🧠 Your old funnel is dead. Here’s what’s replacing it.

2021 wasn’t that long ago. But in digital years, it might as well have been a decade. 

Back then, clean funnels and intuitive UX were enough to move someone from click to conversion. The journey felt linear. Predictable. Optimizable.

Fast forward to now, and the landscape has shifted. Buying behavior is messier. Attention spans are shorter. The same funnel that once worked like a well-oiled machine now struggles to create momentum.

The problem isn’t the design. It’s the assumption that design alone can drive decisions.

Funnels built for yesterday’s buyer are out of sync with how people actually navigate the buying journey today.

So today, I’m breaking down where those legacy assumptions fall apart and how the most effective brands are evolving their funnels to match the behavior of the modern buyer.

Let’s dive into it.

🧠 Exclusive Partner: Aligned Growth

Every brand I talk to right now is obsessed with influencer marketing, and for good reason.

It's the difference between screaming into the void and having trusted voices speak directly to engaged audiences who are primed to buy.

I recently connected with Josh Durham, who has one of the most impressive DTC case studies I've seen:

• Started a weighted blanket brand from his parents' garage while in college.

• First year: $30K in sales. By year four: $6.5M.

• Now helps brands from startups to household names scale their influencer marketing.

Josh has just released "The Aligned Growth Ultimate Guide" - a free 5-day email course plus a 32-page PDF that breaks down:

• The correct ways to measure influencer marketing as a channel.

• How to negotiate with influencers tactfully.

• Turning one-off collaborations into long-term partnerships.

• And more proven strategies from his $6.5M success story.

As Connor Rolain, Head of Growth at Hexclad, puts it: "Working with the AGM team has been amazing. They are super organized, thorough and are truly experts when it comes to influencer partnerships for DTC brands."

If you're tired of pouring money into random collabs with big follower counts and not seeing ROI, grab this free guide before your competition does.

Get the Free Guide Now →

Why today’s friction points are behavioral, not visual

Funnels used to be judged by how smooth they looked. 

Clean layout. Clear CTA. Fewer clicks.

But friction today isn’t about design but timing, context, and mindset.

Here’s what that looks like:

• A product page shown too early creates doubt, not desire

• A headline assumes too much too soon, and people bounce

• An offer feels out of place based on how the shopper got there

The old funnel logic was linear:

Click → Consider → Buy. 

But shoppers don’t move like that anymore.

High-performing brands test for behavioral friction:

• When pages show up in the journey

• How intent shifts across traffic sources

• What offers work at each stage of discovery

This allows your funnel to match how people actually think and shop.

Every eCom Founder / Operator needs a group of peers / friends that can help answer some of those challenging questions and provide the support needed when things get difficult.

This is something I searched for when I first got into eCom and wish I had found sooner.

Someone that you can:

• Bounce ideas off of

• Get industry support on tactics

• Vendor sourcing & vetting

• Get the inside scoop on what’s working and not

That’s exactly what Workspace6 offers and it starts at just $1. They’re an amazing group of people from some of your favorite brands and they’re ultimately a community of incredible people who want to help each other.

» Check them out and get started for just $1. «

How to rebuild your funnel around behavior, not just UI

Fixing a funnel today means looking beyond what’s on the page and digging into when and why someone sees it.

Brands are shifting from static flows to dynamic ones that adapt to intent.

Here’s how they’re doing it:

• Behavioral segmentation:

Grouping visitors by actions, not just demos, like time on page, scroll depth, or product views, then customizing the experience accordingly.

• Journey-based timing:

Delaying PDPs, showing social proof first, or surfacing bundles only after a shopper signals higher intent.

• Source-specific flows:

Shaping the funnel based on entry point. A TikTok click might need education. A search visitor might be ready to buy.

• Offer alignment:

Matching discounts, bundles, or upsells to where someone is mentally. Not just what looks good on the page.

These strategic shifts turn the funnel into something more adaptive, intuitive, and conversion-focused.

You're far more likely to buy when the journey feels aligned with how you shop.

Closing Thoughts

If you’re still running funnels like it’s 2021, you’re not just behind. You’re invisible.

Modern buyers don’t follow a script. Your funnel shouldn’t, either.

Keep following this newsletter to stay sharp and ahead of the curve. I break down real, in-depth strategies every week.