funnel framework
The Marketing Flywheel: Momentum Instead of a Funnel
The flywheel replaces the funnel’s linear dead end with a loop. Its three phases, attract, engage, and delight, treat customers not as the output of the process but as the force that powers the next turn, since delighted customers attract the next ones.
Where it comes from
Introduced by HubSpot in 2018 as a deliberate replacement for the funnel, arguing that the funnel ignores how customers drive growth.
The stages
- Attract. Draw strangers in with useful work.
- Engage. Build relationships and make buying easy.
- Delight. Help customers succeed so they promote you.
When to use it
Use the flywheel as a strategy lens when word of mouth, referrals, and retention are your real growth engine, and you want to design for momentum rather than a one-way conversion path.
How it maps to the marketinque funnel
The flywheel and the funnel are not rivals; the flywheel is what our funnel does at the end, where advocate loops back to attract. We keep the funnel for operating the stages and borrow the flywheel’s point that the loop, not the line, is where compounding lives.
Related frameworks
Made with marketinque