Before lower-funnel efficiency starts declining. The signals to watch are rising CPAs on retargeting, shrinking remarketing pool sizes, and new customer acquisition rates that have plateaued despite increased spend. By the time those appear, the upper-funnel deficit has already been accumulating for months.
Upper-funnel investment builds the audience pools that lower-funnel channels depend on. More people aware of your brand means larger retargeting pools, higher branded search volume, better conversion rates on acquisition campaigns, and lower CPAs across the program. The effect compounds when upper-funnel investment is maintained and deteriorates when it gets cut.
It depends on your audience and objectives. CTV and YouTube work well for video storytelling with measurable reach. Demand Gen combines visual formats with Google's intent signals. Programmatic display and audio reach audiences across the open web and podcast ecosystem. Thrive evaluates channel selection against your customer data and validates investment with incrementality testing.
