Marketing funnel
Also called: sales funnel, conversion funnel, TOFU MOFU BOFU, AARRR, purchase funnel
Definition
A marketing funnel is a model of the stages people move through from first hearing about a product to buying it, typically awareness, consideration and decision, used to plan content and measure drop-off between stages.
A marketing funnel is the simplest map of how strangers become customers: many people hear about you, fewer consider you, fewer still buy. It is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, hence the name.
How it works
Common versions:
- Awareness, consideration, decision. Often written as TOFU, MOFU, BOFU (top, middle, bottom of funnel).
- AIDA: attention, interest, desire, action.
- AARRR ("pirate metrics"): acquisition, activation, retention, referral, revenue, popular with startups.
Each stage has its own conversion rate. Multiply them and you see where most people drop off, which tells you where to work first.
Worked example
10,000 people see a comparison post. 600 visit the site (6%). 90 start a trial (15% of visitors). 18 pay (20% of trials). Overall, 0.18% of people who saw the post became customers. If the visitor-to-trial step can be improved from 15% to 20%, paying customers rise from 18 to 24 with no extra traffic.
Its limits
Real buying is not a straight line. Google's 2020 consumer research described a "messy middle" between the trigger and the purchase, where people loop between exploring options and evaluating them, repeatedly, across many sources. Reforge argued in 2018 that the fastest-growing products are better described as growth loops than funnels: output from one cycle, such as content or referrals, feeds the next.
Use the funnel as a measurement tool, not as a picture of how people actually think.
How it plays out on Reddit
Reddit threads cover every stage, often in one subreddit on the same day:
- Top: "Is there a better way to handle client invoices than spreadsheets?" The person knows the problem, not the category.
- Middle: "What do you all use for invoicing? Looking at X and Y." Comparing.
- Bottom: "Going with Y unless someone talks me out of it. Any gotchas?" Deciding.
The bottom-of-funnel threads carry the strongest buying intent and deserve the fastest, most specific replies. Top-of-funnel threads deserve help with no pitch at all; a useful explanation there builds the recognition that pays off when the same person comes back to compare.
Reddit is also where the "messy middle" happens in public. People bounce between threads, reviews and AI answers built from those threads. Being present and accurate in those threads is how you stay in the loop. The Reddit marketing strategy guide goes into which threads to answer.
Common mistakes
- Pitching at the top. Someone still defining their problem does not want a demo link.
- Optimizing one stage blindly. More signups from poor-fit users can lower paid conversion.
- Assuming linear journeys. Expect people to skip stages, loop back and arrive from places attribution cannot see.
Frequently asked questions
What are the stages of a marketing funnel?
Most models use awareness, consideration and decision. Startup teams often use AARRR: acquisition, activation, retention, referral and revenue.
Is the marketing funnel outdated?
It is a simplification. Research like Google's "messy middle" shows buyers loop between exploring and evaluating, but funnel stages are still useful for measuring drop-off.
What is bottom of funnel content?
Content for people close to buying: comparisons, pricing, case-specific answers. On Reddit, these are threads asking which tool to choose.