← DictionaryTop of Funnel
also called top-of-funnel
The awareness stage, where people do not yet know you or their options.
People who do not know you yet.
What It Is
Top of Funnel sits on the Marketing side of the work, in the Funnel area. The canonical meaning is the awareness stage, where people do not yet know you or their options.
It is a label with a settled working definition, so the value is in using it the same way every time. That is the version worth keeping, because it survives contact with a real project.
How It's Used
Top of Funnel earns its keep in campaign planning, channel choices and the reporting that follows them. It normally appears alongside Funnel, Awareness and Demand Generation. The practical test is whether everyone in the room means the same thing by it.
Why It Matters
The cost of being vague about Top of Funnel shows up later, not today. When it is unclear, spend keeps moving but nobody can say what it bought. Clarity here removes a surprising amount of downstream argument.
Picture a word everyone in the room has agreed to use the same way. People who do not know you yet.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Professionally, Top of Funnel carries the narrow meaning: the awareness stage, where people do not yet know you or their options.
Explained to someone with no marketing background, Top of Funnel is people who do not know you yet.
The Bottom Line
Treat Top of Funnel as a decision, not a description. People who do not know you yet.