WARNING: 100% of this article was written by a HUMAN. You may find grammar, typos, and other sexy things in here that an AI would not have let pass. This is Day 1 of a 30-day post-every-day sprint, so please don't forget to follow along. Read time ~ 5 Minutes.
What is a Marketing Funnel?
It never ceases to amaze me how little people in our industries — Product Marketing, Digital Marketing, eCommerce, and Growth Marketing — know about the true mechanics of funnels.
I think many people have seen the graphic diagram of a very large funnel opening on the top that gradually gets narrower along the way down to the spout.
I've even met people freshly hired into our Marketing Team who throw around the acronyms of TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU. When you ask them what they are and how they have used them, they have a puzzled look on their faces. I'll explain those in a sec, but first, I want to give you my definition of what a Marketing Funnel is:
Kickass Marketer's Definition: A Marketing Funnel is a path for a prospective customer for your product or service to follow that will build Awareness --> that leads to Consideration --> creating an Intention --> that results in a Conversion (purchase or other desired action).
The Marble Analogy
For me, a funnel is best thought of in real-time when thinking about a website visitor's journey. When I used to speak at workshops or Masterminds, I would use this analogy:
Imagine a website is like a flat piece of wood, like a table. Looking down at the table from above, imagine each and every link or button — basically anything that the user can click or tap — is the top of a little funnel away from that page. For me, the funnels on the website are those. Each one leads the visitor down a path.
Now, imagine that the website visitor is a beautiful shiny marble. Our marble may not know where she wants to go, and it is our job to help the marble find her way to the conversion.
So, ideally, when I intend to increase conversion rates for a website or webpage, I imagine that table with the little funnel holes. Ideally, for the best conversion rates, a visitor coming to our site lands on the website, and there is only 1 very large funnel in the middle of the page.
The marble lands and slowly, in a beautiful downward spiral, finds her way home.
Boom! A Conversion!
A good user experience, as Google would define it. Visitor/Marble to Google wanted a widget. Google thought you had the best choice of widgets based on their search query and sent them with all due trust to you. They found their way down the funnel to the widget. Purchased it and now they are on their merry way... NOT back to Google looking for the same widget.
If they do bounce back to Google? Shame on you. You gave them a bad user experience.
Enter the Big Bad Wolf: Amazon.com
But funnels have recently been turned on their heads... no wonder people are having a hard time knowing what the heck a Marketing Funnel is. Amazon, in all its wisdom, decided to use the same terminology and apply it to Amazon's visitors/shoppers. It's not wrong, it's just a bit different. It is not constrained by time and is specific to customers new to your brand in the last 12 months.
One thing you'll notice is that in the old school Online Marketing Funnel process of real-time funnels, Amazon's funnel is not constrained by real-time (theirs is 12 months). Someone can be new to your brand (last 12 months) and become Aware, even Consider, and then place your item in the cart or wish list, then come back right before the wedding anniversary, 9 months later, and Purchase.
SIDENOTE: Tomorrow, I'll blow this idea of a Marketing Funnel up and show you that it is not only constrained by time, but it truly can be Omni-Channel and Omni-Medium. I used this to sell the largest Consumer Packaged Good in existence. You will never guess what it is!
For Amazon, in their Brand Analytics Dashboard they call this Customer Journey Analytics:
- Awareness = "Customers who searched your brand or viewed your product in search results without purchasing in the last 12 months."
- Consideration = "Customers who visited your detail page, or visited your brand store in the given time period without purchasing in the last 12 months."
- Intention = "Customers who added your products to their cart, wish list, or saved for later in the given time period without purchasing in the last 12 months."
- Purchase = "New to Brand Customers who did not purchase in the last 12 months."
No wonder everyone is starting to get confused.
Kickass Marketing Secret #1 — Conversion Is Everything and It Starts with a Four-Letter Acronym
There's another concept you need to grasp. You've probably seen it, heard it, and think you know everything about it. Before I reveal this gem of an acronym please do not tap/swipe/button push me away when you see it. I promise you likely haven't heard it presented quite like this before.
It's AIDA. Attention --> Interest --> Desire --> Action.
It kind of looks like the funnel, huh? Not exactly.
Imagine now that this is like the lubricant that lines the funnel... greases the skids (as my old farmer friend Gordon would say). It helps this marble gain so much Buyer Intention Velocity that she flies so fast through that spout she has no choice but to convert.
It's happened to you. Be honest! Some crafty Word Smith (aka Copy Writer) caught you at just the right time, had all the right copy (sweet talked you) and website elements (think countdown timer) to get you to whip out your credit card so fast to get the order DONE that you don't even remember, when it's all over, all of the bonuses you'll get with your purchase.
Attention
So, yes we have to get their Attention. On your website you need to help them self-qualify. Make the hole this marble needs/wants to find glow so bright she gets attracted to it like a magnet.
I'll go over a concept I developed decades ago called Click Momentum in more detail — it increases Buyer Intention Velocity and develops into significant Buyer Momentum.
When writing an ad this is the Hook. You have to get them to stop watching that silly cat video or that chick climbing into the oven. The type of Hook is specific to the prospect's mental and emotional state in the moment. Sometimes you don't know what will work the best until you run hundreds or thousands of tests. Which leads me to:
Kickass Marketing Secret #112: Everything works and nothing works given enough time. Question everything, especially your own assumptions, and DO NOT take anything a client tells you for Gospel!
I've got so many hilariously funny stories to tell you while I go over some very in-depth Case Studies in the next several days. These are from clients just in the last few weeks (like late May 2025). One of the case studies I have lined up is the best known Brand in 19-40 year-old Women's Collagen. They are on their way to $100M ARR and I found that their funnel was broken. I will reveal to you live on camera.
Interest, Desire, and the Three Sales You Must Make
You need to then build interest. But wait — let me reveal something of greater importance beforehand.
Along the way from Interest to Desire and then to Action, we have to make sure we nail these three most important things:
In sales they often say Always Be Selling... and online that is all we are doing.
I say Marketing = Communication.
And the best Marketing is the best at communicating. And for Online Marketing we are always selling something. How good a job we do at this will increase our CONVERSION RATE.
- We must sell the prospect that they need to make a CHANGE. They have a problem. We must set a spark, fan the flame into a passion to want to make a change and then...
- We must then sell them on the (our) method to make that CHANGE. Our solution to their problem is the BEST solution to put out that flame.
- We must then sell them on why we are the BEST option to deliver that method/solution that will result in the CHANGE.
So, somewhere between #1 and #2 we shift to DESIRE and then we build that Buyer Intention Velocity to the point that we then just point them to the door (we are the best option) where they can get the prize.
Removing Friction: The Shift from Interest to Desire
In the shift from Interest to Desire, you need to handle all of their objections — remove all of the friction. Help them shift into the belief that they can not only have the CHANGE, but they can have it now. There are loads of friction-reducing elements you can use. I'll go over them in two case studies... there will be videos with Brand Reveals.
You will not believe what some 9-figure and 8-figure brands are doing BADLY right now... like today!
This Is Just the Beginning
I hope this was a blessing to you. I truly love the game of Online Marketing and Sales. I have stories to tell with famous NFL, NBA, and World Poker Tour Professional Players. Stories with the guy who built the largest home in the USA. Yeah, I worked with him 1-on-1 for 11 years.
I'm just getting started. The day everything for me changes and I finally go public.
You my dear friend... if you love Marketing, Growing Businesses for yourself or others, you must follow along right now.
— Dan Matejsek
Dan Matejsek is the founder of RavingFans.ai and creator of PerfectASIN. 27 years of e-commerce experience. $572M in career online revenue. He currently consults with Amazon brands on listing optimization, advertising strategy, and AI-powered growth.
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