Digital marketing funnels

Paid and organic funnel mechanics, and how to tell which channel is actually producing customers.

The measurement problem

Attribution is imperfect and will stay imperfect. That does not excuse having no model at all. The practical approach is to measure the funnel from first touch to revenue and accept a margin of error, rather than optimising individual channels in isolation.

Organic and paid are not alternatives

How they interact

• Paid buys you data about which messages resonate
• Organic compounds the messages that worked
• Branded search volume is a lagging indicator of both
• Retargeting based on content engagement usually beats broad retargeting

Where to start

Instrument the funnel before deciding anything. See marketing funnel and conversion optimisation.