We’ve used it for years, but we always sensed something was missing. The conversion funnel has long been the dominant model in marketing and sales—a linear structure that illustrates how someone goes from not knowing you to becoming a customer.
A useful idea, but a limited one. It assumes the decision-making process is rational, individual, sequential, and controllable.
Today, that model no longer reflects the complexity of the real world—or the turbulent times in which activating a brand calls for strategic agility.
We now operate in an ecosystem where decisions are made in fragmented ways, influenced by multiple stimuli, with interactions that don’t follow a predictable sequence. Brands don’t move through a funnel. They unfold across an influence map.
And that changes everything.
What it is and why it matters
The influence map is a conceptual tool—just like the traditional funnel once was—but based on a fundamental idea: a brand doesn’t impose itself, it activates through relationships. It doesn’t just communicate, it interacts. Today in one channel, tomorrow in another, and the day after in that touchpoint where the spark happened.
The concept recently gained traction thanks to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which advocated moving away from linear views of the purchase process. The focus now is on real user behavior, rather than sequences that are—at best—theoretical.
According to Marta Factor, General Manager at Soluble, the influence map is powerful because it…
- Reflects a more fluid and realistic user behavior
- Acknowledges intangible factors (call it influence, call it brand) in decision-making
- Emphasizes both rational and emotional consistency across all touchpoints (now redefined as points of opportunity)
The map works across four key behaviors: streaming (constant content consumption), scrolling (brand discovery through platforms like TikTok), searching (users actively looking for known products), and shopping (buying—which can happen at any point in the journey).
Its value lies in identifying key nodes—people, platforms, communities, institutions—and mapping trust and power dynamics. That’s what allows us to design activations that are more precise, more consistent, and more human.
A strategic tool
At Soluble, we work with the influence map not just as a visual tool, but as a mindset. It helps us...
- Diagnose why a brand isn’t growing: maybe it’s not an awareness issue, but a lack of consistency or a failure to act from authenticity
- Identify relationships that drive traction: sometimes a supplier has more activation power than a paid campaign
- Choose channels that make sense—not for reach, but for resonance. To escape the FOMO trap, really.
- Align teams around relationships, not just metrics. Because while measuring brand performance is essential and possible, we often chase only what we can quantify. And when numbers become the only goal, we lose sight of something far more valuable: the brand’s relationship with its ecosystem. That moment when a Coke can or a Nutella jar reminds you of someone because it has their name on it? That’s brand at work—and it's as powerful as it is hard to measure.
This approach works across B2B, B2C, or hybrid contexts—and is especially relevant when growth depends as much on reputation as it does on visibility. Because not all brands operate in mass-market spaces. Many work in complex sectors, with long sales cycles or low-frequency touchpoints, where decisions happen over time—through conversations, trust, and relationships that evolve.
In B2B, for example, an influence map helps identify who decides, who recommends, and who validates. They’re not always the same people. And that’s where many strategies fail—by not recognizing that behind every buyer persona lies a shared decision-making system.
In B2C, the relational lens is crucial when brand value outweighs product value. When what you sell isn’t just what you deliver, but what you represent. Brands that build community, that foster loyalty, and that need to resonate far beyond the moment of purchase.
Brand and context, context and brand
Because it acknowledges that brands don’t exist in a vacuum. Every word, every gesture, every interaction builds—or erodes—trust. The influence map starts with reality: how human relationships work. And that calls for brands that are more consistent, more self-aware, and more intentional.
It’s not just about being seen. It’s about being remembered—for the right reasons. About showing up in the right conversation, with the right tone, at the right moment.
Shifting from funnel to map is a sign of strategic maturity. Because understanding influence isn’t just another tactic—it’s a new way of seeing the business. One that works whether you're a tech startup looking for traction, or a consolidated company ready to scale without losing your essence.
