Talk:Purchase funnel

Talk
I do not believe the purchasing funnel should be merged with the conversion funnel

The purchasing funnel builds off of AIDA principles. The conversion funnel is just that, the process of conversion from a digital perspective. The conversion funnel is a subset of the purchasing funnel which falls under the overall "Consumer Decision Journey," posted in McKinsey Quarterly, June 2009. Or the new study and ebook from Google titled, "Winning the Zero Moment of Truth"


 * It is not easy to take unsigned (anonymous) opinions seriously. Please sign contributions on Talk pages by ending them with four tildes. David Spector (talk) 13:56, 13 March 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree with the original poster, these two pages should remain separate. After three years of inaction I have been bold and removed the merge banners, providing See also links between the two pages instead. -- EdJogg (talk) 16:45, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

Why not sales funnel?
Google hits (verbatim): "purchase funnel" - 583,000 "sales funnel" - 9,770,000

Origin of the term "funnel" in a marketing context?
I've been in marketing circles for decades and only recently have I heard the word "funnel" used as it is today. From a bit of researching, I understand it's been around for awhile, possibly coined by William W. Townsend in 1924, as stated in this article. But I've never heard it used so sweepingly as now, mainly in an endless flow of marketing "courses" touted on Facebook. I find a contemporary reference dated 2014 (Harvard Business Review), but will be surprised if I find many or any uses of the term before that ... except maybe in an MBA syllabus. And, of course, Wikipedia articles, which seem to date back to 2009 (Marketing Funnel or Purchase Funnel).

As for E. St. Elmo Lewis, I see no indication that he ever used the term. The word "funnel" doesn't even appear in the Wikipedia article about him.

So, was Townsend the the first to apply "funnel" to the sales process (except for casual use of the verb). And Did E. St. Elmo Lewis use it, or even the AIDA acronym?

Currently, the article isn't entirely clear. Eplater (talk) 08:54, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

WP:SPLIT
I propose we split the current "Purchase Funnel" article into two separate articles: one for "Purchase Funnel" and one for "Marketing Funnel."

The term "Marketing Funnel" encompasses a broader range of stages and strategies that extend beyond the purchase stage to include post-sales stages, creating a continuous generation loop. While the purchase funnel focuses primarily on the journey leading to a purchase decision, the marketing funnel includes additional stages like post-purchase engagement.

I believe this split will help clarify the differences between these concepts and provide more detailed information for readers interested in the broader aspects of marketing.

CatherineGason (talk) 03:21, 15 July 2024 (UTC)