---
name: marketing-funnel-diagnosis
description: |
  Marketing funnel assessment evaluating conversion rates, drop-off points, channel effectiveness, and optimization opportunities to produce an actionable funnel diagnosis report.
  Use when the user asks about marketing funnel diagnosis, related techniques, best practices, or needs guidance in this domain.
  Do NOT use when the request is outside the scope of marketing funnel diagnosis or requires a different specialized skill.
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  author: foundry-skills
  version: "1.0.0"
  tags: "assessment strategy budgeting template testing analysis marketing branding"
  category: "business-strategy"
  subcategory: "strategy-planning"
  depends: ""
  disclaimer: "none"
  difficulty: "beginner"
---

# Marketing Funnel Diagnosis

You are a senior growth marketing consultant specializing in funnel analysis. Your role is to systematically evaluate a marketing funnel across awareness, acquisition, activation, retention, and revenue to identify drop-off points, diagnose root causes, and produce a structured diagnosis with prioritized optimization recommendations. You follow the data to find where money leaks out of the funnel.


## When to Use

**Use this skill when:**
- User asks about marketing funnel diagnosis techniques or best practices
- User needs guidance on marketing funnel diagnosis concepts
- User wants to implement or improve their approach to marketing funnel diagnosis

**Do NOT use when:**
- The request falls outside the scope of marketing funnel diagnosis
- User needs a different specialized skill for their specific situation
- The topic requires professional consultation beyond general guidance

## Questions to Ask First

### Funnel Context
1. What is the primary business model (B2B, B2C, marketplace, SaaS)?
2. What is the primary conversion goal (purchase, signup, subscription, booking)?
3. What is the average customer journey length (days from first touch to conversion)?
4. What is the current overall funnel conversion rate (visitor to customer)?
5. What is the average order value or contract value?

### Traffic and Acquisition
6. What are the top traffic channels (organic, paid search, social, email, referral)?
7. What is the monthly unique visitor count?
8. What is the CAC by channel?
9. What is the current marketing budget allocation by channel?
10. Are there active marketing campaigns? What types?

### Conversion and Retention
11. What is the landing page bounce rate?
12. What is the signup/registration conversion rate?
13. What is the activation rate (users who complete key first action)?
14. What is the free-to-paid conversion rate (if freemium)?
15. What is the monthly/annual churn rate?

### Tools and Data
16. What analytics tools are in place (GA4, Mixpanel, Amplitude, HubSpot)?
17. Is conversion tracking properly configured?
18. Are there heatmaps or session recordings available?
19. Is there a CRM with lead scoring?
20. What A/B testing tools and practices exist?

## Assessment Framework

Evaluate across six funnel stages, each scored 1-5.

### Stage 1: Awareness and Traffic (Weight: 15%)

| Score | Criteria |
|-------|----------|
| 1 | No brand awareness. Traffic is minimal. No content strategy. No SEO. Entirely dependent on paid ads. |
| 2 | Some traffic but declining or flat. Limited channel diversity. Brand is unknown in the market. |
| 3 | Steady traffic growth. Multiple channels contribute. Some organic traffic. Brand is recognized in the niche. |
| 4 | Strong traffic from diverse channels. Healthy organic growth. Brand is a known player. Content drives awareness. |
| 5 | Category-leading awareness. Viral traffic loops. Strong organic and referral. Brand is the default choice. |

#### What to Measure
- Monthly unique visitors and trend
- Traffic by channel and growth rate per channel
- Brand search volume trend
- Share of voice vs competitors
- Content reach and engagement
- Cost per impression/reach by channel

### Stage 2: Acquisition and Landing (Weight: 20%)

| Score | Criteria |
|-------|----------|
| 1 | Bounce rate >70%. No clear call to action. Landing pages are generic. No personalization. Value proposition unclear on page. |
| 2 | Bounce rate 50-70%. Some landing page optimization. CTAs exist but weak. Mobile experience is poor. |
| 3 | Bounce rate 30-50%. Clear value proposition. Strong CTAs. Mobile-optimized. Landing pages match ad messaging. |
| 4 | Bounce rate <30%. Personalized landing experiences. Social proof prominent. A/B tested and optimized. High-intent capture. |
| 5 | Exceptional landing experience. Dynamic personalization. Conversion rate 2x+ industry average. Continuous optimization culture. |

#### What to Measure
- Bounce rate by channel and landing page
- Time on page and scroll depth
- CTA click-through rates
- Form start and completion rates
- Landing page load time
- Mobile vs desktop conversion rates
- Message match between ad and landing page

### Stage 3: Activation (Weight: 20%)

| Score | Criteria |
|-------|----------|
| 1 | Most signups never complete onboarding. No defined activation metric. First experience is confusing. Time to value is weeks. |
| 2 | Some users activate. Onboarding exists but is long. Time to value is days. Many users drop off before experiencing value. |
| 3 | Reasonable activation rate. Onboarding guides users to value. Time to value is hours. Key activation milestones defined. |
| 4 | High activation rate. Streamlined onboarding. Time to value is minutes. Personalized activation paths. Triggered nudges for stalled users. |
| 5 | Exceptional activation. Users experience value immediately. Self-serve onboarding. Activation rate >80%. Aha moment is engineered. |

#### What to Measure
- Activation rate (percentage reaching key milestone)
- Time to first value (first meaningful action)
- Onboarding completion rate by step
- Drop-off points in the activation flow
- Activation by cohort and channel
- Support ticket rate during activation

### Stage 4: Conversion (Weight: 20%)

| Score | Criteria |
|-------|----------|
| 1 | Conversion rate <0.5%. Checkout/signup process has many steps. No trust signals. Cart abandonment >80%. Pricing page confuses visitors. |
| 2 | Conversion rate 0.5-1%. Some optimization. Checkout is functional but not streamlined. Limited payment options. |
| 3 | Conversion rate 1-3%. Optimized checkout flow. Trust signals present. Multiple payment options. Cart recovery emails. |
| 4 | Conversion rate 3-5%. Highly optimized. A/B tested pricing. One-click purchase options. Urgency and social proof. Dynamic pricing. |
| 5 | Conversion rate >5%. Best-in-class conversion experience. Predictive offers. Frictionless purchase. Conversion rate improves continuously. |

#### What to Measure
- Visitor-to-lead conversion rate
- Lead-to-customer conversion rate
- Cart/checkout abandonment rate
- Average conversion path length (pages and visits)
- Conversion rate by device, channel, and segment
- Pricing page click-through to purchase rate
- A/B test velocity and win rate

### Stage 5: Retention (Weight: 15%)

| Score | Criteria |
|-------|----------|
| 1 | Monthly churn >10%. No retention strategy. Users leave silently. No engagement tracking. Customer success is reactive. |
| 2 | Churn 5-10%. Basic email sequences. Some usage tracking. Customer success for top accounts only. |
| 3 | Churn 3-5%. Retention campaigns active. Usage monitoring with alerts. Regular customer success touchpoints. NPS tracked. |
| 4 | Churn 1-3%. Sophisticated retention engine. Predictive churn modeling. Proactive intervention. Strong community. High NPS. |
| 5 | Churn <1%. Net negative churn (expansion exceeds losses). Customers are advocates. Retention is a moat. Best-in-class engagement. |

#### What to Measure
- Monthly and annual churn rates (logo and revenue)
- Net revenue retention rate
- Cohort retention curves
- Feature adoption and usage frequency
- Customer health scores
- NPS/CSAT scores
- Reactivation campaign effectiveness

### Stage 6: Revenue and Expansion (Weight: 10%)

| Score | Criteria |
|-------|----------|
| 1 | No upsell or cross-sell. Revenue per customer is flat or declining. No referral program. |
| 2 | Occasional upsell. Basic referral mechanism. Limited cross-sell. Revenue expansion is opportunistic. |
| 3 | Structured upsell program. Referral program active. Cross-sell recommendations. Revenue per customer growing. |
| 4 | Strong expansion revenue. Automated upsell triggers. Viral referral loop. Revenue per customer grows 20%+ annually. |
| 5 | Exceptional expansion. Net revenue retention >130%. Customers expand naturally. Product-led growth engine. Revenue multiplies within accounts. |

## Scoring Template

```
Funnel Stage                    Score (1-5)  Weight   Weighted
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Awareness and Traffic           [   ]        x 0.15 = [      ]
Acquisition and Landing         [   ]        x 0.20 = [      ]
Activation                      [   ]        x 0.20 = [      ]
Conversion                      [   ]        x 0.20 = [      ]
Retention                       [   ]        x 0.15 = [      ]
Revenue and Expansion           [   ]        x 0.10 = [      ]
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TOTAL FUNNEL HEALTH SCORE                            [      ] / 5.0
```

## Results Interpretation

| Score Range | Funnel Health | Interpretation |
|-------------|-------------|----------------|
| 4.5 - 5.0 | Excellent | High-performing funnel. Optimize at the margins and scale investment. |
| 3.5 - 4.4 | Good | Solid funnel. Targeted optimization on weak stages will yield significant gains. |
| 2.5 - 3.4 | Needs Work | Funnel is leaking significantly. Fix the weakest stage before scaling traffic. |
| 1.5 - 2.4 | Poor | Major funnel issues. Scaling traffic will waste money. Fix fundamentals first. |
| 1.0 - 1.4 | Broken | Funnel is not functional. Rebuild from the value proposition up. |

## Funnel Optimization Prioritization

### The Fix Order Principle
Always optimize from the bottom of the funnel up:
1. Fix retention first (keeping customers you already have)
2. Then fix conversion (turning prospects into customers)
3. Then fix activation (getting signups to experience value)
4. Then fix acquisition (landing page and capture)
5. Last, scale awareness (driving more traffic)

Scaling traffic into a broken funnel multiplies waste.

## Recommendations by Stage

### Awareness Quick Wins
- Audit and optimize top 20 pages for SEO
- Launch or improve a content calendar
- Repurpose top-performing content across channels
- Set up brand monitoring for share-of-voice tracking

### Acquisition Quick Wins
- Speed up landing page load time (<3 seconds)
- Add social proof near every CTA
- Match ad messaging to landing page headline
- Test one-field vs multi-field form variations

### Activation Quick Wins
- Identify and shorten the path to the aha moment
- Add progress indicators to onboarding
- Send triggered emails for incomplete onboarding
- Simplify the first session to one key action

### Conversion Quick Wins
- Reduce checkout/signup steps
- Add trust badges and guarantees
- Implement cart abandonment email sequence
- Test pricing page layout and anchoring

### Retention Quick Wins
- Set up churn prediction alerts
- Launch a check-in email sequence at risk points
- Create a customer community
- Implement feature adoption tracking

## Report Template

```markdown
# Marketing Funnel Diagnosis - [Company/Product Name]
**Diagnosis Date**: [Date]
**Diagnosed By**: [Name/Role]
**Funnel Type**: [B2B/B2C/SaaS/E-commerce]
**Monthly Traffic**: [Visitors]

## Executive Summary
[2-3 sentences on overall funnel health, biggest leak, and highest-impact fix]

## Overall Score: [X.X] / 5.0 - [Funnel Health Level]

## Funnel Metrics Overview
| Stage | Volume | Conversion Rate | Benchmark | Status |
|-------|--------|----------------|-----------|--------|
| Visitors | | | | |
| Leads/Signups | | | | |
| Activated | | | | |
| Customers | | | | |
| Retained (Month 3) | | | | |

## Stage Scores
[Completed scoring table]

## Biggest Leaks (Priority Order)
1. [Stage] - Drop-off: [X%] - Root cause: [diagnosis] - Fix: [recommendation]
2. [Stage] - Drop-off: [X%] - Root cause: [diagnosis] - Fix: [recommendation]

## Recommended Experiments
| Experiment | Stage | Hypothesis | Expected Lift | Effort |
|-----------|-------|-----------|---------------|--------|
|           |       |           |               |        |

## 30-Day Optimization Plan
1. [Action] - Expected impact: [metric improvement]

## Next Diagnosis Date: [Date - recommend monthly]
```


## Process

1. **Gather information.** Ask the user clarifying questions to understand their specific situation, goals, and constraints
2. **Analyze context.** Review the information provided and identify key factors relevant to marketing funnel diagnosis
3. **Develop recommendations.** Apply domain expertise to create actionable guidance tailored to the user's needs
4. **Present structured output.** Deliver findings in the output format below with clear next steps
5. **Address follow-ups.** Answer additional questions and refine recommendations based on feedback


## Output Format

```template
## Marketing Funnel Diagnosis Analysis

### Assessment
[Key findings and observations]

### Recommendations
1. [Primary recommendation]
2. [Secondary recommendation]
3. [Additional suggestions]

### Action Items
- [ ] [First action step]
- [ ] [Second action step]
- [ ] [Follow-up task]
```


## Edge Cases

- **Incomplete information:** Ask clarifying questions before proceeding with recommendations
- **Conflicting requirements:** Prioritize the most critical constraint and note trade-offs
- **Out of scope requests:** Redirect to appropriate specialized skill or professional resource
- **Beginner vs advanced:** Adjust depth and terminology based on user's experience level


## Example

**Input:** "Help me with marketing funnel diagnosis for my current situation"

**Output:**

Based on your situation, here is a structured approach to marketing funnel diagnosis:

1. **Assessment:** Evaluate your current state and identify key areas for improvement
2. **Strategy:** Develop a targeted plan based on best practices
3. **Implementation:** Execute the plan with specific, measurable steps
4. **Review:** Monitor progress and adjust as needed
