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You know, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about marketing funnels. Like, are they still actually useful? I mean, we’ve all seen that classic triangle—awareness, interest, consideration, decision, right? It’s everywhere. But sometimes I wonder if it’s just something we keep using because it’s familiar, not because it really works anymore.
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I remember when I first learned about the funnel in college. My professor drew it on the board like it was this universal truth, like gravity or something. And back then, it made sense. People saw an ad, got curious, checked out your website, maybe signed up for a newsletter, and eventually bought something. Linear. Simple. Clean.
But here’s the thing—people don’t behave like that anymore. At least, not most of them. I mean, have you ever gone down a TikTok rabbit hole at 2 a.m.? One minute you’re watching a cat video, the next you’re buying a face mask from a brand you’ve never heard of. Where’s the funnel in that?
And don’t even get me started on how many touchpoints there are now. It’s not like the old days where someone might see a billboard, then a TV ad, then call a number. Now? They might see an influencer post, read a Reddit thread, check Google reviews, watch a YouTube unboxing, get retargeted on Instagram, and finally buy through a link in a text from their friend. That’s not a funnel—that’s more like a tangled ball of yarn.
So yeah, I get why some people say the funnel is outdated. It feels too rigid. Too… predictable. Real human behavior isn’t neat. We jump around. We change our minds. We buy things impulsively. We abandon carts. We come back three weeks later after a random email reminds us. The funnel doesn’t really account for any of that.
But—and this is a big but—I still think there’s value in the idea behind the funnel. Not the diagram itself, but the mindset. Like, understanding that people usually don’t just wake up and decide to buy your $2,000 software suite. There’s usually some kind of journey, even if it’s messy and non-linear.
I’ve worked on campaigns where we ignored that completely. Just went straight for the sale with no buildup. And guess what? It didn’t work. People weren’t ready. They didn’t trust us. They didn’t even know who we were. So in that sense, the awareness stage? Still matters. A lot.
Same with consideration. You can’t just assume someone’s going to pull out their credit card the first time they hear about you. Most people need reassurance. Social proof. Maybe a free trial. Something to lower the risk. That’s part of the funnel logic, even if it doesn’t happen in a straight line.
What I think we need is to stop treating the funnel like a factory assembly line and start seeing it more like a map. A rough guide. Yeah, people take different routes, but there are still common landmarks—awareness, evaluation, purchase, loyalty. Call them stages, phases, whatever. The names aren’t important. What matters is recognizing that people progress (kind of) toward a decision, and we can help them along the way.
And honestly? The funnel helps teams stay organized. When I’m working with content creators, designers, and ads people, having a shared framework makes life easier. Instead of everyone doing their own thing, we can say, “Okay, this campaign is for top-of-funnel—let’s focus on reach and education.” Or, “This one’s bottom-funnel, so let’s push urgency and testimonials.”
It also helps with measurement. If you don’t have some kind of structure, how do you know what’s working? Are your blog posts bringing in new people, or just preaching to the choir? Is your email sequence actually moving folks toward a purchase, or just annoying them? The funnel gives you buckets to track against.
Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying we should stick to the old-school version. We absolutely need to adapt it. Maybe it’s not a funnel at all. Some people talk about flywheels now, or loops, or even galaxies of touchpoints. I like the flywheel idea—where happy customers fuel referrals and repeat sales, keeping the momentum going. That feels more modern. More realistic.
But even the flywheel borrows from funnel thinking. You still have to attract people. You still have to convert them. You still have to keep them happy. It’s just emphasizing the cycle instead of the linear path.
Another thing—the funnel can be dangerous if you only focus on the bottom. I’ve seen companies pour all their budget into conversion optimization while totally neglecting brand building. And sure, you might get short-term sales, but long-term? You’re toast. No awareness means no pipeline. No pipeline means no business in six months.
On the flip side, I’ve also seen brands stuck forever in “brand awareness” mode, throwing money at vague campaigns with no clear path to revenue. That’s not sustainable either. You can’t just exist in the top of the funnel. At some point, you’ve gotta ask for the sale.
So maybe the real answer is balance. Use the funnel as a tool, not a rule. Let it guide your strategy, but don’t let it blind you to how people actually behave. Be flexible. Test things. Follow the data. Talk to real customers—like, actually talk to them. See how they found you, why they bought, what almost stopped them.
Because at the end of the day, marketing isn’t about perfect models. It’s about connecting with people. Helping them solve problems. Earning trust. The funnel? It’s just one way to think about that journey. A starting point. Not the whole story.
So yeah, is the marketing funnel useful? I’d say… kind of. It’s not perfect. It’s not complete. But it’s not useless either. As long as we use it wisely—and update our thinking along the way—it still has a place. Just don’t treat it like gospel. Because people aren’t diagrams. They’re humans. And humans? They’re gloriously unpredictable.
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