Marketing Funnel

A marketing funnel is a model that maps the customer journey in stages, from first becoming aware of a brand through interest, consideration, purchase (conversion), and retention or loyalty. It is called a funnel because fewer people remain at each successive stage, producing a wide-top, narrow-bottom shape. The stages are commonly grouped as top of funnel (TOFU, awareness), middle of funnel (MOFU, consideration), and bottom of funnel (BOFU, conversion).

In practice, the funnel guides teams to set different goals and content for each stage: reach and awareness at the top, trust and comparison at the middle, and prompts to purchase at the bottom. Tracking drop-off between stages helps diagnose where prospects leave and where to improve.

Because real buying paths are often nonlinear and looping rather than a straight descent, the funnel is sometimes used alongside alternative models such as the flywheel.