Marketing Funnels Are Overhyped. Culture Funnels Win.

I’ve watched smart business owners nod through marketing meetings the same way people nod through a wine tasting when they don’t actually know what they’re tasting. Lots of polite “mm-hm,” a few “totally,” and the occasional forced laugh when someone drops a buzzword like it’s a mic.

Then the call ends, the deck gets emailed, the invoice hits the inbox, and the client is left with the same quiet thought they had at minute seven:

“Okay… but what do I do next?”

This is the part of the industry nobody wants to admit: a lot of marketing is deliberately overcomplicated because complexity sounds like authority. If the process feels mysterious, the agency feels valuable. If the language feels exclusive, the strategy feels sophisticated. If the funnel diagram looks like a NASA blueprint, the client assumes they’re paying for rocket science.

And I’m going to say it plainly: that’s straight bullshit.

Not because marketing is easy. Not because strategy doesn’t matter. It does. There’s real craft in building demand, shaping perception, and turning attention into revenue. But the way “funnels” get preached—like a sacred text—has become the most convenient smokescreen in modern marketing.

Because the truth is, people don’t buy the way funnel charts say they do.

They buy the way culture tells them to.

-They buy because a friend put them on.
-They buy because something made them feel seen.
-They buy because a creator made it look undeniable.
-They buy because the group chat said “this is you.”
-They buy because a moment in their life made them ready.
-They buy because the brand showed up like it belonged there.

That’s not a funnel. That’s a cultural current.

Funnels aren’t useless. They’re just not the main character. Funnels are the plumbing. Culture is the weather. And if you’re over here polishing pipes while the storm is happening outside, you’re going to keep wondering why your conversion rate “randomly dropped.”

It didn’t randomly drop. You just weren’t relevant when it mattered.

The Funnel Fantasy

Let’s talk about the classic funnel. You know it. Awareness at the top. Consideration in the middle. Conversion at the bottom. Sometimes loyalty gets sprinkled in like garnish. Sometimes there’s a retargeting loop because the deck needed a little drama.

On paper, it’s neat. It’s comforting. It’s a clean little story. It makes leadership feel like there’s control.

In reality, it’s a fantasy.

Because people don’t wake up and say, “Good morning, I’d like to enter the awareness stage.”

People wake up and say..

“I look tired.”
“I’m stressed.”
“My dog’s stomach is acting up again.”
“My business is slow.”
“I need to feel like myself.”
“I’m over this.”

And then they scroll.

They stumble into content. They see an opinion. They catch a clip. They hear a phrase that hits. They watch a creator explain something in a way that makes them feel less stupid. They see someone use a product in a way that makes it obvious. They get reminded by a friend. They forget. They come back three weeks later because the problem didn’t go away.

This isn’t linear. It’s emotional. It’s messy. It’s human.

Funnels try to make buying predictable. Culture explains why buying is personal.

And most agencies cling to funnels because it’s easier to sell a system than to sell taste. A funnel can be diagrammed. Culture has to be understood. And understanding culture means you can’t hide behind frameworks. You have to be in the world. You have to listen. You have to have timing. You have to know when something is landing—and when it’s corny.

A lot of marketers don’t want that responsibility. So they stay in the deck.

Culture Funnels: How People Actually Decide

Here’s the simplest way I can put it: the strongest funnel on earth is the one that happens when you’re not in the room.

It’s the conversation.

-It’s the comment section.
-It’s the repost with the “this is so true.”
-It’s the “yo, this brand gets it.”
-It’s the “I tried it, it’s actually fire.”
-It’s the “I hate ads but this one made me stop.”
-It’s the “send me the link.”

That’s the funnel. And it doesn’t start with awareness. It starts with resonance.

Resonance is what happens when a brand stops trying to be universally likable and starts being specifically understood.

Because “awareness” is cheap. People are aware of a lot of things they’ll never buy. People are aware of entire industries they don’t care about.

What you want isn’t awareness. It’s relevance.

And relevance is cultural.

You earn it when you show up with a point of view that feels true to the moment people are living in. You earn it when you stop speaking in marketing language and start speaking in human language. You earn it when your brand feels like it’s in the room—not floating above it.

Culture funnels work like this:

A moment hits. A feeling exists. A problem becomes loud.
1. Your content names it.
2. People feel seen.
3. They share it.
4. Someone checks your page.
5. They keep seeing you.
6. Trust builds.
7. A trigger happens.
8. They buy.

You can call that “top of funnel” if you want, but you’re missing the point. It’s not a funnel stage. It’s a human sequence.

Marketing doesn’t move people. Emotion moves people.

Marketing just packages the emotion.

Why Overcomplication Is a Business Model

Let’s be honest about the industry for a second.

A lot of marketing agencies are not selling results. They’re selling confusion management.

If the client understands the work, they start asking dangerous questions like:

“Why are we paying you this much for this?”
“Couldn’t we do this in-house?”
“Is this strategy or just a calendar?”
“Are these metrics real impact or just noise?”

So agencies create a fog. They weaponize language. They bury simple ideas under layers of jargon. They turn “make content people want to watch” into “multi-channel narrative architecture optimized for awareness-stage acquisition.”

Sounds fancy. Says nothing.

And the client, wanting to believe they hired experts, accepts it.

This is where the industry gets gross. Not because everyone’s evil—but because insecurity drives behavior. Agencies feel pressure to prove value, so they perform intelligence. They over-explain. They present marketing like it’s a secret society.

Meanwhile, the best marketing in the world is usually obvious.

Not easy. Obvious.

You see it and you think, “Damn. That’s true.”
You see it and you think, “Why didn’t we say that?”
You see it and you think, “That feels like us.”

That’s the tell. Good marketing doesn’t require a translator. It clicks.

The Difference Between Strategy and Theater

There’s strategy, and then there’s strategy theater.

Strategy is when you make deliberate choices that align creative, distribution, and business outcomes. Strategy is when your messaging is consistent, your offer is clear, your content builds trust, and your conversion path doesn’t feel like an obstacle course.

Strategy theater is when you say “strategy” a lot and still don’t know what the audience is supposed to feel.

Strategy theater is when you present a funnel diagram but can’t answer:

1 - What’s the one thing we want to be known for?
2 - What do we believe that competitors won’t say?
3 - What’s the fastest way to make the right people care?
4 - What’s stopping people from buying right now?
5 - What proof do they need to believe us?

If you can’t answer those questions, your funnel is decoration.

And here’s the hard truth: many “full-service” agencies can’t answer them because they spend more time optimizing for deliverables than outcomes. They’re busy. They’re producing. They’re scheduling. They’re posting.

But they’re not landing.

Because landing requires something most agencies don’t train for: cultural intuition.

That’s why culture funnels win. They prioritize landing over listing.

Culture Is a Cheat Code—If You Respect It

Being culturally relevant isn’t about throwing slang into captions or using trending audio like a security blanket. People can smell that from a mile away. That’s not culture. That’s cosplay.

Culture is context. It’s the unspoken stuff. It’s what people are tired of. It’s what they want to say but don’t have the words for. It’s what they’re laughing at, what they’re arguing about, what they’re anxious about, what they’re proud of.

If you want culture to work for your brand, you have to respect the audience enough to tell the truth.

And truth is disruptive because most brand marketing is allergic to it.

Truth sounds like:

You don’t need another supplement. You need sleep. But if you’re not going to sleep, here’s what helps.
Most ‘premium’ brands are charging you for packaging. We’re charging you for ingredients.
Your dog isn’t picky. Their gut is messed up.
Your ads aren’t underperforming. They’re just boring.
Stop buying tools. Fix your offer.

Truth has edge. It creates friction. It makes some people uncomfortable. It also makes the right people trust you fast.

That’s culture funnel behavior. Because people don’t bond with brands that sound like manuals. They bond with brands that sound like someone who gets it.

The Real Funnel: Attention, Trust, Trigger

If we’re going to simplify funnels without insulting the craft, here’s a version that doesn’t require a seminar.

People buy when three things happen:

1 - They notice you.
2 - They trust you.
3 - They have a reason to act right now.

That’s it.

Notice. Trust. Trigger.

The “notice” part is attention. And attention comes from relevance, novelty, clarity, and emotional punch. It comes from strong hooks, strong creative, strong angles.

The “trust” part is proof. It’s consistency. It’s credibility. It’s showing your work. It’s testimonials, demos, behind-the-scenes, results, transparency, and the tone that says “we’re not here to finesse you.”

The “trigger” part is timing and offer. It’s the moment the customer’s pain becomes loud enough, or desire becomes strong enough, that action makes sense. Sometimes that trigger is urgency. Sometimes it’s a specific situation. Sometimes it’s a reminder. Sometimes it’s “I’m done doing this the hard way.”

A lot of funnel talk tries to treat people like they’re on rails. They’re not. They’re living their lives. The job of marketing is to meet them where they already are and make the next step obvious.

Not complicated. Obvious.

Why Brands Lose: They Optimize the Wrong Thing

Most brands don’t fail because they don’t have a funnel. They fail because they spend all their time polishing the middle and bottom while ignoring the top.

They obsess over conversion rate optimization while the content is unwatchable.
They tweak landing pages while the message is unclear.
They run retargeting ads while nobody even remembers who they are.

That’s like putting racing tires on a car with no engine… sorry not sorry

If you want performance, start where attention lives: the creative.

And not “creative” as in pretty visuals. Creative as in concepts. Angles. Things people actually want to consume.

The brands that win aren’t necessarily the ones with the best funnels. They’re the ones with the strongest cultural footprint.

1. They show up often.
2. They sound like themselves.
3. They have a spine.
4. They say what everyone’s thinking.
5. They make people feel something.
6. They make the product obvious.

That’s the cheat code.

The Emotional Part Most Marketers Ignore

Here’s what no funnel deck will tell you: most buying decisions are emotional first, logical second.

People justify with logic. They decide with emotion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. They buy because they want to feel confident.
2. They buy because they want relief.
3. They buy because they want control.
4. They buy because they want to belong.
5. They buy because they want to be the kind of person who uses that thing.

So when brands try to market like robots, they remove the one lever that actually moves people: feeling.

And that’s why culture funnels win. Because culture is emotion in motion.

If your brand can name what people feel—without being cringe—you win attention and trust faster than any “awareness campaign.”

When Funnels Actually Matter

Let me be clear: funnels have a place.

Funnels matter when your brand is already resonating and you want to reduce friction. Funnels matter when you’ve earned attention and need to capture it. Funnels matter when your conversion path is messy or your offer is unclear.

But funnels don’t create demand. They organize demand.

Culture creates demand!

That’s why funnel-first marketing fails so often. It starts with structure instead of spark. It starts with systems instead of story. It starts with tactics instead of truth.

You can’t optimize your way out of being irrelevant.

What This Means for Clients (And the Agencies Who Actually Care)

If you’re a client reading this, here’s the real takeaway: don’t let anyone confuse you on purpose.

If an agency can’t explain the plan in plain language, that’s not sophistication. That’s a red flag.

A solid marketing partner should be able to tell you—without hiding behind jargon—what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, what they’re measuring, and what success looks like.

Marketing should feel like common sense sharpened into a weapon.

If it feels like a magic trick, you’re probably the trick.

And if you’re an agency reading this, consider this a challenge, not a diss. The industry doesn’t need more decks. It needs more clarity. It needs more partners who respect their clients enough to teach them instead of performing for them.

Authority doesn’t come from complexity. It comes from results. It comes from taste. It comes from telling the truth.

The Disruptive Truth: Culture Funnels Are Built in Public

Culture funnels aren’t built in private. They’re built where people can see you.

They’re built through repeated moments of resonance.

1. The posts that call out a common pain and name it cleanly.
2. The stories that show the messy middle, not just the glossy outcome.
3. The takes that make people argue in the comments.
4. The receipts that prove you’re not just talking.
5. The consistency that makes people feel like you’re not going anywhere.

That’s how you build a brand that doesn’t need to beg for attention.

And here’s the part that should excite you: you don’t need to be a global brand to do this. In fact, smaller brands often win faster because they’re closer to the ground. They’re closer to real people. They’re not filtered through committees.

Culture moves locally first. Always has.

The neighborhood spot with the line out the door didn’t build that with a funnel deck. They built it by being the place people talk about.

That’s culture. That’s demand.

So What Should You Do Tomorrow?

Don’t “build a funnel.”

Build a point of view.

…Speak like a human.
…Pick a side.
…Name the real problem.
…Show proof.
…Make the next step obvious.

Stop treating marketing like an academic discipline designed to impress other marketers. Treat it like what it is: communication that moves people.

Because you’re not building a rocket. You’re building belief.

And belief is built through culture, not charts.

The next time someone tries to sell you a funnel like it’s a secret map through an unknown landscape, you can look them in the eye and say, politely:

“Oh ok Cool. But do you understand my audience? Can you make them feel something? Can you make them care?”

If they can’t, no funnel on earth is going to save the campaign.

If they can, the funnel becomes simple—because the hard part is already done.

Culture funnels win.

Not because funnels are useless.
Because culture is the thing people actually follow.

And if you want your marketing to win in 2026, stop worshipping the diagram.

Start earning attention like you mean it.