Marketing Funnel: The Mental Model Behind All Great Marketing Analytics

If you want to break into marketing analytics, growth, CRO, or experimentation, this is the mental model you need to master first:

The Marketing Funnel.

Why? Because everything you work on—landing pages, ad performance, email flows, A/B tests—only makes sense in the context of where it fits in the funnel. Without it, you're just optimizing in the dark.

The funnel gives structure to the chaos of user behavior. It connects traffic to revenue. It makes business questions measurable.

In this guide, we’ll break down:

What the funnel is, and why it matters

Every stage from Awareness to Expansion, explained

How marketing and sales funnels work together

Key metrics and analyst responsibilities at each stage

A glossary of must-know terms used in real teams

What Is a Marketing Funnel?

The funnel is a simplified map of how people move from total strangers to loyal customers (and beyond).

At the top, people are just becoming aware of your brand. By the bottom, they’ve made a purchase—or become evangelists.

It's called a funnel because it narrows: many people will visit your site or see an ad, but only a fraction will convert, and fewer will become long-term customers.

As a marketing analyst or growth professional, your job is to:

• Track how people move through each stage
• Spot drop-offs or friction
• Recommend experiments, optimizations, or strategies that improve flow

The Full Funnel: 7 Core Stages You Need to Understand

1. Awareness

This is the moment a potential customer first discovers you exist.

• They see a paid ad
• They hear about you on a podcast
• They read a social post or blog

Goal: Put your brand in front of the right people.

You care about: Impressions, reach, CPM, branded search volume, engagement rate.

2. Acquisition

Now they’ve taken the first step: they visit your site, click an ad, engage with content, or follow you.

Goal: Get them to engage or show intent.

You care about: Click-through rate (CTR), bounce rate, time on site, session count, cost-per-click (CPC), new user acquisition.

3. Activation

They take a meaningful first action. This could be:

• Signing up
• Starting a free trial
• Creating an account
• Submitting a form

This is where interest becomes intent.

Goal: Deliver value quickly and guide them to the next step.

You care about: Conversion rate (CVR), form completion rate, trial-to-signup %, time to activation.

4. Consideration

Now they’re evaluating. They’re comparing you to alternatives. They might:

• Schedule a sales call
• Review a case study
• Ask a teammate for input
• Visit your pricing page multiple times

Goal: Build trust, demonstrate value, reduce doubt.

You care about: Return visits, demo requests, repeat sessions, email open rate, content engagement.

5. Conversion (Purchase)

They decide. They buy. They subscribe. They convert.

Goal: Turn intent into action.

You care about: Sales volume, cost-per-acquisition (CPA), funnel conversion %, revenue per user.

6. Retention

A customer becomes a repeat user. They stick around. They use the product often and don’t churn.

Goal: Deliver value consistently.

You care about: Retention rate, DAU/MAU, churn rate, support tickets, NPS (Net Promoter Score).

7. Expansion

The customer doesn’t just stay—they grow with you. They may:

• Refer others
• Upgrade to a premium plan
• Expand their team’s usage
• Buy add-ons

Goal: Increase LTV and turn customers into advocates.

You care about: Expansion revenue, referral rate, upsell %, customer lifetime value (LTV).

Where Sales Comes In: The Marketing-to-Sales Funnel Handoff

In most companies—especially in B2B or high-ticket sales—marketing and sales work hand-in-hand. The marketing team warms up leads, and the sales team converts them.

This collaboration usually kicks in between the Activation and Consideration stages.

Here’s how companies commonly define the handoff points—and what each stage actually means:

Lead

Someone who has submitted a form, subscribed, or signed up.

They’ve raised their hand but haven’t been evaluated yet.

MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)

A lead that meets basic criteria set by marketing:

• Fits your ideal customer profile (ICP)
• Shows buying intent (e.g. visited pricing page, downloaded whitepaper, returned 3+ times)

Marketing’s job is to generate MQLs—people worth passing to sales.

SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)

A sales rep has reviewed the lead and agrees they’re worth pursuing.

They’ve met a more specific checklist:

• Budget
• Authority
• Need
• Timeline (known as BANT)

This is where the real 1:1 selling begins.

Opportunity

A qualified lead who is actively in the sales process.

A deal is being worked. Proposals are being exchanged. Demos are being done.

Opportunities are tracked in CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Close.com.

Closed Won

The deal is done. Money is in the bank. The lead becomes a paying customer.

Closed Lost

The deal didn’t close. Either the prospect said no, ghosted, or chose another vendor.

Why This Handoff Matters for You (as an Analyst or Marketer)

• These labels drive revenue forecasts, reporting, and strategy
• Understanding the pipeline helps you analyze what’s working—and what isn’t
• You can track how marketing campaigns lead to revenue, not just leads
• You’ll work better with sales by speaking their language

Your dashboards and insights become 10x more valuable when you can connect the dots from campaign → lead → MQL → SQL → Closed Won.

Dictionary: Funnel Terms You’ll Hear In the Wild

• TOFU (Top of Funnel): Awareness and acquisition stages
• MOFU (Middle of Funnel): Activation and consideration stages
• BOFU (Bottom of Funnel): Conversion and sales engagement
• ICP (Ideal Customer Profile): A detailed description of your best-fit customer
• MQL: A lead that fits your ICP and shows interest
• SQL: A vetted lead that sales has agreed to pursue
• Opportunity: An active sales deal in progress
• LTV: Lifetime Value — how much revenue a customer generates over time
• CAC: Customer Acquisition Cost — how much it costs to acquire a new customer
• ROAS: Return on Ad Spend — revenue generated per dollar spent on ads
• NPS: Net Promoter Score — a loyalty metric based on how likely a user is to refer you

Final Thoughts

The funnel isn’t just a diagram—it’s the blueprint for every growth system.

When you understand it, you:

• Ask better questions
• Run smarter experiments
• Tell clearer stories with data
• Build dashboards that leaders care about
• Spot bottlenecks and opportunities before others do

If you’re starting a career in marketing analytics, this is the mental model that ties everything together.

Master it. Speak it. Use it.

If this was helpful, subscribe to Experimentation Career for more career-building breakdowns like this.

Any questions or suggestions? leave a comment or reply below:

Let’s build your career—one insight at a time.

—Atticus

🤝 Connect with me on LinkedIn to swap ideas.