What is a Marketing Funnel? Funnels 101
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Class is officially in session.
Today I’m starting Funnels 101, and before anyone panics or opens a Notion doc they’ll never finish, I want to ground this conversation with one fact:
A funnel is simply the path someone takes from not knowing you exist to choosing to work with you.
That’s it.
What does tend to get lost, especially in online business, is the ‘why’ behind funnels.
We see other people launching freebies, talking about conversion rates, tracking clicks, and suddenly it feels like we’re supposed to do all of it too. And while data matters, what matters more is understanding what you would be doing at each stage so you can market with intention instead of copying someone else’s setup.
What is a funnel?
A funnel is a path you create to help people find you and work with you.
As your business grows and you create more offers, you will have multiple funnels, and they’ll get a little more complicated as you try to pass clients from one funnel to another based on their needs. Ultimately, though, your funnels are designed to move people through various stages of awareness and turn them into paying clients (that’s the bottom of the funnel)
The sale happens at the bottom, but interaction is happening the entire way down.
Speaking of ‘bottom of funnel’, let’s look at some key vocabulary:
I like to picture a funnel the way those coin donation things worked at the mall when we were kids. You’d drop a coin in, it would spin around forever, and eventually fall through the middle. That coin wasn’t part of the funnel until it entered, and once it dropped out the bottom, it had become a donation (or in our case here, become a client).
That’s how people move through your funnel.
I like to think of it like the old mall coin funnels - throwback, anyone?
Top of Funnel (ToFu)
The top of the funnel is where the entire world exists. They are likely not aware that they have a problem, and certainly not aware that you can solve it. Your top of funnel content is likely free or paid educational content that helps them understand what their problem is.
This content is often social media posts, opt-in pages, ads, or affiliate content.
Bottom of Funnel (BoFu)
The bottom of the funnel is when someone becomes a client. This content tends to educate them on the transformation that working with you provides for them.
This is usually sales pages, order bumps, checkout pages, and sales emails.
Problem Unaware
At the very top of your funnel is content helping people go from problem unaware to problem aware.
At this stage, your ideal client exists, but has not ‘met’ you yet. You get to educate them through content that they may have a problem.
Example content includes:
What’s wrong with your X
The #1 thing holding most people back from X
You’re so close, but your X is broken
Why your X isn’t selling out
Problem Aware
When your content makes them problem aware, they have also become aware of YOU. Your next job is to get them to click on the content mentioned above so that they become solution aware.
Solution Unaware
When they click on your ‘problem content’ or top of funnel content, your job is to make them solution aware - show them what will solve their problem.
Content for solution unaware people exists on opt-in pages, blogs, and in podcasts, and helps people understand that there is hope and possibility!
Solution Aware
When people are aware of a solution to the problem, it is your privilege to get to solve it for them. THIS IS SALES.
You now get to offer them a solution, and put it behind a paywall.
Client
When someone buys from you, they become a client. At this point, you can either create more content to sell more, or simply nurture them as a client.
An Example: Red Bull’s Marketing Funnel
There are billions of people in the world. Most of them are problem unaware.
Then one day, someone realizes they’re exhausted every afternoon. Now they’re problem aware.
They might not know there’s a solution yet. They just know they’re tired. Then Red Bull enters the chat. Suddenly there’s a product tied to the problem. Now they’re solution aware.
When they walk into a convenience store and buy it, they’ve fallen through the bottom of the funnel and become a customer.
And here’s the part most people forget: They don’t stop there.
They buy again. They tell friends. They stock up at Costco. They become advocates.
Very rarely does someone buy one Red Bull in their lifetime. Very rarely does a client buy one thing from you and disappear forever. Advocacy is part of the funnel too.
Why Copy Is the Backbone of Your Funnel
Funnels are powered by communication. Every stage relies on copy to move someone to the next step.
Your copy educates, creates awareness, invites action, and builds advocacy.
You don’t need a complicated funnel to do this well. You need clarity around who you’re talking to, where they are in the process, and what they need to hear next.
That’s what we’re going to dig into over the next few weeks. What copy belongs in ads. What belongs on opt-in pages. What belongs on thank you pages, emails, and sales pages.
Your Next Steps: Build A Funnel
I’ll be posting every week for the next 4 weeks about how to build funnel copy that sounds like you, but converts better. Be sure to check out the podcast for future ideas, and grab the Opt-In Copy Bot to write your first opt-in page!
Connect with me here:
Watch episodes with subtitles on my YouTube
See my services → sales pages, emails, websites, and more.
Get on my calendar → if you’d like me to write your sales copy for you!
Opt-In Copy Bot → Write high-converting opt-in pages in minutes
Nomad Copy Agency writes copy that CONVERTS for service-based businesses. Inquire about done-for-you services here.
