The Funnel Isn’t Dead... It Just Learned to Dance

I saw a post recently that claimed the traditional marketing funnel is dying and that Gen Z deserves the credit for its demise.

Instead, we now have what the creator called The Brand Vortex, a swirling, non-linear model where people don’t move through a straight funnel but instead orbit the brand at different levels of engagement. Some passively watch, some jump in for a trend, some co-create content, and a few become full-blown brand evangelists.

Now, I love a good metaphor as much as anyone (especially one that involves space and swirling things), but my immediate thought was, Isn’t this still a funnel?

I don’t mean a boring, rigid, 1999-era funnel. I mean a dynamic, modern, multi-entry-point funnel. Because, whether someone is meme-lurking or full-on buying, they’re still moving from not engaged to engaged. And at its core, that’s what the funnel is all about.

That thought didn’t come out of nowhere. It came from years of building and tweaking content strategies based on audience intent, something I dive into in this post on creating content that converts. The more I’ve worked with teams on aligning their content to what their audience is actually thinking at each point in their journey, the more it’s confirmed one truth:

Funnels still work. But only when your content works for how people actually behave now.

Naturally, I went down a rabbit hole of research to see where this whole “funnel is dead” idea comes from and what we’re actually seeing in marketing today.

A Quick History of the Sales Funnel (Or, Why Marketers Love Triangles)

The traditional sales funnel was first introduced in 1898 by a guy named E. St. Elmo Lewis. Yes, really. The same era as corsets and telegrams. He introduced the AIDA model:

Awareness
Interest
Desire
Action

It was meant to describe how consumers moved from first hearing about a product to making a purchase. It made sense back then; media was limited, sales were high-touch, and people didn’t have a hundred TikTok tabs open while deciding whether or not to buy a lip balm.

Over time, the funnel evolved. We added layers like consideration, evaluation, and loyalty. We started talking about flywheels (thanks, HubSpot) and customer journeys. But the core idea stayed the same: marketing and sales work best when you understand where someone is and give them the right message for that moment.

So Why Are People Saying It’s Dead?

Because, let’s be real: no one moves in a straight line anymore.

Here’s how buying decisions happen now:

You see a product in a meme.
Then you hear your favourite creator mention it.
Then someone in your group chat drops a link.
You ignore it for two weeks.
Then you buy it at 1 a.m. after watching a GRWM video and reading three Reddit threads.

There’s no clean A → B → C. People bounce in and out, loop around, and come back months later. And that’s what the Brand Vortex model is trying to capture. It’s messy. It’s emotional. It’s community-driven. And it makes sense, especially when you look at how Gen Z and younger millennials behave online.

But here’s the thing: just because the path is messy doesn’t mean the outcome isn’t the same.

The Funnel Didn’t Die... It Got Flexible

What we’re seeing isn’t the death of the funnel. It’s the death of assuming that everyone enters at the top and slides neatly down to a sale. The modern funnel is more like a bouncy castle than a slide. People jump in from all angles, and your job is to keep them inside long enough to move toward action.

Here’s how I see it:

Old Funnel	New Funnel
Linear, one-way path	Multi-entry, multi-exit journey
Controlled by brand	Co-created with audience
Needs high attention	Works with short bursts of attention
One CTA per stage	Layered, intent-based micro-CTAs
Built on broadcast content	Powered by community, creators, and social proof

So no, we’re not tossing the funnel out. We’re evolving it to match modern behaviour. Which means...

What Needs to Change? (Spoiler: Your Content)

This is where things get real. If the path is non-linear, your content can’t be one-size-fits-all. You need to:

Map content to intent, not just stage→ Someone can be “bottom-of-funnel” in terms of readiness to buy but still discovering you for the first time via a TikTok. You need messaging that speaks to that mix.
Design for re-entry→ Just because someone left your funnel doesn’t mean they’re gone. Give them reasons (and formats) to come back. Reels. Memes. A tweet that hits.
Create anchor content→ In a vortex, people need something to grab onto. That’s your hero content; the stuff that explains your value clearly and makes them say, “Okay, I get what this brand is about.”
Think ecosystem, not campaign→ You’re not building a linear drip campaign. You’re building a world people want to be in, one where they can engage at different depths and still feel seen.

Final Thoughts: The Funnel Still Works, If You Let It Flex

So yeah, the funnel’s not dead. It’s just doing yoga now.

It’s stretching in ways that older models didn’t allow. It’s looping, swirling, and doubling back. And if you want your marketing to work, you have to design your content to meet that reality.

Match your content to your audience’s intent. Respect the chaos. Make space for re-entry.

And don’t be afraid to build a funnel that spins.

Because, whether it’s a vortex, a flywheel, or a trampoline, the goal is the same: help people move toward a decision. And the content you create is still the thing that makes that happen.