For years, marketers have been taught to think in channels. There was a social funnel, a display funnel, a video funnel, a search funnel, and an email funnel. Each channel was measured independently, optimized independently, and often managed by different teams with different success metrics. The assumption was that consumers progressed through a relatively clean and predictable path to conversion, and that each platform played its own distinct role.
That world no longer exists.
The rise of AI-driven search, cross-device behavior, streaming media, and increasingly fragmented consumer attention has fundamentally changed how decisions are made. Consumers don’t experience our marketing channels separately. They experience them as a continuous flow of information, influence, validation, and decision-making. As marketers, we need to stop thinking in terms of isolated channel funnels and start thinking about how the entire ecosystem works together.
Today, marketing is best understood as two interconnected layers: an Influence and Intent Layer and a Decision Capture Layer.
The Influence and Intent Layer contains everything that shapes awareness, consideration, trust, and preference before a consumer actively signals demand. This includes programmatic display, connected TV, streaming audio, native advertising, social media, digital out-of-home, and other forms of targeted media designed to influence behavior.
The Decision Capture Layer is where consumers act on that influence and convert. In most cases, that means Google in some form, but it can be other search engines and social platforms.
It is not about what we want to see, it is about human behavior
Whether we like it or not, consumer behavior has made search the dominant validation and decision environment. When people become interested in a solution, they don’t typically convert on the first ad they see. They research, compare options, read reviews, validate their assumptions, then decide in the environment where they are most comfortable making that decision. That means every investment we make in the Influence Layer must ultimately be judged by its ability to feed the Decision Capture Layer.
The Real Job of Upper and Mid-Funnel Marketing is now Influence
Many organizations still evaluate upper-funnel media through the lens of direct attribution. They ask whether a CTV impression led directly to a conversion or whether a display campaign generated enough last-click leads. Those questions miss the point. We have to let go of the long held belief that the role of upper and mid-funnel marketing is not necessarily to capture demand. We need to replace it with the understanding that its primary role is to create the conditions that make future demand more likely.
What happens when channels work together?
Research consistently shows that when programmatic display and connected TV are layered with intent and influence as the strategy, we typically see incremental audience reach gains between 30% and 50%, largely because programmatic channels unlock inventory and audiences that Google alone cannot reach.
These channels expose brands to consumers during moments when they are not actively searching. More importantly, they help establish familiarity and preference before search activity ever occurs.
When consumers eventually enter Google’s ecosystem, they don’t arrive as blank slates. They arrive carrying impressions, perceptions, and trust that were formed elsewhere. This is where the traditional funnel begins to break down.
A connected TV impression might influence someone today. A display ad reinforces the message next week. Social interaction provides validation a few days later. Eventually, the consumer searches Google and converts. Which channel deserves credit? The answer is all of them.
The most effective marketing systems don’t treat channels as competitors. They treat them as collaborators.
This is particularly important because today’s media landscape is increasingly fragmented. Consumers split their attention across streaming services, websites, social platforms, mobile apps, podcasts, and search engines. No single channel owns the customer journey. Programmatic advertising helps solve this challenge by extending reach far beyond Google’s owned inventory.
Data cited by Comscore and Google indicates that programmatic capabilities can expand a marketer’s reach to 76% of US Connected TV households and 89% of ad-supported households by accessing premium streaming inventory outside of YouTube.
This matters because reach is not simply about impressions. Reach is about influence.
The more relevant touchpoints a brand creates across the journey, the more likely that brand is to become part of the consumer’s consideration set when a need arises. The result is not just more awareness. It is stronger behavioral momentum moving toward the point of decision. Omnichannel marketing creates continuity between influence opportunities that occur across dozens of environments. Instead of hoping consumers discover a brand when they search, we can actively shape the journey that eventually leads consumers to search for your brand.
Feeding the Decision Engine
One of the most important realities facing us as marketers is that Google’s role has evolved. Google is no longer just a search engine. It is effectively the world’s largest demand capture system. When consumers are close to making a decision, they overwhelmingly turn to Google to validate information, compare providers, and take action. That behavior has remained remarkably consistent despite rapid changes in media consumption.
This is why every omnichannel strategy should be designed with a clear understanding of how it supports the decision environment. Connected TV should build familiarity that improves branded search behavior. Display should reinforce messaging that increases engagement once prospects begin researching. Social campaigns should provide validation and credibility when consumers compare alternatives. Every touchpoint should be engineered to make the eventual decision easier.
In other words, the purpose of the Influence Layer is not just to generate impressions. Its purpose is to prepare consumers for the moment they enter the Decision Capture Layer. The best marketing strategies recognize that these two layers are inseparable.
The Future Belongs to Integrated Systems
The next generation of marketing leaders will not win by mastering a single channel. They will win by orchestrating systems. Success increasingly depends on understanding how influence accumulates across touchpoints and how that influence ultimately manifests in search behavior, website engagement, and conversion activity. The marketers who continue to optimize channels independently will struggle to explain the growing gap between reported performance and actual business outcomes.
Those who embrace an integrated mindset will see something different. They will begin to understand that every impression, every engagement, every view, and every interaction is not an isolated event. It is a contribution to a larger behavioral journey.
The funnel hasn’t disappeared; it has evolved into something entirely different.
What once looked like a collection of disconnected marketing funnels has become a unified system. At the top sits an Influence and Intent Layer, designed to shape consumer behavior before demand exists. At the bottom sits a Decision Capture Layer, where consumers validate, compare, and ultimately choose.
Our job in marketing is no longer optimizing channels in isolation. Our job is to ensure that every investment made in Influence creates momentum toward Decision. Through that lens, we see omnichannel marketing not as a media strategy, but as the architecture of consumer decision-making.
By Carole Lawson
Co-Founder & Chief Data Officer, MarketStorm