What is a funnel used for? Discover how to drive predictable growth

At its most basic level, a funnel is simply a system for turning broad audience attention into a specific, valuable action. It’s a predictable and repeatable process that guides a potential customer from the moment they first hear about you—maybe at an event where you're speaking—all the way to becoming a paying client or loyal fan.

What Is a Funnel and Why Is It Essential for Growth

Think about a real-world funnel you'd use in your kitchen to pour liquid into a bottle with a narrow opening. A business funnel operates on the exact same principle, only it's designed to channel widespread interest into a focused, measurable result. Without this kind of structured system, businesses often see the engagement they generate from marketing campaigns or live talks just fizzle out.

A well-built funnel gives your audience a clear path to follow. It lays out each step of their journey, taking the guesswork out of how you turn interest into actual leads and sales. This is absolutely critical for speakers, coaches, and consultants who rely on events and presentations to fill their pipeline.

Turning Attention Into Action

The main job of a funnel is to create a predictable path for people to follow. This strategic model lets you understand and improve the customer's journey, making sure the attention you work so hard to capture doesn't just vanish when your presentation is over.

To really get a feel for a funnel’s importance, it helps to see how to build a marketing funnel that actually works. The end game is always converting that attention into revenue, and the statistics show there's a huge opportunity for improvement.

In the B2B world, where sales cycles are longer and more people are involved in a buying decision, a funnel is indispensable. You can get a much deeper look into this at our guide here: https://speakerstacks.com/resources/marketing-funnel-b-2-b.

Consider this: the average sales funnel converts visitors to customers at a rate of only 2.35–2.9%. But the top performers in any industry are seeing rates over 5–6.6%. That means a properly optimized funnel can quite literally double your results.

A funnel is what takes you from hoping for results to having a reliable system for achieving them. For every single person who shows interest in what you do, it answers the all-important question: "Okay, what's next?"

Ultimately, a funnel brings clarity and predictability to your growth efforts. It gives you a direct line of sight into what’s working, what isn’t, and where you need to focus your energy.

2. Understanding the Core Stages of a Customer Journey

So, what's a funnel really for? At its heart, it’s a framework for guiding someone through a natural journey. Think about it—nobody goes from being a complete stranger to a die-hard fan in one leap. They move through a series of predictable stages, and a well-built funnel is designed to support them every step of the way.

If you ignore this natural progression, you end up asking for the sale before you've even properly introduced yourself. It's awkward, ineffective, and feels pushy. A great funnel, on the other hand, meets people exactly where they are and gives them a clear, gentle nudge toward the next logical step.

Awareness: Making a First Impression

This is the very top of your funnel, or the "ToFu" stage, as marketers often call it. Your only goal here is to get on someone's radar. Before anyone can even think about buying from you or booking you for a speaking gig, they have to know you exist in the first place.

This isn't just about blasting your message out and hoping for high impression counts. It’s about making a genuine connection that causes someone to stop scrolling through their feed or lean forward during your talk and think, "Huh, that's interesting." Awareness is sparked when a potential customer realizes they have a problem and simultaneously discovers you might have the solution.

Interest and Consideration: The Evaluation Phase

Once you’ve captured their attention, the real work begins. We're now in the middle of the funnel, where passive awareness shifts into active evaluation. People are no longer just listening; they're actively digging for more information to decide if you're the right fit for them.

This is a make-or-break moment. For a speaker, this is when an audience member pulls out their phone to scan a QR code on your slide. They’re willing to trade their email address for a valuable resource you're offering. That simple action is a huge signal—it shows they’re engaged and have moved from being an anonymous face in the crowd to a real, tangible lead.

During the consideration stage, they'll start comparing you to other options out there. They might be:

• Reading your case studies to see proof that you've helped people just like them.
• Watching a webinar or product demo to see your ideas or solutions in action.
• Subscribing to your newsletter because they want more of your expertise to build their trust.

Conversion and Loyalty: The Final Steps

The bottom of the funnel is where the magic happens. Conversion is that key moment when a prospect takes the specific action you’ve been guiding them toward. This could be anything from buying a course, booking a discovery call, or signing up for a membership. It’s the direct result of all the value you’ve provided and the trust you've built.

But the journey doesn't stop at the first sale. The ultimate prize is Loyalty.

A funnel isn't just a machine for one-time transactions; it’s a system for building lasting relationships. This is how you turn a one-time customer into a repeat buyer and a vocal advocate for your brand.

This final stage is all about delivering an amazing experience, maintaining communication, and consistently exceeding expectations. A loyal customer doesn't just buy from you again—they become a referral engine, sending new people straight to the top of your funnel and creating a powerful, self-sustaining cycle of growth.

To really nail this down, it helps to see how each stage connects to the customer's mindset and the actions you can take.

The Five Stages of a Customer Journey Funnel

1. Awareness

• Customer's Goal: "I have a problem, and I'm looking for answers."
• Example Business Activities: A speaker gives a keynote, a blog post ranks on Google, a social media ad appears in a feed.

2. Interest

• Customer's Goal: "This solution looks promising. I want to learn more."
• Example Business Activities: Downloading a free e-book, signing up for a newsletter, following on social media.

3. Consideration

• Customer's Goal: "Is this the best option for me? Let me compare."
• Example Business Activities: Watching a detailed webinar, reading case studies, checking out online reviews and testimonials.

4. Conversion

• Customer's Goal: "I'm ready to commit. Let's do this."
• Example Business Activities: Purchasing a product, booking a sales call, signing up for a paid service.

5. Loyalty

• Customer's Goal: "I love this! I'll buy again and tell my friends."
• Example Business Activities: Joining a customer community, receiving exclusive offers, participating in a referral program.

By mapping your activities to these five distinct stages, you can create a seamless experience that feels helpful and intuitive, rather than like a hard sell. This is the foundation of every successful funnel.

Exploring Different Types of Business Funnels

A funnel isn't some rigid, one-size-fits-all contraption. It’s better to think of it as a flexible blueprint you can adapt for very specific business goals. While the core idea of guiding someone along a path always stays the same, what that path looks like—and where it ultimately leads—can vary wildly depending on what you're trying to achieve.

Getting a handle on these different types is crucial for understanding how a funnel works in the real world. Let's dig into three of the most common funnels that businesses, especially those built around speaking and events, rely on every day.

The Classic Sales Funnel

When people talk about funnels, this is usually the one they mean. The sales funnel has one clear, direct purpose: to convert a genuinely interested prospect into a paying customer. It's all about the final stages of the customer journey, often taking over right where the marketing team's work ends.

The main job here is to manage the hands-on interactions that lead to a signed deal. We're talking about things like product demos, discovery calls, sending proposals, and negotiating contracts. If you're a coach or consultant, this is the process that kicks off the moment an attendee from your talk books a call to discuss hiring you.

The Broader Marketing Funnel

While a sales funnel zooms in on closing the deal, a marketing funnel takes a much wider view. Its primary mission is to build awareness and cultivate relationships with a large audience, slowly warming them up until they’re genuinely ready for a sales conversation.

This type of funnel is all about education and earning trust over time. The actions you're encouraging people to take are usually low-commitment first steps, like:

• Subscribing to your newsletter for regular tips and insights.
• Downloading a free e-book or case study to solve a specific problem.
• Registering for a webinar to see your expertise live.

A marketing funnel essentially casts a wide net to capture potential interest. It then filters and nurtures those leads so that only the most qualified and engaged people move on to the next stage.

This is where you see the core stages of Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion come to life, forming the backbone of the entire customer journey.

As the diagram shows, each stage requires a different approach to guide someone from just learning about you to making a final decision.

The Specialized Event Funnel

For speakers, presenters, and anyone in field marketing, the event funnel is a uniquely powerful tool. Its purpose is to take the fleeting attention of an audience—whether live or virtual—and turn it into tangible, measurable leads within a very tight timeframe. The biggest challenge is converting passive listeners into active participants, right then and there.

The magic of an event funnel is its ability to bridge the gap between the stage and your sales pipeline. It transforms a one-to-many presentation into a series of one-to-one conversations.

Picture a speaker who ends their talk by putting a simple QR code on the final slide. An audience member scans it and lands on a page where they can get the presentation slides in exchange for their email. With that single, seamless action, they've gone from an anonymous face in the crowd to a known lead. This immediately kicks off a follow-up sequence, giving you a direct and powerful way to capitalize on the energy you just created in the room.

How to Build a High-Converting Event Funnel

Alright, enough with the theory—let's get practical. For speakers, an event funnel is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. It’s how you capture the energy and attention of a live audience and channel it into a tangible stream of qualified leads. It directly answers "what is a funnel used for?" by creating a measurable path from your talk to your business goals.

The good news? It doesn't have to be some complex, technical nightmare. The whole point is to create a dead-simple, seamless experience that makes it a no-brainer for someone in the audience to take that next step with you.

Here’s a breakdown of the five core steps to build an event funnel that actually works.

1. Define a Clear Goal for Your Talk

Before you even think about your slide design or what stories you'll tell, you have to know what you want to achieve. What’s the single most important action you want someone to take after hearing you speak?

This goal is the foundation of your entire funnel. Are you trying to grow your email list? Book discovery calls? Drive sign-ups for a product trial?

Everything else flows from this decision. If you want to book demos, your call to action will be completely different than if you're just looking for newsletter subscribers. You have to start with the end in mind; it ensures every piece of your presentation and your funnel is pulling in the same direction.

2. Create a Compelling Offer

Let's be honest, people in the audience need a good reason to pull out their phones and do something. Your offer is that reason. It's the irresistible hook that makes them act right now. For it to work, it has to be highly relevant to your talk and deliver immediate value.

Think about offering something genuinely useful, like:

• The presentation slides in a clean PDF format.
• A bonus checklist or template they can use to apply what you just taught.
• An exclusive case study that proves your concepts work in the real world.
• A free consultation or strategy session for a handful of qualified attendees.

The key is to offer something they can't just find on your website. This exclusive resource is the value exchange for their contact information, and it's what pulls them into the top of your funnel.

3. Set Up Your Landing Page and QR Code

This is the digital front door to your funnel. You need a simple, mobile-friendly landing page with one clear job to do. This is exactly what platforms like SpeakerStacks are built for—letting you create a branded page with its own unique QR code in minutes.

Keep the page focused. A sharp headline, a quick reminder of what they're getting, and a simple form. Seriously, just ask for a name and email to keep the friction as low as possible. This is the page your QR code will send people to, making the jump from their seat to your sign-up form feel instant. You can find a more detailed guide on making a funnel that walks you through this setup.

4. Integrate the QR Code Into Your Presentation

Now it’s time to bridge the gap between your physical stage and your digital funnel. The easiest way is to put your QR code on a slide and show it at just the right moment. You might introduce it at the beginning ("If you want these slides, scan this now"), drop it in the middle to reinforce a key point, or use it as your big call to action at the end.

Don't just stick it in the corner of a busy slide. Give it its own slide so it's big, clear, and easy to scan. And don't forget to tell people what to do. A simple, "If you want my bonus checklist that walks through this entire process, just pull out your phone and scan the QR code on the screen" is all it takes.

5. Design an Automated Follow-Up Sequence

Getting someone's email is just the start. The real magic of a funnel happens in the follow-up, and you need to automate it. A simple email sequence can start building a relationship the moment they hit "submit."

Here’s a basic sequence that works wonders:

1. Email 1 (Immediate): Delivers the promised resource. This has to be instant.
2. Email 2 (2 Days Later): Shares a related tip, a short story, or another piece of value.
3. Email 3 (4 Days Later): Asks a simple question to encourage a reply and start a conversation.
4. Email 4 (7 Days Later): Gently introduces your main offer (like booking a call or checking out your course).

This automated nurturing keeps the momentum going long after you've left the stage, guiding new leads toward your ultimate goal without you having to lift a finger for each one. If you want a more in-depth look at building out the entire system, check out this guide on how to create a sales funnel.

Measuring Funnel Success with Key Metrics

A funnel without measurement is just a good idea. To really understand what a funnel is used for, you have to track its performance. This is the difference between guessing what works and making smart, data-driven decisions that actually grow your business.

For speakers, this is non-negotiable. Metrics are what connect your time on stage to real business results. They show you the financial impact of every keynote, webinar, or breakout session you deliver. It’s how you know for sure if your funnel is a powerful growth engine or just a leaky bucket.

Defining Your Core Funnel Metrics

You don't need a massive, overwhelming dashboard to get started. Just focus on a few key numbers that tell the most important parts of the story. These metrics will help you pinpoint what’s working, what’s not, and the overall health of your system.

Here are the foundational metrics every speaker and event marketer should have on their radar:

• Conversion Rate: This is simply the percentage of people who take the action you want them to take. If you’re at an event, what percentage of the audience scanned your QR code to download your slides? That's a conversion rate.
• Cost Per Lead (CPL): This tells you exactly how much you spent to get one new lead into your funnel. For a speaking gig, you’d add up all your costs—travel, fees, materials—and divide it by the number of qualified leads you generated.
• Return on Investment (ROI): This is the bottom line. ROI answers the most important question: for every dollar you put into this funnel, how many dollars did you get back?

These three numbers are your new best friends. For a deeper dive into these and other key figures, check out our complete guide on essential sales funnel metrics.

Connecting Metrics to Business Growth

One of the most powerful uses for a funnel is finally being able to measure the ROI from channels like conferences and keynotes—areas that, for too long, have been run on gut feelings. The stats don't lie. Businesses that use a structured sales funnel see average deal sizes that are 102% higher than those who don't. And companies with a well-oiled funnel experience revenue growth up to 18× greater than their peers.

Despite this, an estimated 68% of companies still don't properly define or measure their sales funnel. You can discover more insights on these sales funnel statistics to see the full picture.

Measuring your funnel isn’t about collecting data for the sake of it; it's about asking better questions. You stop wondering, "Did the audience like my talk?" and start asking, "How many qualified leads did my talk produce, and what was our cost per lead?"

This shift is what separates the pros from the amateurs. It turns your speaking from a "brand awareness" activity into a predictable, scalable source of revenue. With tools like SpeakerStacks, this tracking can be automated, giving you a real-time view of the ROI from every single event and proving the direct link between your stage time and your bottom line.

Practical Ways to Optimize Your Funnel Performance

Getting your funnel built is a great first step, but the real magic happens in the fine-tuning. A funnel isn't something you can just set and forget; think of it as a living system that needs regular attention to perform at its best. Optimization is what separates a good funnel from a great one, ensuring you squeeze every bit of value out of your audience's attention.

You'd be surprised how small, intentional tweaks can create massive shifts in your results. It's really about adopting a mindset of continuous testing and learning. If you pay close attention to how people are behaving and what they're telling you, you can start methodically smoothing out the bumps and making your funnel work harder for you.

Adopt an A/B Testing Mindset

If there's one strategy to master, it's A/B testing. You might also hear it called split testing. The idea is simple: create two different versions of a single element—a headline, a button, an image—and see which one your audience responds to better. This takes all the guesswork out of the equation.

Not sure where to start? Focus on the most important parts first:

• Headlines: Try pitting a headline that highlights a specific benefit against one that sparks curiosity with a question.
• Calls to Action (CTAs): Does "Get the Slides" work better than "Download Now"? You won't know until you test it.
• Form Fields: See what happens if you only ask for an email address instead of a name and email. The results might surprise you.

Even a tiny lift in your conversion rate from one test can make a real difference. And when you stack those small wins on top of each other over time, they snowball into serious growth.

Simplify and Reduce Friction

Every click, every form field, every second someone has to wait—it's all friction. Your job is to make the journey through your funnel as smooth and easy as possible. A clunky or confusing process is the fastest way to lose someone who was genuinely interested.

Optimization is fundamentally an exercise in empathy. It’s about viewing the entire process from your audience’s perspective and removing every obstacle that stands in their way.

Always be on the lookout for ways to simplify. Can you get away with two form fields instead of five? Does your landing page load instantly on a phone? Making the experience seamless directly boosts the odds that someone will follow through.

Personalize Your Follow-Up Communications

When a new lead enters your funnel, the conversation has just started. Sending out generic, one-size-fits-all emails is a surefire way to get ignored. To build a real connection and guide that person toward your goal, you have to get personal.

Use what you know to make your communication feel relevant. For instance, if you just spoke at a marketing conference, pop the name of that event right into the subject line of your first email. That simple touch immediately reminds them who you are and why they should care. When you tailor your messages, you show you're paying attention, which is crucial for building the trust you need to take the relationship to the next level.

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Turning audience attention into a predictable pipeline is what SpeakerStacks was built for. Create your first high-converting event funnel in minutes and see the ROI from your next speaking engagement. Start turning your presentations into performance with SpeakerStacks.