Marketing doesn't move in straight lines
Marketing isn't straight forward (or straightforward)
As humans, we naturally want things to be linear, predictable, and with a clear line of sight. We also want things to be accessible and as easy as possible. These are generalisations, but it is in our nature. Oddly, there is a contradiction there, because in seeking a straight road to get what we want or need, we will take sharp turns in order to make our journey shorter, creating a winding route to get to our desires.
This is relevant to marketing because from a business perspective, which is built by humans, predictability and accurate forecasting help to keep the lights on. A business also seeks straight roads. However, when people buy products and services, the routes to buying are not straight, and prospects can enter the buying journey at any point, over any period of time.
Marketing would be much easier if customers behaved like a pipeline.
They do not.
The funnel was never meant to be a conveyor belt
We have all seen the traditional marketing funnel. Awareness at the top. Consideration in the middle. Intent and purchase at the bottom. Then loyalty and advocacy beyond the transaction.
It is a helpful model, sure. It gives structure to how people think.
But what the funnel actually represents is various stages of thought, not a strict process that people follow step by step. It was never meant to be a conveyor belt.
In reality, people:
- Discover a brand after they have already decided to buy
- Research casually for months without intention
- Make impulsive purchases with almost no visible journey
- Disappear for long periods of time
- Reappear at the point of intent without warning
The stages of the funnel do indeed exist. The order does not.
Buying behaviour is volatile
Let's consider a few examples to paint the picture here...
A homeowner thinking about a kitchen renovation might browse ideas on social media for a year before ever contacting a supplier. They're on Pinterest making boards for styles they like. They're feeding Insta's algorithm with their love for chic kitchen architecture. That is awareness and consideration happening slowly, without urgency.
A trade buyer, on the other hand, might know exactly what product they need, search for it once, compare two prices, and purchase within minutes. They enter at intent and they want what they need immediately.
Someone else might see a piece of content today, forget about it tomorrow, then six months later search for your brand by name.
People jump forward, they loop backwards, they stall, they accelerate, they skip stages entirely.
The journey is messy because people are messy, and marketing exists to connect businesses with people (so it can appear a little like one farmer chasing an entire flock of sheep on the loose!).
If human behaviour is non linear, marketing must be too.
The funnel, and the risk of focusing on just one stage
Where many businesses go wrong is not in understanding the funnel (particularly as it representing stages of thought), but in over prioritising one part of it; typically the lower end because it's the last touchpoint before money is made!
These are understandable pressures. But each of these statements usually translates into over investing in one stage of the journey. The above are all common needs of business, because they impact the most important thing - to generate income and keep the machine turning.
If you only focus on awareness, you create attention without conversion. You generate interest but have no mechanism to capture it. You become reliant on your brand and proposition being so compelling that someone won't go anywhere else. That's a lovely thought, but it's not reality.
If you only focus on bottom of funnel activity, such as high intent paid search, you rely entirely on existing demand. You compete harder, often on price, inflating advertising costs and reducing margins, and struggle to build future pipeline. We sometimes call this 'advertising debt' (your business succeeding is indebted to your commitment to giving money to Google Ads etc).
If you only focus on retention (which is rare, but admirable), you protect what you have but limit your ability to grow beyond your existing customer base.
Marketing that concentrates on a single stage is not wrong, it is incomplete, and incomplete systems create fragile growth.
Marketing should mirror human behaviour
If we unpack it, marketing is simply people connecting with people. A business is just a group of people offering something of value to another group of people.
If that is true, then marketing should mirror how people actually behave.
Therefore, marketing should:
- Be visible when someone is casually exploring
- Be helpful when someone is researching
- Be compelling when someone is ready to buy
- Be supportive after the purchase
- Be memorable long after the transaction
This isn't just about 'doing everything'. It is about designing a system that acknowledges the volatility of buying behaviour, and understanding the varying needs and priorities of prospective customers.
A well structured marketing strategy prepares for movement across the funnel. It doesn't panic when someone jumps from awareness to intent. It doesn't rely on one channel to carry the entire commercial burden.
What it does, is to build presence, nurture trust, create memories, and develop infrastructure.
When intent rears it's head, in the moment or after time, a business is ready.
So, what does this means in practice?
In practical terms for a business, this might look like something as simple as:
- Using
paid search to capture high intent demand, while using content and social media to build future demand
- Investing in
SEO that supports both research based queries and transactional ones
- Running
email marketing that nurtures prospects and re engages customers
- Measuring performance across the journey, not just last click conversions
Or in many cases, it'll be a combination of these - it all depends on what a business wants to achieve and who it's talking to.
What it does also mean, is setting expectations internally. Marketing is not a switch you turn on at the bottom of the funnel. It is an ecosystem that supports the full spectrum of human decision making.
When it is only funded at the point of crisis, it feels unpredictable. However, when it is built as infrastructure and a fluid but interconnected ecosystem, it becomes resilient.
Designing for the reality, not the theory
As said at the start of this article, businesses want straight lines because straight lines feel safe. They make forecasting easier and they make reporting cleaner. However, customers do not move in straight lines.
The brands that grow sustainably are not those that force a linear model onto human behaviour. They are the ones that design marketing systems flexible enough to meet people wherever they are.
At Thunder & Flash, this is what responsible marketing looks like, and it's an ethos that we live by in our work.
It starts with business objectives, yes. However, it also respects human behaviour. It acknowledges that buyers can enter at any stage, at any time, and that growth comes from being present across the journey, not just at the point of sale.
If your marketing is only focused on one part of the funnel, you are only meeting your customers some of the time, and marketing that only works some of the time is not a strategy, it is a gamble!
If you want to build a marketing strategy that meets your customers throughout their buying journey, talk to us below:
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