Why You Need Both a Marketing Funnel and a Sales Funnel (And What Happens If You Don’t)
In my career, I have run marketing organizations at a number of fairly large businesses. In that capacity, my CEO and CFO always asked me for conversion rates to specific deals and how we contributed. It usually came in the form of a question such as, “So what’s the conversion rate from your email campaign to closed deals?”
It was a fair question—but it skipped a few steps. My job wasn’t to close deals. My job was to make sure we had an audience ready to talk to sales in the first place. And it was not about one specific email that was sent, it was about the total marketing effort we put in to get the person ready to buy.
That’s where a lot of confusion begins: people treat the marketing funnel and the sales funnel like they’re the same thing. Spoiler—they’re not. And if you’re a small business owner trying to do it all, mixing the two can lead to a frustrating revenue roller coaster.
Let’s break it down.
The Marketing Funnel: Build Awareness and Trust
The marketing funnel is where the relationship starts. It’s designed to:
- Generate awareness – Getting people to know you exist.
- Educate and build trust – Helping them understand the problem you solve and why you’re uniquely suited to solve it.
- Nurture curiosity – Making sure you stay top of mind until they’re ready to take action.
This is also often referred to as Awareness – Interest – Desire – Action (AIDA). Think of this funnel as a stage. You’re not asking the audience to buy tickets—they’re already here. Your job is to deliver a show so good they want to come back, bring friends, and eventually visit the merch table.
This is where content, email newsletters, social media, events, and paid ads come in. Not to close the sale, but to warm the room.
The Sales Funnel: Solve a Specific Problem
Once someone raises their hand—downloads a guide, fills out a contact form, books a demo— or much more accurately displays enough interest that we know that an action is close, that’s when the sales funnel kicks in. It’s about:
- Qualifying the lead – Is this person a good fit?
- Identifying pain points – What problem are they really trying to solve?
- Demonstrating fit – How exactly does your product or service help?
- Closing the deal – Negotiating, answering objections, and finalizing terms.
In short: the sales funnel is where you move from general interest to specific action.
The Problem: When You Skip the Marketing Funnel
Here’s where a lot of small business owners get stuck. They live entirely in the sales funnel.
One week they’re closing deals like crazy. The next, silence. Then it’s back to cold calling, scrambling for referrals, or begging people to “book now before the end of the month!”
That’s the revenue roller coaster. No steady flow of warm leads = no predictable income.
Why? Because they’re always harvesting without ever planting. Without a marketing funnel, there’s no system to consistently attract and nurture new prospects. Every month starts from zero.
The Fix: Align the Two Funnels
The most successful businesses I’ve worked with—big and small—had both funnels running in tandem:
- Marketing keeps the brand visible and top of mind, feeding the pipeline.
- Sales engages when the prospect is ready, guiding them to a confident “yes.”
Even if you’re a solo founder or running a small shop, you can still build a simple marketing funnel. A weekly newsletter, helpful blog content, a lead magnet or two—these don’t require huge budgets, just consistency, authenticity and generosity.
And remember: if you only focus on the sales funnel, you’re asking people to buy before they know, like, or trust you. The marketing funnel makes the sales funnel work better.