Funnels, the diagrams we used to create on whiteboards, are just about ready to retire. They made sense in the past, but the way consumers purchase today? It is a much different dance.
Consumers loop, circle, bounce back, binge-read, compare, wait, forget, remember, and come back later when something finally clicks.
None of these behaviours fit into a top-middle-bottom structure, or for that matter, any structured format.
This is why SLINKY‘s two decades of digital marketing expertise is so vital; they’ve watched this evolution firsthand and have mastered the art of capturing attention in a non linear world.
They make sure your brand remains visible through every “loop” and “bounce.”
Therefore, in 2026, more businesses will be transitioning to the flywheel model.
Instead of tackling marketing like a series of campaigns to push through each month, a flywheel turns growth into a continuous system that builds momentum, rather than draining it.
Our digital marketing services provide businesses with a process to transition from relying on constant pushes to developing systems that build their own momentum.
If you’ve found yourself reliant on large-scale bursts of marketing activity, you will likely find this approach easier to implement.
So… Why Did Funnels Begin To Seem Outdated?
Funnels assume customers move in a linear fashion. Newsflash: they don’t. It’s more like they zigzag.
People move between devices, apps, and conversations faster than most marketers can track. One day, they’re researching you. Next week, they forget you exist.
A month later, they stumble upon your blog at midnight and finally make a purchasing decision. A funnel diagram doesn’t accurately depict that reality.
Funnels are also ineffective at capturing what occurs after the sale. Most businesses grow faster through returning buyers, referrals and fans who love to tell others about you. Stopping the diagram after someone converts is like ending a movie halfway through.
The Flywheel: A Simple, Imperfect Explanation
Visualise a loop with three sections:
- Attract
- Engage
- Delight
Each section contributes to the next. What’s even more critical is that the momentum increases.
The greater your customer experience, the more people will speak positively about you, the more people will locate you, and the faster the wheel rotates.
The flywheel doesn’t reset. It accumulates.
One satisfied customer can generate another. And another. And another. That’s the magic.
Why 2026 Is the Ideal Year for Flywheel Thinking
Several current realities within the industry make this model particularly effective today.
1. Acquiring new customers is more expensive than ever
Privacy shifts, increasing costs per acquisition, and changing ad algorithms have increased the difficulty of acquiring new customers.
Ads still work, and we run plenty for our clients, but relying solely on ads is similar to watering a garden with a leaky hose.
Flywheels minimise reliance on ads by allowing previous efforts to continue generating revenue.
2. Word-of-mouth can spread at lightning speed online
People enjoy sharing screenshots, videos, short reviews, and little “You’ve got to try this!” messages. Online user-generated content now generates growth faster than many ad campaigns.
Flywheels capture this momentum rather than simply depending on luck.
3. Trust is king due to AI-assisted research
Increasingly, people depend on AI tools to assist them in deciding which products to buy. Therefore, the brands that differentiate themselves are the ones with a clear message, a good reputation, and helpful content, not the ones that shout the loudest.
Flywheels thrive in a trust-based environment.
Funnels vs Flywheels: What’s the Actual Difference?
A funnel-led business states such things as:
- “Let’s run a small campaign.”
- “We need more top-of-funnel traffic.”
- “When we stop running ads, we’re losing steam.”
These businesses’ growth is based on repeated pushes.
A flywheel-led business states:
- “How do we eliminate friction?”
- “What experience obstacles are slowing buyers?”
- “How can we turn our customers into vocal advocates?”
These businesses’ growth is based on eliminating obstacles and amplifying positive momentum.
One is a faucet. The other is an engine.
The Flywheel Stages (and How Our Digital Marketing Services Support Them)
Let’s dissect everything without sounding like a professor.
1. Attract: Get people in without screaming at them
Today, attraction is about being visible and helpful. Not being loud.
We aid businesses in establishing natural attraction through:
- SEO strategies that align with what real people want to learn about.
- Content that provides value, not repetition.
- Paid ads that focus on conversions, not vanity clicks.
- Social media posts that generate interest instead of blending into the feed.
Attraction is most effective when people find you naturally without feeling like you invaded their day.
2. Engage: Help people feel truly understood
Many businesses lose leads during the engagement phase with boring emails, stiff landing pages, and complicated website experiences.
Our engagement method focuses on providing communication that feels friendly and human-like. Some examples include:
- Emails that sound like a conversation instead of being robotic.
- Website experiences that lead users along subtly instead of overwhelming them.
- Lead magnets that really help instead of filling someone’s download folder with useless fluff.
- CRM and chat platforms that support users rather than pressuring them.
Users convert when they feel valued, not cornered.
3. Delight: Turn customers into your fastest-growing channel
Delight is grossly undervalued. A single enthusiastic customer often influences more revenue than a month of subpar ads.
We support this through:
- Nurturing post-purchase satisfaction to increase confidence.
- Helpful onboarding processes so users aren’t confused.
- Review-generation systems that foster genuine shared experiences.
- Value-based content that continues to engage users even after their purchase.
Delight should never be forced. It should feel like, “Wow, they actually put some thought into this.”
Watch Out for Friction: It Causes All Things to Slow Down
Even the most effective flywheels fail when too much friction develops.
Some forms of friction are:
- A website that takes a long time to load.
- Unclear or confusing messaging.
- Complicated checkout procedures.
- Advertising that promises one thing but the landing page delivers something else.
- No transparency regarding price.
- Forms that make customers feel like they’re being interrogated.
We conduct audits, analytics checks and customer experience evaluations to assist businesses in identifying and addressing these issues.
At times, even making small adjustments (such as increasing the speed of a web page) may generate higher income than a new marketing campaign.
Clarity generates action. Confusion slows them down.
Building More Force: The Momentum Boosters
When friction is minimised, building force is less expensive and simpler to implement. This could also include:
- Writing content that addresses actual customer inquiries.
- Strengthening your search engine optimisation (SEO) so you’re more visible during key moments.
- Improving your retargeting to provide value rather than annoyance.
- Creating additional experiences that give satisfaction to customers.
- Maintaining consistency among various platforms.
Boosting your momentum doesn’t always equate to spending money. Refining your current efforts can also produce some of the greatest results.
A flywheel can provide both emotional momentum as well as mechanical momentum. People prefer to purchase from companies that appear stable and considerate, not hectic.
An Actual Example: What a Strong Flywheel Looks Like
Imagine a company that’s experiencing stagnant growth. Their advertising is active. Occasionally, emails are being sent.
Social media posts are posted every now and then. All aspects function correctly; however, none are creating compounding effects.
We help to rehabilitate the way they operate as follows:
- Rebuild their SEO targeting so they show up within the early stages of the research process.
- Develop a lead magnet that assists with a simple customer pain point.
- Revise their email communications to sound more like a helpful person.
- Improve their onboarding to ensure customer confidence from day one.
- Establish review points at logical junctures, but never aggressively.
- Use those positive reviews in advertising and social media.
- Observe as customer trust increases, along with conversion rates and referrals.
This is how momentum begins.
Are Funnels Dead?
No. Funnels continue to have use for brief advertising or product launches where there’s a linear sequence to follow.
However, as a framework for sustained digital growth, the flywheel far surpasses a funnel.
Funnels show steps. Flywheels demonstrate systems.
Funnels push. Flywheels spin.
How We Provide Digital Marketing Assistance to Support Flywheel Growth
If a company is limited to producing individual campaigns and beginning from scratch each month, feeling as though its marketing is fragmented, we provide support to enable them to:
- Find and remove the friction that is causing decreased conversions
- Generate visibility across multiple channels
- Produce engaging content that feels relatable and warm, not robotic
- Develop streamlined lead generation processes to be more personalised
- Improve onboarding and post-purchase interactions to be more supportive
- Set up performance tracking structures to accurately measure results
- Turn customers into advocates for the company
- Develop a flywheel that continues to gain speed due to positive customer interactions, regardless of whether or not ads are currently active.
Our objective is to develop a systematic structure that generates momentum with each positive interaction with customers.
Achieving growth doesn’t have to feel like a constant steep uphill climb. It should be like watching a well-built flywheel gather speed, initially gradually and eventually rapidly, smoothly and with strength.
Final Thoughts
Companies using flywheel thinking in 2026 will quickly notice the differences. Customers stay longer. Lead conversions become easier.
Marketing becomes less disorganised. The entire organisation develops some sort of rhythm.
If your business would like to achieve that kind of continuous growth, our digital marketing team can help you establish a flywheel that keeps spinning even after campaigns end. Because true growth is not achieved through sprints.
True growth is achieved through momentum.