Key Takeaways:
- MiQ’s report argues the traditional marketing funnel no longer matches real consumer behavior, with 87% of people switching digital activities at least hourly and 42% describing their path to purchase as random.
- The findings show marketers need more flexible, cross-channel strategies as second-screen use, AI shopping tools, social commerce, and fragmented measurement reshape how people discover and buy.
A new report confirms the new reality for B2B marketers: the marketing funnel is proving to be a model that no longer reflects how consumers actually behave
Global research from MiQ, a leading programmatic media company, finds that 87% of consumers switch between digital activities at least once an hour. They move in rapid and often unpredictable ways, with 42% saying their path to purchase feels entirely random.
MiQ’s proprietary analysis of 53 million households, conducted through its Sigma platform and supplemented through a commissioned study by Censuswide of over 4,000 consumers and 600 marketing professionals, has yielded From Funnel to Flexibility report. This global report suggests that marketers must plan, measure, and optimize media differently than they have in the past.
How B2B Marketers Must Change their Funnel Approach
The report offers that the formerly separate states of watching, browsing and buying are blurring together: 91% of consumers use a second device while watching TV and 69% say they discover brands they like even when they’re not actively shopping. These findings offer proof that so-called ‘passive’ moments are commercially significant, not dead time, said Jordan Bitterman, Global Chief Marketing Officer, MiQ.
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“Couches have become the new storefronts as consumers move from screen to screen, almost in the same breath,” said Bitterman in a statement. “Today, a full customer journey can conceivably take place in hours or minutes, instead of weeks or days. To keep up, marketers must shift from rigid funnels to flexible frameworks. This isn’t just a planning shift for marketers, but a mandate for the adtech industry to move beyond channel silos toward systems that unify data, intelligence, and activation, so every investment is accountable to both brand and business outcomes.”
What Impact is AI, Social Media Having
This is happening in part as artificial intelligence (AI) tools and social platforms act as accelerants: 45% of consumers use AI chatbots when shopping and 72% of consumers under 34 have made a purchase inside a social app — an entire journey completed without switching screens, and a clear signal that marketers must meet consumers wherever those moments occur.
Buyer behavior has outpaced how most marketers operate as 71% of consumers say they get distracted mid-research and only return to a purchase when prompted, turning retargeting into a structural challenge that many teams and toolsets aren’t built to handle. At the same time, 43% of marketers feel confident in their measurement, with fragmented screens and supply paths emerging as core blockers, which are gaps that have MiQ officials see calls for an urgent priorities change.
Moe Chughtai, Global VP of Strategy & Partnerships, MiQ, noted the B2B marketing funnel was built for a world where the customer journey was linear and that no longer exists.
“Today a consumer can see an ad on CTV, price-check the product on their phone, and buy it on social— all before the next commercial break,” said Chughtai.
