Marketing Is Not a Funnel. It’s a Tree.

If you have ever sat down to look at your marketing strategy and felt a sense of rising discomfort or that heavy feeling in your chest that says something about this just does not fit, I am here to let you know that you are not alone, and there is actually a very good reason for that feeling of dread and discomfort.

For a long time, the business world has tried to force us into a very specific box by explaining marketing through the metaphor of a funnel.  We are told that we need to pour as many people as possible into the top of this mechanical system, push them through a set of rigid, pre-determined steps, and hope they pop out at the other end ready to buy from us. 

It is a model that looks perfectly logical on a whiteboard, but in the real world, where we deal with actual humans, it rarely works that way because people are not leads to be processed, they are humans to be helped and nurtured.

Why Funnels Feel So Transactional and Draining

The fundamental problem with the funnel metaphor is that it is inherently transactional and built entirely on the idea of pressure. 

It assumes that if you just squeeze your audience hard enough or send enough automated, urgency-driven emails, you will eventually force a conversion. This is exactly where that hustle marketing culture comes from, and it is the primary reason so many brilliant, heart-led business owners end up in a cycle of total burnout.

When you view marketing as a funnel, you are forced to focus on the transaction at the end rather than the relationship you are building along the way, which makes you feel like you have to constantly chase new people because your funnel is always "leaking." This creates a frantic, desperate energy that your audience can sense from a mile away, and it ultimately devalues the incredible expertise and knowledge that you have to offer.

How Customers Move 

Funnels assume that customers move in straight lines. That we move in straight lines as humans, which we don't. We just don't make decisions that way!  

The Reality of the Nonlinear Human Journey

Look at your own journey in making buying decisions…You might see a post from someone today, go quiet for three months because life got in the way, and then listen to a podcast or see a meaningful, supportive conversation happening over in our Business Business Business community. You might watch from the sidelines for an entire year, quietly observing how someone shows up and how they share their knowledge, before you finally decide that they are the right person to help you move forward.

Customers today circle back to ideas, pause when things feel overwhelming, explore different parts of your expertise, and wait for the timing to be exactly right for their own specific circumstances. 

This is why marketing does not behave like a mechanical funnel. It behaves much more like a living, breathing tree. As I explain in my book, The Marketing Tree Method, a tree allows people to start from their own seed of interest and move through your ecosystem at a pace that feels safe and sustainable for them.

The Structure of a Marketing Tree

When we choose to view our marketing as a connected ecosystem rather than a series of isolated tactics, everything starts to feel much more manageable.

Each tree in your business forest follows a specific structure that supports movement, allows for pause, and focuses on long-term health over quick, unsustainable wins.

• The Seeds of Interest: Every connection begins with a seed. This is that initial spark of curiosity when someone first discovers your message, your expertise, or a specific piece of your content. Instead of trying to "capture" a lead, we are planting seeds of interest that have the potential to grow into strong, lasting relationships if they are nurtured correctly.
• The Trunk: This is the core of your tree, representing your central message, your consistency, and the substance of what you do. The trunk is the solid structure that holds everything together and ensures that no matter which branch someone discovers you on, they are getting the same level of expertise and the same heart-led approach. Without a strong trunk, your marketing will feel scattered and your message will get lost in the noise.
• The Branches: These represent your different paths to visibility and authority in the world. One branch might be your social media presence, another might be your PR strategy, and another might be your podcast or your workshops. The beautiful thing is that while these branches reach out in different directions to find the light, they all lead back to the same trunk and the same core message.
• The Seasons: We have to accept that growth is not meant to be constant and "always on" 24 hours a day. There are seasons for planting your seeds of interest, seasons for blossoming and harvesting during a big launch, and essential seasons for shedding the strategies that no longer serve your business so you can make room for new growth.
• The Pace: Even the koalas in the bush know you do not climb a tree in one frantic, exhausting leap. You move branch by branch, taking your time to find your footing and only climbing higher when there is a real reason to do so, which is exactly how your audience moves through your world when they feel they can trust you to guide them.

An Introduction to Your Marketing Trees

In the methodology I teach, we view your business as a connected forest, where multiple trees work together to sustain your long-term momentum. Each of these follows that same seed-to-branch journey:

• The Brand Tree: This is your identity and your authority in your field, and it is how people come to recognise you and what you stand for in a crowded market.
• The Offering Tree: This is the intentional structure of your products and services, designed to guide people from an initial seed of interest through to a high-level strategic partnership that solves their biggest problems.
• The Content Tree: This is your educational engine where you share what you know to build trust. It is about using Content Cues to identify what your audience needs and then providing it without the pressure of a hard sell.
• The OPA Tree: Short for Other People’s Audiences, this is your collaboration and relationship-led PR branch. It is about building genuine connections with others in the business community to expand your reach.
• The Email Tree: This is your direct line for nurturing relationships over time, safely away from the noise and the constant distractions of social media platforms.

Moving Toward Sustainable Momentum

Marketing should not feel like an endless, exhausting uphill battle to fill a leaky funnel every single day. Instead, it should feel like tending a garden that is practical, manageable, and focused on the long-term health of your business and your community. When you stop focusing on the push and start focusing on the ecosystem, you significantly reduce the overwhelm and give yourself the space to breathe.

Over the coming months, I am going to unpack each of these trees in detail and show you exactly how they support sustainable growth without the burnout. We will look at how to plant them, nurture them through the messy middle, and ensure they work together to create visibility that feels as good as it looks.

I know things can feel a bit tangled right now, but the first step is simply deciding to stop pushing and start growing. You have permission to simplify your strategy and start exactly where you are with whatever you have available to you right now.

Want to jump ahead? You can find the full work-through guide in The Marketing Tree Method book.