In a world where attention spans have been compressed to milliseconds, it's not your funnel that's failing, it's your creative. The best performance media plans, pixel perfect audience targeting, and world class MarTech stacks will fall flat if what you show isn’t worth stopping for. Your funnel doesn’t need to be rebuilt. It needs to be reimagined, re-energized, and, above all, made irresistible.
Because if you’re not stopping thumbs, you’re not starting conversations.
The Modern Funnel is Powered by Emotion, Not Just Mechanics
Funnels were once about guiding rational decisions awareness, consideration, conversion. But today, your audience doesn’t scroll looking for logic. They scroll for stimulation.
What does this mean for your digital marketing strategy? The funnel has evolved from a linear path to an emotional experience. Thumb stopping creative isn’t just an aesthetic choice it’s a business strategy. According to Meta, creative is responsible for up to 70% of campaign performance outcomes.
That means your creative must earn its place. Not just by explaining value, but by making people feel something instantly.
CMO Takeaway :
Creativity is your funnel's ignition system. Invest in emotionally intelligent content that resonates, not just informs.
The Death of Safe Creative: What Most Funnels Get Wrong
Here’s the truth: most funnel content is optimized for safety, not performance. Brand ads play it safe.
Mid funnel content is flat and forgettable. And conversion ads are so dry they repel interest.
In this rinse and repeat model, your creative becomes indistinguishable from everyone else’s. What worked a year ago no longer works. Safe is stale.
Let’s look at a Pulp Strategy benchmark: campaigns with disruptive storytelling and emotion-based hooks delivered 2.5x higher social media engagement strategy performance and up to 40% lower CPLs versus traditional formats.
CMO Takeaway :
Your funnel doesn’t need more spend. It needs more story. Ditch the template. Disrupt with purpose.
Build for the Scroll, Not the Screen
Most creative is still designed like it’s going on TV. But consumers live in vertical first, sound off environments.
Thumb stopping creative is native. It embraces speed, surprise, and verticality. Whether it’s a 6 second hook on Reels or a swipe able carousel on LinkedIn, the content must be designed for the way we scroll, not just the screen we scroll on.
Our "Feel Your Best You" campaign for Avon built a content stack optimized for platform native behaviors leading to 2M+ views at launch and 3x interaction rates across audience segments.
CMO Takeaway :
Design content for how it’s consumed, not just what it looks like. Prioritize mobile first formats and micro moments.
Creative that Converts: From Thumb Stop to Funnel Drop
Getting attention is only the start. The real value lies in content marketing strategy that nurtures it.
A great funnel has seamless handoffs between content layers:
- Awareness that sparks curiosity
- Consideration that educates without overwhelming
- Conversion that feels like a natural next step
How? Personalization, storytelling arcs, dynamic sequencing. Our WhatsApp based CRM campaigns showed that personalized micro videos lifted conversion by 38% vs. static lead forms.
CMO Takeaway :
Creative should carry momentum. Every asset should lead your audience one step deeper, one click closer.
Don’t Just Test Formats Test Emotions
Most A/B testing focuses on CTAs and headlines. But what about emotional resonance?
At Pulp Strategy, we deploy multivariate tests across emotional tones humor, awe, urgency, aspiration and monitor how each impacts behavior by platform and persona.
One campaign for a D2C fashion brand showed that “aspirational transformation” creatives outperformed discounts by 27% in driving add to cart actions.
CMO Takeaway :
Emotion is the variable. Start testing feelings, not just features.
Video is the New Headline
If your creative doesn’t move, neither will your audience. Video marketing is no longer optional it’s your headline, body copy, and CTA in motion.
Short form, user generated, live action, animated video is the fastest way to show value and spark engagement. But it's also where creative fatigue hits hardest.
Our work with a fitness tech brand using bite sized, influencer led videos drove 10x the engagement compared to polished, brand produced clips.
CMO Takeaway :
If you want attention, move. Prioritize velocity over perfection in your video content pipeline.
Enriched Funnel Examples in Action
To bring this strategy to life, here are real world case studies from our campaigns that exemplify thumb stopping creativity across stages of the funnel:
Redington Gulf: "Level Up with a Modern PC"
We turned upgrading to Windows 11 into a lifestyle move, not a tech decision. With influencer driven content, emotion led storytelling, and user generated engagement, we reached over 11.5M consumers, transforming hesitation into aspiration.
Dabur Herbal Charcoal: “Where Black Meets White”
By linking smile confidence with dating culture, and using flashcards and original music, the campaign delivered 15M+ impressions and positioned Dabur as a brand that champions self confidence in a social first world.
Tata Cliq: "Mumbai Cliqs in Style"
Using drones and surprise street castings, we spotlighted fashionistas in their everyday life. This campaign fused offline delight with digital amplification, driving both brand recall and user love in a high clutter category.
CMO Takeaway :
Creativity converts when it connects. Real people, real emotion, real time interaction. That’s the new funnel fuel.
The Funnel Isn’t Dead It’s Just Demanding
The funnel still works. But it's evolved. Today, it demands:
- Thumb stopping social media promotion strategy
- Audience led storytelling arcs
- Modular, platform optimized assets
- Speed, emotion, and frictionless handoffs
It demands content that doesn’t just live in the funnel but drives it.
CMO Takeaway :
Rebuild your funnel with your audience in mind. The best funnels don’t push buyers. They pull them in with irresistible creativity.
Final Thought: Fix the Boring, Not the Blueprint
You don’t need to tear down your entire strategy. You need to upgrade the parts that make people stop, watch, swipe, and share.
Your funnel isn’t broken. It’s boring. The fix isn’t a new platform or a new tool. It’s content that performs like media. It’s creative that earns its way in.
If you want better performance, don’t just optimize the funnel. Electrify it.
Because the brands winning in 2025 won’t be louder. They’ll just be more interesting.
