Marketing funnels are dead. There, I said it.

Not dying. Not evolving. Dead. Like Google+, Microsoft Zune, and those horrific QR code restaurant menus from 2020.

If you're still organizing your marketing around a linear funnel in 2025, you're living in a fantasy world. The modern B2B buyer journey doesn't remotely resemble a funnel. It's more like quantum physics – complex, probabilistic, and impossible to directly observe without changing the outcome.

The Quantum Marketing Framework

Quantum marketing acknowledges that buyers exist in multiple states simultaneously. They might be both aware and unaware, considering and not considering, evaluating options while still defining the problem.

This isn't philosophical – it's practical. Instead of stages, quantum marketing focuses on two parallel states:

1. The Wave State: Emotional Resonance

The wave state focuses on creating broad resonance with your target audience. Unlike "awareness" in the funnel model, it exists to create emotional connection and pattern recognition through:

It's measured by sentiment, recall, and emotional response – not by impressions or reach.

2. The Particle State: Buying Facilitation

The particle state focuses on facilitating concrete buying actions once purchase intent emerges – which can happen at any time, often unpredictably. Key elements include:

It's measured by conversion efficiency, sales cycle velocity, and win rates.

Why This Is Revolutionary

The quantum approach is revolutionary because it acknowledges the reality of how B2B buying actually happens:

  1. Non-Linear Journeys: Buyers jump stages, skip touchpoints, and loop back unpredictably
  2. Multiple Stakeholders: Different people within the same organization follow different paths simultaneously
  3. Dark Social: Most buying activity happens outside your observable universe in private communities and conversations
  4. Shifting Criteria: Decision criteria morph mid-journey as new information emerges

Instead of fighting these realities, quantum marketing embraces them. It stops pretending we can force buyers through a predetermined path and instead builds systems to detect and respond to buying signals whenever and wherever they emerge.

Practical Implementation

Implementing quantum marketing requires four key components:

  1. Resonance Mapping: Identifying emotional and intellectual triggers that drive purchase consideration
  2. Signal Detection: Building sophisticated systems to detect purchase intent across all channels
  3. Response Orchestration: Creating immediate, contextually perfect responses to buying signals
  4. Continuous Recalibration: Constantly evolving your approach as market conditions shift

This approach is harder than traditional funnel marketing. It requires more sophisticated technology, more cross-functional collaboration, and more analytical horsepower.

But that's precisely why it works. In a market where every company has access to the same funnel tactics, playbooks, and optimization techniques, the old approach has reached diminishing returns.

Series A companies have a unique advantage here. Without legacy systems and processes to unwind, they can implement quantum marketing from the ground up, gaining immediate advantage over bigger competitors still trapped in funnel thinking.

The marketing funnel served us well for decades. But it's time to evolve. The quantum approach better reflects reality and delivers measurably better results. The only question is whether you'll be early to adopt it or play catch-up later.

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