The modern content funnel: how buyers actually make decisions today

Buyers no longer follow a traditional, linear funnel. AI has reshaped how people discover, compare, and evaluate brands, creating a messy, fast, and unpredictable journey. The playbook that marketers have relied on for years—awareness at the top, consideration in the middle, decision at the bottom — no longer reflects reality.

Today’s buyers skip steps, navigate channels in their own order, and form opinions based on fragmented micro-interactions. This means marketers can’t control the buyer’s path, but they can shape its clarity through better content.

This article explains why the old funnel broke, how buyers behave now, and what content teams must do to keep up.

The traditional funnel: predictable but outdated

For years, the classic funnel operated in five clear stages:
Awareness → Consideration → Evaluation → Decision → Post-purchase

Each stage had a distinct function tied to specific content types:

• Awareness: educational blog posts, SEO, and social content
• Consideration: guides, whitepapers, and webinars
• Evaluation: comparisons, case studies, and feature breakdowns
• Decision: product demos, pricing pages, and sales collateral
• Post-purchase: onboarding content, help centres, customer stories

Why the old funnel worked

Buyers followed a logical sequence. They gathered information stage-by-stage because it took time to find answers, compare vendors, and weigh decisions. For marketers, it meant buyers were trackable and campaigns could align neatly with each phase.

That predictability is gone. Today, the assumptions that supported the old funnel no longer align with buyer behaviour.

Why buyer behaviour has changed

Three significant shifts are disrupting how people make decisions:

1. AI compresses learning

AI tools like ChatGPT and Google summarise educational content in seconds. Buyers used to read multiple articles or attend webinars to learn the basics — today, they ask AI to explain a concept, outline risks, or compare vendors instantly.

For marketers, this means early-stage “educational” content is no longer enough to generate momentum. Buyers don’t need you for foundational knowledge. Instead, they need depth, clarity, and differentiation beyond generic information.

2. Discovery is decentralised

Buyers no longer encounter your brand in one predictable place or channel. They move fluidly across:

• AI summaries
• Search results and paid ads
• Competitor pages
• LinkedIn posts and newsletters
• YouTube reviews or tutorials
• Slack and community recommendations

These fragmented touchpoints deliver different insights — technical details, credibility signals, or validation of what they already believe. Where they land first isn’t up to you, so your content must perform no matter where buyers find it.

3. Trust is built through micro-signals

Trust-building isn’t about a single impressive guide or webinar anymore. Buyers gather confidence in your brand through tiny signals across your ecosystem:

• consistent messaging across every page
• the clarity with which you explain complex ideas
• how aligned your website feels with your positioning
• the simplicity of your navigation

Content isn’t just what buyers consume — it’s what they measure you against. If your ecosystem feels mismatched, scattered, or vague, trust erodes quickly. If your strategy feels out of sync, Why your content strategy isn’t working explains the root causes.

The modern funnel: messy, lateral, and fast

The linear funnel has been replaced by a lateral, unpredictable process:
Awareness ←→ Consideration ←→ Evaluation ←→ Decision
(all stages happening at once, in no fixed order)

How buyers move through touchpoints today

A single buyer might:

• Skim an AI-generated summary of your content
• Jump to a competitor’s pricing page for comparison
• Read one paragraph of a blog, then leave
• Check LinkedIn for your team’s stance on industry trends
• Return to a product page for technical specs
• Search reviews or rankings on Google
• Ask AI to simplify your claims

All of this can happen in minutes, across fragmented sessions. Buyers don’t follow your predetermined path — they create their own.

Your content’s job isn’t to push buyers through the stages you mapped out — it’s to hold up across all of them, in any order.

How buyers think differently at each stage (and what content needs to change)

Awareness is now about differentiation, not education

AI handles foundational education. Buyers don’t need your blog posts to “learn the basics.” Instead, awareness content should:

• convey your unique perspective and point of view (POV)
• highlight what makes your approach different
• show your expertise without empty jargon or marketing fluff
• make potential buyers say, “This brand understands what I need.”
• avoid generic messaging — anything that sounds interchangeable undermines credibility

If your content currently feels vague, Why your tone of voice sounds vague explains why

Consideration is instant and ongoing

In the modern funnel, consideration isn’t a phase. Buyers are evaluating your brand constantly anytime they encounter your content.

What are they asking?

• “Does this company explain clearly?”
• “Do their claims hold up every time I come back?”
• “What’s their unique angle or value proposition?”

Flaws in clarity or contradictions across pages will exacerbate trust issues. Instead of rigid “consideration” stage content, every touch must support ongoing decision-making.

How to build a content strategy that aligns with business goals shows how to fix this.

Evaluation is compressed, fast-paced, and unforgiving

AI enables buyers to evaluate your products, services, and messaging far faster than before. They can ask questions like:

• “What’s the difference between vendor A and B?”
• “Does this solution fit my needs?”
• “Is this credible and trustworthy?”

AI will expose gaps, contradictions, or misaligned messaging on your pages instantly. Buyers now evaluate multiple vendors faster and with more scrutiny — your content must be accurate, consistent, and resilient under pressure.

Decisions are built on systems, not single assets

No one chooses your brand based on one amazing piece of content. Decisions are shaped by micro-signals across every part of your content ecosystem: messaging, navigation, tone, internal links, and overall consistency.

When your content system creates trust at every touchpoint, it compounds into decision confidence. Building high-performing content systems, not random assets, is key to driving conversion.

If you want to build a decision-support system that compounds, How to build a content engine from scratch outlines the foundation.

Where most teams go wrong

Most B2B teams struggle with the modern funnel because they rely on outdated practices:

• building calendars instead of ecosystems
• publishing more content instead of clarifying messaging
• assuming buyers follow a predictable linear path
• allowing slow approvals that break the content’s momentum

These issues result in content volume without clarity — leading to buyer confusion, not action.

What hasn’t changed (and still drives buyer decisions)

Even with AI reshaping buyer behaviour, the fundamentals remain:

• Clarity wins: Your ability to explain complex ideas simply is critical.
• Consistency builds trust: People notice contradictions or scattered messaging instantly.
• Depth > volume: Buyers will value your expertise when it’s comprehensive and focused.
• Relevance beats reach: Speak to your audience’s problems, not trends.

AI changed how people move through the funnel, but it hasn’t changed these underlying principles.

If you want to understand the search side of this, AEO vs SEO: what’s changed (and what hasn’t) digs into it.

How to adapt your content strategy to the modern funnel

You don’t need a new framework — just new behaviours.

1. Create clarity before producing content

Don’t push out assets until your POV, themes, and core messaging are clear. Your content should express clarity, not replace it.

2. Structure content for decision-making across all touchpoints

Since buyers jump between funnel stages unpredictably, every asset must stand alone and align with the larger ecosystem.

3. Write with AI summarisation in mind

AI pulls insights from your content whether you optimise for it or not. Make sure your writing is clear, structured, and contradiction-free, so summaries accurately reflect your message.

4. Use long-form content as your anchor

In-depth guides and POV pieces stand out as sources of truth for AI models and human buyers alike.

If long-form matters to you, The ultimate guide to eBooks and whitepapers expands on this.

5. Build systems, not calendars

Calendars generate content in isolation. Engines create compounding impact.

If you don’t yet have one, see How to build a content engine from scratch.

6. Fix bottlenecks in internal workflows

Slow approvals and unclear processes reduce content momentum dramatically.

If I were starting with too much content breaks down how to clean up your ecosystem.

Build a system for how buyers behave now

The brands succeeding today focus on content ecosystems, not assets. They prioritise clarity, consistency, and depth, aligned to how buyers actually move through decisions.

If you want help creating a system built for modern discovery across AI, search, and social, explore:

• Visibility Package
• Executive Thought Leadership
• Fractional Content Lead

Don’t work against the funnel shift — build a system that works with it.