Ultimate resource

Marketing funnel

Convert traffic into leads using proven techniques for landing pages, email flows and retargeting.

Marketing funnel

Introduction

Your marketing funnel is the engine that drives your business growth. In this module, we'll take a deep dive into each stage of your funnel, from attracting leads to converting them into customers. You'll learn how to identify and fix leaks in your funnel, optimise your landing pages and forms, and nurture your leads to increase conversions.

Playbooks

Playbook

Improve B2B website

Learn how to build and improve your B2B site with better structure, copy, CTAs and conversion-focused UX decisions.

See playbook
Playbook

Email nurture

Build email workflows that keep leads engaged and moving, using examples from HubSpot that apply across any automation tool.

See playbook

Customer.io

Customer.ioCustomer.io

Send behaviour-driven messages across email, push and SMS with logic tailored to your B2B funnel.

Adobe Marketo

Adobe MarketoAdobe Marketo

Manage complex customer journeys with robust lead scoring, personalisation, and full-funnel attribution built for scale.

Eloqua

EloquaEloqua

Nurture leads at scale with advanced campaign logic, deep CRM integrations and reporting for global teams.

Drip

DripDrip

Email and SMS flows built for DTC brands with deep segmentation and revenue attribution baked in.

Brevo

BrevoBrevo

Send smarter emails, track results and automate your customer communication without enterprise bloat or pricing.

Mailchimp

MailchimpMailchimp

Design, automate and send email campaigns with templates and audience insights built for simplicity.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaignActiveCampaign

Build smarter email journeys, automate follow-ups and align your sales and marketing around pipeline-driving campaigns.

Dotcom Secrets
Book summary & review

Dotcom Secrets

Russel Brunson

Create high-converting sales funnels to attract traffic, engage leads, and build a thriving online business.

Lean Analytics
Book summary & review

Lean Analytics

Alistair Croll

Use data to identify key metrics, test strategies, and drive smarter decisions for consistent growth.

Guide continues below.

Free resources

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Blog posts

Go to blog
Blog post

Build a scalable experimentation process

Turn CRO into a repeatable, collaborative workflow that consistently improves your funnel.

Blog post

Build your first A/B test

Get your first structured test live—from copy or design to data setup and measurement.

Blog post

Build your sequence

Structure your nurture flow with clear triggers, delays and personalisation that feels natural and timely.

Blog post

Evergreen newsletter

Set up a timeless email series that delivers ongoing value, educates prospects and keeps your brand top of mind.

Blog post

Experimentation backlog

A pile of test ideas won’t help you grow. Prioritise by impact and feasibility to test smart.

Blog post

Lead nurture strategy

Build a smart email nurture strategy that matches your funnel stage and turns leads into pipeline, not unsubscribes.

Blog post

Learn from your experiments

Use results to fuel your next round of tests, refine your backlog, and share learnings across teams.

Blog post

Optimise your about page

Build trust and relevance by showing who you help, what you stand for and why you’re the right partner for your prospect.

Blog post

Optimise your contact page

Reduce drop-off by making your contact page frictionless, trustworthy and clear on what happens next after submission.

Blog post

Optimise your demo request page

Streamline your demo request page to reduce drop-offs and increase qualified leads ready to take the next step.

Blog post

Optimise your homepage

Improve your homepage structure, copy and calls to action to make it instantly clear what you do and why it matters.

Blog post

Optimise your lead magnet or product page

Improve clarity, visuals and CTAs to make your lead magnet or product page convert casual browsers into active leads.

Blog post

Optimise your pricing page

Help prospects self-qualify with a pricing page that explains value clearly, handles objections and supports conversions.

Blog post

Post-demo sequence

Follow up after demos with a short series that answers questions, reinforces value and drives momentum.

Blog post

Qualitative research

Use heatmaps, recordings and survey data to uncover friction, confusion and blockers that hurt your conversion rates.

Blog post

Re-engagement sequence

Reconnect with cold leads using messages that feel helpful, not desperate — and revive interest.

Blog post

Run a funnel audit

Review each funnel step to find where users drop off and why — then prioritise fixes with the biggest revenue impact.

Blog post

Sales handover sequence

Bridge the gap between marketing and sales with a nurture flow that prepares leads before the first call.

Blog post

Welcome series

Create a strong first impression with a welcome flow that builds trust and sets expectations for new leads.

Blog post

Write nurture emails that convert

Learn to write emails that are opened, clicked and replied to — using clear structure, relevance and strong copy.

Wiki articles

Go to wiki
Wiki

AIDA

AIDA maps buyer journey: attention, interest, desire, action, letting marketers craft messages that guide prospects from first glance to paid conversion.

Wiki

Customer journey

Map and refine each touchpoint to create seamless, engaging customer experiences.

Wiki

Heatmap

Use heatmaps to track user behaviour and optimise your site experience.

Wiki

Lead

Master lead generation techniques to fill your pipeline effectively.

Wiki

Marketing Automation

Automate workflows and campaigns for increased marketing efficiency.

Further reading

Explained in plain English

A marketing funnel is a visual way to describe how unknown people become paying customers. At the wide top you attract strangers; in the narrowing middle you build trust and capture contact details; at the narrow bottom you persuade qualified prospects to request a meeting or proposal. The funnel model does not insist that every buyer takes an identical path, but it helps a team think in stages so each activity has a clear goal and metric.

The three funnel stages

Top of funnel (ToFu) – attract attention

Here you put the brand in front of likely buyers. Common channels include SEO, paid search, paid social advertising, outbound and inbound content. Success is measured in qualified visits, ad impressions and engagement not yet tied to individual names.

Middle of funnel (MoFu) – capture and nurture

Visitors become leads when they fill a form, book a webinar or download a white paper. Email nurture, remarketing and webinars help you educate and prove authority. At this stage you score or segment leads, warming the best candidates for sales.

Bottom of funnel (BoFu) – convert to opportunity

The prospect is evaluating options. Case studies, ROI calculators, live demos and personalised proposals give the final push. Metrics shift to meeting-booked rate, proposal acceptance and cost per opportunity.

Why the marketing funnel matters

1. Focuses effort on the weakest stage

Many teams buy more traffic when the real leak is a weak landing page or an unclear offer. A funnel map shows conversion at each step so you fix the actual constraint before spending more.

2. Aligns cross-functional teams

Marketing owns ToFu and MoFu, sales owns BoFu and the hand-off into the sales funnel. When both sides share the same funnel definitions, arguments about “lead quality” shrink and experiments target measurable gaps.

3. Enables channel selection based on intent

Different channels excel at different stages. Referral programmes thrive at MoFu and BoFu because trust already exists, while paid social shines at ToFu for awareness. Knowing the funnel stage lets you pick the right tool for the job instead of copying competitors blindly.

4. Provides leading indicators for revenue

Revenue is a lagging metric. Funnel ratios—visitor-to-lead, lead-to-SQL—forecast revenue months earlier. Spot a mid-funnel dip today and you still have time to recover before the quarter closes.

How to apply it

Step 1 – Map your current funnel

List every touchpoint from first click to signed contract. Assign one primary metric per stage: unique visitors, leads captured, MQLs, SQLs, opportunities, closed-won. Calculate the baseline conversion rates.

Step 2 – Identify the stage with the lowest relative conversion

If ToFu traffic is strong but only one per cent fill a form, focus on MoFu capture before buying more ads. If MoFu conversion is healthy yet few demos close, BoFu messaging or trust signals need work.

Step 3 – Choose channel tactics that match the stage

  • ToFu – educational blog posts via SEO, social ads promoting pain-focused content, outbound cold emails that open a conversation.
  • MoFu – gated industry guides, remarketing ads, nurture sequences, interactive tools (calculators, assessments).
  • BoFu – case-study webinars, ROI calculators, live demos, free audits, tailored proposals.

Each channel has its own conversion metric. For a paid search campaign that metric is click-through rate; for a landing page it is lead conversion rate; for a meeting scheduler it is meetings booked per visitor; for discovery calls it is qualification rate; for follow-up email it is open or click rate; and for a proposal it is signature rate.

Step 4 – Run structured experiments

Frame each change as a hypothesis: “Adding an industry case study will raise demo bookings from two to three per day.” Measure, compare and keep only what improves the stage without hurting downstream conversion.

Step 5 – Review monthly and iterate

As soon as one stage meets its benchmark, a new bottleneck surfaces. The funnel is never finished; the goal is constant, measured improvement.

Marketing funnel versus sales funnel

  • Marketing funnel covers anonymous visitor to sales-qualified lead.
  • Sales funnel (detailed in a separate article) starts at SQL and ends at closed-won.

The hand-off is the point where a lead meets a qualification threshold—budget, authority, need and timeline—and a sales rep takes ownership. If marketing stretches its remit into demo booking, ensure both teams use the same definitions so leads are not bounced back and forth. A clear service-level agreement often defines response times, required data and feedback loops.

Remember that after the hand-off the sales pipeline tracks revenue by deal stage and probability; the marketing funnel continues to optimise earlier stages.

Recap

A marketing funnel is a practical framework for turning strangers into sales-ready opportunities. Break it into the three classic stages—ToFu, MoFu, BoFu—map real metrics to each, and choose channels that fit the buyer’s intent at that moment. Focus on the weakest conversion ratio, run disciplined experiments, and revisit the map every month. When marketing and sales share funnel definitions, lead quality debates fade and the team concentrates on the shared objective: predictable, profitable growth.

Scale the revenue, not the workload

Learn to make changes to the entire customer where it matters. Implement practical playbooks that get results in 90 days.