Full funnel is having a moment. And that's a good thing.
Over the last 6 months, I'd estimate 80-90% of the accounts we've audited or reviewed are running some form of upper funnel media. That's up from maybe 30-40% in the 6-12 months prior. The industry is finally getting the memo that you can't performance market your way to sustained growth.
But I have bad news: of those 80-90%, roughly 95% are doing it wrong.
Most brands start by activating upper funnel in their core channels (Meta, Google). This is a totally fine, smart choice. The problem is the majority of their upper funnel dollars end up delivering in the lowest-visibility placements on the platform(s). High reach, sure. But terribly low impact.
Here's what I mean. Take the chart below from an account we looked at last week:
- 57% of upper funnel spend is going to "Other" placements (Audience Network, right column, Marketplace, etc.)
- Only 27% is going to Feed. Compare that to Conversion campaigns in the same account, where Feed gets 49% of spend.
Their BOF campaigns are getting MORE high-visibility placement share than their upper funnel campaigns. The campaigns that are supposed to be building memory structures and brand awareness are being served in the lowest-visibility, lowest-attention placements on the platform.
Why? Because these brands are launching upper funnel campaigns with a performance marketing mindset. Set the objective, let the algorithm optimize, and trust the machine. When your goal is reach, the algorithm will find you the cheapest impressions. And cheap impressions on Meta or Google overwhelmingly mean Audience Network/Video Partners and low-attention placements.
This is the "check box" trap. You check the box on "full funnel," your reach growth suddenly looks great on paper, and you feel good about the strategy. But you're buying low-visibility reach that is doing little to nothing to actually bring new customers to your brand.
And what usually happens? Upper funnel gets killed because its not having an impact, even though it was really just poor execution.
If you're investing in upper funnel in your core channels, start here:
- Look at your placement breakdown by campaign objective. It's highly likely your awareness/reach campaigns have a lower Feed share than your conversion campaigns.
- Opt for manual placement selection for upper funnel campaigns. The algorithm is not your friend here and you need to intervene.
- Reels, Feed, Non-skip are where attention is strongest in digital channels. "Other" is for cheap, low value impressions that can contribute some value for BoF campaigns but do nothing for ToF.
This is Part 1 of a short series on why most brands getting into upper funnel are doing it wrong. Placement is the most tactical issue, but it's often the first symptom of a deeper problem: running upper funnel the same way you run BOF and expecting it to work.
More coming in part 2...
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