Top-of-funnel marketing measurement requires a slower decay model, since awareness spend doesn’t convert same-day. This matters because without that carryover, TOFU looks like it drives less revenue than it does, which is why it goes underfunded. Without measuring the whole funnel the same way, TOFU never gets held accountable like the rest of it. This video explains how applying patience to TOFU decay puts awareness on a level playing field.
Why Top-of-Funnel Marketing Measurement Needs Its Own Decay Model
Top-of-funnel marketing measurement needs its own decay model, because a dollar spent on awareness media doesn’t finish converting on the day it’s spent, and measuring it as if it does makes TOFU look far weaker than it actually is. In this video, John Wallace, CEO of LiftLab, describes LiftLab’s approach as measuring top, middle, and bottom funnel simultaneously, which some brands initially resist since it means TOFU is now held accountable for conversion the same way the rest of the funnel already is. Wallace’s response: that’s not unfair, it’s the point.
The precaution that makes this fair is patience: LiftLab applies a slower decay to top-of-funnel data specifically, since $10,000 spent on TOFU media on a Monday won’t produce all its effect on Monday, it carries forward into Tuesday, Wednesday, and beyond. With that carryover accounted for, Wallace calls the resulting number a floor for TOFU’s credit, not a replacement for other legitimate measures like unaided recall from survey research, but a hard revenue number that finally puts top-of-funnel spend on the same playing field as the rest of the media plan. Brands that adopt this approach have been able to fund that often-overlooked first round of top-of-funnel investment profitably, with one agency reportedly telling LiftLab directly that it’s what let them fund top-of-funnel with real confidence.
In this video, you’ll learn:
How to measure top, middle, and bottom funnels simultaneously for better visibility
Why applying a slower decay to TOFU data reveals its true impact
The importance of holding awareness campaigns accountable for actual conversion revenue
Strategies to justify TOFU spending to achieve a competitive playing field
How this data-driven approach fosters confidence in profitable marketing investments
TIME STAMPFull Video Transcript: Top-of-Funnel Marketing Measurement Explained
+–
In this video, LiftLab CEO John Wallace explains how measuring the full funnel together, with a slower decay model for top-of-funnel media, holds TOFU accountable without underselling it.
[0:00 – 0:22] Measuring the Funnel Simultaneously
How do we properly fund top of funnel? The approach at LiftLab is pretty clear: we are going to set out with you to measure your middle of funnel, your top of funnel, and your bottom of funnel simultaneously. You are going to look at all of these at the same time, and what that is doing is it is holding top of funnel accountable for conversion. Sometimes people will be like, “well, that is not fair.” It is fair.
[0:23 – 0:51] Applying Patience to Media Decay
One important precaution is taken, and that is that we have another level of patience for the top of funnel. One thing that is important is we have more patience for the top of funnel media, and that means that the decay that is put onto the data preparation step of LiftLab is slower. $10,000, or euros, or pounds, spent on Monday of top of funnel won’t have all of its effect on Monday. We know that for a fact, it is going to carry over to Tuesday, Wednesday, and beyond.
[0:52 – 1:24] Holding Top of Funnel Accountable
But with that precaution taken, we are now holding top of funnel accountable for its impact on conversion. I like to tell brands, you may want to consider that a floor of the credit. There may be other metrics for top of funnel that are appropriate, things like unaided recall. These are things that you might study through a survey, that doesn’t go away, we are not replacing that. But what is important is to say, these are the effects of top of funnel, and if we take the top of funnel away, this is what we are going to forego in terms of revenue. So it gets it on a playing field with bottom of funnel, with middle of funnel. That is very important.
[1:25 – 1:43] Realizing Profitable Results
It brings that first round of funding for top of funnel that is often omitted into light, and it is done profitably. We have consistently watched brands profitably fund their top of funnel campaigns. It is even feedback we have gotten from one of the brand’s agencies. The agency volunteered and said, “you know, we like LiftLab because it is letting us fund the top of funnel with confidence.”
Key Lessons: Funding Top-of-Funnel Media With the Right Decay Model
Comprehensive measurement: You can align your marketing efforts by evaluating the entire funnel at once to see how every stage drives business growth.
Strategic patience: By adjusting the decay on TOFU media, you acknowledge that awareness spend has a lasting effect that carries over across multiple days.
Data-driven accountability: Treating TOFU as a contributor to revenue ensures that your first round of funnel funding is no longer omitted from performance insights.
Complementary strategy: You do not need to replace existing survey-based metrics, but rather integrate them with hard conversion data to see the complete picture.
