Marketing Is Moving Back Up the Funnel. But It Looks Different This Time.

For years, marketers have been focused on one question: How do we reach people when they are ready to buy?

And we got really good at it.

Search put brands in front of people actively looking for an answer. SEO helped businesses become easier to find. Paid media allowed us to target people based on their interests and intent. Social media created even more opportunities to reach the right audience at the right time.

Marketing moved closer to the bottom of the funnel, where intent was high, results were measurable, and leads were easier to connect to an investment.

But something is changing.

The way people discover, research, and ultimately choose a brand is becoming more fragmented. Search behavior is evolving. AI is changing how people find answers. Recommendations, streaming content, social platforms, online communities, traditional media, and real-world interactions are all influencing what people know and which brands they consider.

So, what happens if your marketing strategy is built primarily around waiting for someone to start looking?

You may be entering the conversation too late. That’s why the top of the funnel matters again.

How Marketing Moved Down the Funnel

Over the past three decades, we’ve watched marketing swing from broad awareness to increasingly precise demand capture. Now, we’re seeing the conversation begin to shift again.

For years, much of marketing was focused on creating awareness and familiarity long before someone was ready to make a purchase.

Then digital gave marketers better ways to reach people who were already showing intent. A search could become a click. A click could become a website visit. A website visit could become a lead.

That visibility was powerful.

When budgets were questioned, marketers could point to tangible results. We could optimize campaigns based on performance and invest more in the tactics generating action. So naturally, our attention shifted further down the funnel.

There was a good reason for that shift. But over time, capturing existing demand became a much bigger part of the strategy than creating it.

Someone still has to know your brand exists before they can choose it. And if most of your investment is focused on reaching people who are already in the market, you’re competing for attention at the same moment everyone else is.

That’s where creating demand at the top of the funnel becomes important again.

The Top of the Funnel Looks Different Today

Putting more emphasis back at the top doesn’t mean returning to the marketing strategies of 30 years ago.

The media landscape has changed too.

Broadcast television and radio still give brands opportunities to reach large audiences. But they now sit alongside streaming video, CTV, streaming audio, digital out-of-home, podcasts, sponsorships, PR, social video, and other channels that can introduce a brand before someone is actively looking for it.

Many of those channels give marketers capabilities they didn’t have decades ago.

Integration is what makes today’s top-of funnel marketing especially powerful.

Broadcast television still provides broad reach and visibility.  But unlike 30 years ago, marketers can now have more ways to evaluate its impact, including changes in branded search, direct and organic website traffic, and other measurable audience actions. CTV complements broadcast by combining the storytelling power and visibility of television with more precise audience targeting and greater insight into what happens after someone sees an ad.

Traditional radio and streaming audio can reach audiences throughout the day in different but complementary ways.  Radio personalities can also extend a campaign beyond the airwaves through social media, influencer content, community involvement, and live events creating stronger connections between a brand and the audiences it wants to reach.

Digital out-of-home, podcast, sponsorships, PR, social video and other channels can add even more precision and reinforcement.  When these channels are integrated around one strategy, each one strengthens the other.

That changes the conversation around awareness marketing.

The choice is no longer simply between broad reach at the top of the funnel and measurable performance at the bottom. Marketers have more opportunities to build awareness with the right audiences while still gaining insight into how that exposure contributes to results.

We’re not returning to the top of the funnel marketing of decades ago. Instead, we are bringing what we have learned from digital marketing with us.

Being Known Before Someone Starts Looking

Think about how you discovered the last brand you tried.

Maybe you searched for exactly what you needed. But maybe a friend mentioned it. You saw a commercial while streaming your favorite show. Heard an ad on the radio. Or came across the brand several times before you ever thought about buying from them.

Those moments matter because customers don’t have to be actively shopping to start forming an opinion about a brand.

Someone may have no need for what you offer today, but when that need arises six months from now, they aren’t necessarily starting with a blank slate.

They may already recognize your name, remember seeing your commercial, hear someone mention you, or have driven past your location dozens of times.

That familiarity can influence where they start looking and which brands make it into consideration.

Top of the funnel marketing isn’t about convincing everyone who sees an ad to buy something immediately. It’s about building enough awareness that when the right person eventually has a need, your brand has a chance to come to mind.

Measurement Has Evolved Too

One of the biggest advantages of today’s top-of-the-funnel marketing is that awareness and accountability don’t have to be opposites.

Modern media gives marketers more insight into what happens after someone is exposed to a message.

Streaming and CTV campaigns can provide data that helps connect exposure with later website activity or conversions. Digital platforms can measure engagement. Search trends can show changes in branded interest. Different channels and technologies provide different levels of visibility, but marketers have far more information available than they did decades ago.

That doesn’t mean every influence will fit neatly into an attribution report.

Someone may see your Broadcast TV ad, hear your name from a friend two weeks later, drive past a billboard, and eventually search for your company when they’re ready to act.

Search may get credit for the conversion, but it wasn’t necessarily what created the interest.

The goal isn’t to stop measuring. It’s to understand what the measurement is telling you and recognize that the final action may be the result of multiple interactions working together.

It’s Time to Rebalance the Funnel

Putting more focus at the top doesn’t mean taking your foot off the bottom.

When someone searches for what you provide, you still want to be there. Your website still needs to perform. SEO, paid search, social, and conversion tactics still have important roles to play.

But those tactics can work even harder when people arrive already knowing something about you.

When someone recognizes your name from a TV ad, radio spot, streaming ad, sponsorship, or another earlier interaction, your brand isn’t starting from zero when they eventually search. That familiarity can help you stand out among all the other options competing for their attention.

That’s why the opportunity isn’t choosing between brand awareness and performance marketing. It’s connecting them.

Marketers should be looking across the entire funnel and asking:

Where are people first discovering our brand?

Are we reaching potential customers before they enter the market?

Are we building enough familiarity that our name means something when they finally have a need?

And when they do start looking, have we made it easy for them to find us and take the next step?

The funnel didn’t stop working. We simply became very focused on one end of it. Now it’s time to bring the entire funnel back into the strategy.

Create the Demand You Want to Capture

Marketing spent years getting better at reaching people who were ready to act.

We shouldn’t lose that.

But we also can’t build a strategy around waiting for customers to come looking.

Today’s media landscape gives brands more ways to reach the right audiences earlier, build familiarity over time, and gain insight into what happens after that exposure.

That makes the return to the top of the funnel less about going backward and more about bringing the best of both eras together.

Build awareness before the need. Be there when the need arises. And make sure the demand you want to capture tomorrow is being created today.