The marketing formula that actually brings in sales in 2026

Your customers is being exposed to 4,000 - 10,000 advertising touch points a day. And yet a single customer will only act on a fraction of those for a number of reasons. But there is a formula to be the chosen one. It's not serendipity or at least its very unlikely that a brand just catches the customer at the right place, right time by chance.

A marketing formula that actually brings in sales in 2026?

**drum roll** The key formula is a well planned, tested and improved marketing funnel.

What is a marketing funnel?

A marketing funnel, or lead funnel, is a process of stages that a customer moves into to go from being a prospective customer to a paying customer. Sometimes even to a repeat / loyal customer, which is the end goal. The funnel can cover three to four stages.

The stages of a lead funnel

So here are the stages your paying customer will go through before they make the final decision to buy from you.

#1 Aware

At this stage, although you have a customer you don't want to go to niche if what you do works for someone else. Cast the net wide, tell your story, share how you solve problems, get people warmed up to knowing who you are and the role you have in their lives. This has more power than you think, even if you can't always see the performance metrics at this stage, you will see the dial up later down the funnel. Use this stage as an opportunity to drive people to the next stage.

#2 Attract

You'll have to kiss some frogs, to get your 'princess/prince'. And the same goes for reaching your audience at this stage. You may find 60+% of your audience aren't even interested in what you have to offer. And that's fine, it's not for them. It's for the 40% that have come to the right place. Deliver a taste of what you do, in a compelling way that brings interest in. A term commonly used at this stage is a 'lead magnet'. It's essentially, when done well, a too-good-to-miss opportunity for your customer to sign up to. It's low commitment but provides an abundance of value for a struggling customer. Offering goodwill at this stage will be worth the return in value. Value that your customer is willing to pay. Because if they can get this for free, what can they possibly get on top if they are willing to invest in themselves?

#3 Act

Now you have convinced your customer that you know your stuff and that your knowledge can help to resolve their problem. Now what?

This stage is critical. It's your final opportunity to remove any final apprehension that your prospective customer may be feeling. This is your chance to smoothen out any of the smaller details - make it a win/win for them to cross the finish line. There are all sorts of ways you can address these reservations. Such as offering a money-back guarantee, or share what your customers have said about your product/service for example.

#4 Advocate - Repeat purchase or testimonial

Last but probably the most important for the longevity of your strategy - advocate. Your additional marketing tool within your formula is your current customer's advocacy and appraisal of your services. Make it easy for your customers to say great things about you.

What funnel is the winning formula bring me actual sales?

Types of funnels

Lead generation funnel

A lead generation funnel, or lead magnet funnel, focuses explicitly on prospective customers who have never purchased from your company. This funnel type attracts new leads through content marketing and lead magnet content designed to engage prospective customers. Successful lead generation funnels will move prospects into the sales lead funnel.

Sales lead funnel

Lead generation funnels and sales lead funnels have some overlap, but you can use sales lead funnels with new and repeat customers. Ideally, all prospects in the sales lead funnel are either current customers or qualified leads from the lead generation funnel. This type of funnel moves prospects through the decision-making process with targeted sales materials, product demos, and personalised outreach.

These are just two examples but you will find a lot of approaches will adopt both of these into a larger funnel. Maybe even within a larger funnel you have multiple small funnels, but let's not overcomplicate at this stage. Start with the basics.

What makes this different to every other marketing strategy?

You can argue that there are plenty of other marketing formulas that will bring you actual sales in 2026. I would debate that they mostly duplicate this model, or they don't work. This model isn't new, but there are now more ways than ever to do it well. Doing the work or not, your customers are going through a funnel to get to you. But if you're not on top of it, they are finding their way out of it.

Getting started

Map out your current marketing and label against the Awareness, Act, Attract and Advocate stages. Consider the health of how you currently operate against your prompts below:

• Does the activity meet the requirements of the stage labelled?

• Does it feel compelling enough as it currently is to convince a customer to move to the next stage?

• How can you measure whether it actually works or not (e.g. KPIs)?

• What is the customer lifetime value of your current funnel (= average purchase value x purchase frequency (per customer) x average customer lifespan)?

Source: https://www.wavetec.com/customer-experience/customer-journey-mapping/

By the end you can start to draw and connect the dots like the diagram above. As great as this example looks for a marketer, it really doesn't have to be this technical. You can have even just one for each stage as long as they guide a customer through each stage with conviction as to why they should buy. It should also be as high value as possible. If you're operating activity at a high cost (e.g. advertising) with little sales or customers, you may need to review your funnel.

Wrap up

Hopefully this helps you to look at your business differently. If you're motivated but unsure where to start, look no further. I don't believe that poor marketing should be the one barrier that stops businesses from growing and thriving. I believe it should be accessible to all regardless of how early you are on your journey and your budget. See how I can help support you with this below.

• Subscribe to my monthly support membership: I have recently launched a space called 'Laura the Marketer' which centres on making marketing easier for businesses to understand and adopt. Less jargon and more plain English instructions. You receive weekly tips, access to a growing library of tools and weekly check-ins with me on live chat. Plus it's low cost at the price of just a couple of takeaway coffees per month. Click to learn more and subscribe.

• Work with me directly: Organise a 20-minute discovery call with me to talk through your funnel and whether I can help to improve your marketing

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