ensuring that your “ask” within a motion aligns with the level of commitment a user already has when they enter.

• Low-commitment entry → low-commitment next step.
• High-commitment entry → high-commitment next step.

Think about it this way: Imagine you randomly see an ad for a SaaS tool you’ve never heard of. Upon landing on the site, you’re immediately asked to do a sales call. What are the odds you’re scheduling that meeting?

However, if you landed on the same site after spending hours reading the founder’s content on their novel approach to solving XYZ problem, you may very well take that call.

This brings us back to Velocity. Velocity and Commitment tend to have an inverse relationship.

High-velocity motions, such as virality and paid, tend to require lighter, leaner asks because that’s what makes them move quickly in the first place. They can spread fast, but it’s hard to pack much context into such lightweight units.

A viral share or a paid ad is a push mechanism. Something is being put in front of you, not something you chose to seek out. That’s why the next step must be equally low-commitment, such as a free trial (as part of a monetization strategy within the product-led monetization motion) and a frictionless path towards experiencing the product's value (as part of a retention strategy within the product-led retention motion).

By contrast, content is a heavier, opt-in unit: someone has already chosen to invest time and attention, so they’re primed for a higher-commitment ask. And sales, while it can start as a push, naturally layers on context over multiple touches — an email, a call, a demo — which gradually raises both the buyer’s understanding and their level of commitment.

Cost Alignment

The fourth alignment factor is cost. Specifically:

1. Cost to acquire a customer (your acquisition motion + monetization motion for first purchase)
2. Cost to retain and expand a customer value (your retention motion + monetization motion for recurring/expansion revenue)

The Flywheel Connection

Think back to the new customer flywheel:

• Acquisition brings users in.
• Monetization captures revenue.
• That revenue funds more acquisition.

The cost side of this flywheel is the total CAC when factoring in your acquisition + monetization motions working together.

Now layer in the recurring/expansion flywheel:

• Retention extends the relationship.
• Monetization captures additional revenue from that relationship.
• Revenue flows back into both product and acquisition.

Here, the cost side is your retention + monetization motions working together.

The CAC Spectrum

Every acquisition + monetization pairing comes with a natural CAC band.

Your ARPU must be able to sustain whichever band you choose.

Here’s how the common combinations line up:

👉 Key Insight:

Your motion combination = your CAC band.

That total CAC must map back to your ARPU guardrails — otherwise the flywheel never spins.

Now that you’ve seen how CAC bands emerge from different motion pairings, let’s zoom out and surface all the alignment factors in one place.

One last piece before we wrap up: motion pairings in practice. It’s one thing to see the traits of each motion on their own; it’s another to see how they actually combine.

The pairing map below gives you a shorthand view: which combinations are generally a strong fit, which can work with care, and which are riskier bets. Keep this in mind as you move into the next lesson and identify your best-fit acquisition motions.

🟢 = Good · 🟡 = Workable · 🔴 = Risky

What’s Next

You now understand the motion framework, how motions work together, and how to align them into a cohesive engine.

Next up: Identify Your Acquisition Motion.

We’ll dive into the four acquisition motion types, unpack flywheels vs. linear channels, and help you define the entry point for your growth engine.