← DictionaryFunnel
also called marketing funnel, sales funnel
A model of the stages people pass through from first awareness to purchase.
The path from stranger to customer.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Funnel lives under Marketing. The working definition is simple: a model of the stages people pass through from first awareness to purchase.
It is a repeatable structure, which means it only pays off when it is actually followed through instead of quoted. Once it is defined that clearly, arguments about it usually stop.
How It's Used
Funnel comes up in campaign planning, channel choices and the reporting that follows them. It is usually discussed together with Top of Funnel, Middle of Funnel and Bottom of Funnel. The practical test is whether anyone can follow it without the person who wrote it in the room.
Why It Matters
Getting Funnel wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, spend keeps moving but nobody can say what it bought. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
Think of a recipe. Follow the steps and you get a predictable result. The path from stranger to customer.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Funnel as shorthand and expect no explanation — a model of the stages people pass through from first awareness to purchase.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: the path from stranger to customer.
The Bottom Line
If you only keep one thing about Funnel: the path from stranger to customer. Everything after that is detail.