Glossary
What is a marketing funnel?
A marketing funnel is the path people take from first noticing you to buying, drawn as steps that get narrower because fewer people reach each one. Its use is to show where people drop off, so you know which step to fix first.
Updated 6 October 2026
The steps a person takes from first seeing your content to becoming a customer, drawn as a funnel because fewer people reach each next step.
The stages
There is no single official model. Most versions have three or four steps: people become aware of you, they show interest, they consider buying and they act. You are free to name them differently. What matters is that every step is something you can count.
- Awareness: someone sees a Reel, a post or an ad.
- Interest: they visit your profile, follow you or comment.
- Consideration: they message you, open your link or join a list.
- Action: they buy, book or sign up.
Reading drop-off with numbers
Divide each step by the one before it. Say 10,000 people see a Reel, 500 visit your profile, 100 comment or message, 40 open your link and 8 buy. Profile to comment is 20%, comment to link is 40% and link to purchase is 20%. The biggest leak is between seeing and visiting, but that is also the hardest step to move, so check the cheapest fix first.
Google Analytics has a funnel exploration that does this for a website. Its guide describes it as a way to see the steps users take to complete a task and how well they are doing at each one. It also separates open funnels, where people can enter at any step, from closed funnels, where they must start at the first.
Where the funnel misleads
A funnel looks tidier than real life. People skip steps, return months later or buy after a friend’s message. Treat the percentages as a rough guide to where attention is lost, not as a promise about any one person.
- Mixing units: counting people at one step and views at another makes rates meaningless.
- Fixing the top first: more reach into a leaky link page just wastes the extra traffic.
- Skipping tracking: if you cannot count a step, you cannot tell whether it is the problem.
An example
A yoga teacher notes that 300 people comment WORKSHOP on a Reel but only 30 open the signup link. The comments are fine, so she shortens the first message and moves the link up. The next Reel gets 60 link opens out of about the same number of comments.
Questions people ask
Is a funnel the same as a customer journey?
Not exactly. A customer journey describes what a real person does and feels, including detours. A funnel is the simplified, countable version of it, with a fixed list of steps. Funnels are for measuring, journeys are for understanding.
How many stages should a funnel have?
As many as you can measure and act on. Three or four is common because each step needs a number you can actually get. If you cannot count a stage, merge it with its neighbour instead of guessing.
What is a good conversion rate between steps?
It depends on your audience, price and offer, and we have no source for a universal benchmark. Compare your own numbers over time, one step at a time, and look for the step that changed.
Does a small account need a funnel?
A sketch on paper is enough. Write the four or five steps from your post to a sale, jot down the count at each step for a month and you will see where people stop. No tool is needed for that.
Sources
Related terms
- Conversion rateThe percentage of people who finished a chosen goal, such as buying or signing up, out of everyone who could have: conversions divided by visitors, times 100.
- Lead generationCollecting contact details from people who show interest in what you offer, so you can follow up. A lead is that person; generation is how you get them.
- Lead magnetA lead magnet is a free resource, such as a checklist, template or short lesson, offered in exchange for contact details like an email address.
- Click-through rate (CTR)The percentage of people who clicked or tapped after seeing an ad, link or button: clicks divided by the number who saw it, times 100.
- Nurture sequenceA planned series of messages sent after someone shows interest, each one answering the next question they are likely to have, until they are ready to decide.
- Abandoned cartAn abandoned cart is an order a customer started, by adding a product or reaching checkout, and left before paying. Sellers often follow up by email to bring them back.
More terms
Deliver your lead magnet by DM
People comment a word, and DMFast delivers your freebie by DM, collecting their email on the way if you want it. Free plan, no card.
Start free