The Pinball Customer Journey Has Replaced the Marketing Funnel – SparkToro

11/25/25
Source: SparkToro by Rand Fishkin. Read the original article

TL;DR Summary of Why the Marketing Funnel is Broken and What to Use Instead

The traditional marketing funnel no longer accurately represents how customers engage with brands. Modern customer journeys resemble a pinball machine, bouncing between multiple channels like social media, newsletters, AI tools, and peer conversations. To succeed, marketers must deliver targeted messages across all these touchpoints instead of relying on a linear funnel approach.

Optimixed’s Overview: Embracing the Pinball Model to Reflect Modern Customer Journeys

The Demise of the Linear Marketing Funnel

While the marketing funnel has long served as a useful analogy for customer acquisition—from awareness through consideration to purchase—it fails to capture the complexity of real-world interactions today. Customers no longer move through a straightforward path but rather bounce unpredictably between various digital and offline channels.

How the Pinball Analogy Better Captures Consumer Behavior

  • Customers start their journey in diverse places: WhatsApp groups, newsletters, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, Google searches, and AI assistants.
  • They constantly jump back and forth between these channels, verifying information and seeking opinions from multiple sources before deciding.
  • Even at the final purchase stage, consumers revisit earlier channels to confirm choices, making the journey nonlinear and multi-directional.

Practical Implications for Marketers

Marketers must adapt by:

  • Identifying where their target audience spends time—from niche newsletters to social platforms and forums.
  • Delivering consistent, relevant messaging tailored to the unique interests and concerns of their audience segments.
  • Maintaining presence across multiple channels to influence the consumer wherever they bounce during their decision-making process.

Example: Choosing a Bank in a Pinball Journey

In the example of a consumer searching for a bank, the journey might include:

  • Discovering recommendations via a Substack newsletter.
  • Checking rates on multiple websites like Bankrate and the bank’s official site.
  • Reading reviews and ratings on Google Maps.
  • Asking friends through direct messages.
  • Exploring social media discussions on Reddit and LinkedIn.

This back-and-forth illustrates how the pinball model reflects the complex, multitouch customer journey far better than a simple funnel.

Conclusion

The future of marketing lies in recognizing and embracing nonlinear, multi-channel customer journeys. By moving away from outdated funnel thinking and towards the pinball machine metaphor, brands can better allocate resources and craft messages that resonate across the diverse platforms their customers actually use.