funnels

A funnel is a conical device with a wide opening at the top that narrows to a stem at the bottom, designed to channel liquids, powders, or small items into containers with narrow openings. Funnels help prevent spills and waste and are made in various sizes and materials, including metal, plastic, and glass. Special variants are used in laboratories, kitchens, automotive settings, and industrial applications.

In business contexts, the term funnel describes the progression of potential customers from initial awareness to eventual purchase and post-purchase engagement. The metaphor reflects a large pool at the top narrowing through successive stages. Common models include the marketing funnel and the sales funnel, often described with stages such as awareness, interest, consideration, and purchase. Some frameworks use AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action). Modern variants may add retention, expansion, and advocacy.

Funnel analytics track how many prospects advance between stages, the rate of drop-off, and the time to convert. Key metrics include overall conversion rate, per-stage conversion, and lead-to-customer ratio. Teams optimize funnels through targeted content, landing pages, calls to action, email nurturing, and testing (A/B tests) to reduce friction and improve acquisition, activation, and retention. Analytics tools visualize funnels and support attribution across channels.

In computing and data processing, “funnel” is sometimes used metaphorically to describe narrowing data flows or processing pipelines, such as data ingestion funnels, but this usage is context-dependent and not standardized.