Portals are the new funnels (and other thoughts about non-linear marketing)
- Nicole Ayres
- Mar 20
- 5 min read
There you were. Running around in circles, trying to optimize the perfect marketing funnel when you accidentally fell into a wormhole.
Except in the wormhole, nothing's linear at all. And that's when you start to get it. The cosmic download that forever changes your life.
(Let's pretend your whole life is about marketing, you know, for story sake.)
WHOA. Marketing is no longer a straight line. It never was.
You'd been treating user journeys like predictable step-by-step IKEA instructions when, in reality, they move like constellations. Points of connection forming an experience that feels like a multidimensional web.
The Dissolution of the Funnel
Funnels are static. Rigid. They assume that awareness, interest, and conversion happen in some neat, organized sequence. But humans don’t behave that way anymore (and quite frankly, they never did.) Unless they were actually NPCs. (We'll explore simulation theory another time.)
Okay, so people are all over the place. They stumble upon your brand, forget about it, get reminded through a friend, deep dive into your content at 2 AM, leave, come back six months later because of that thing someone said on a podcast, and then suddenly – boom – they’re in.
And not because you nurtured them through some artificial timeline, but because something finally resonated.
The Emergence of the Portal
In "the old world," marketing used to be about control. We'd design a well-crafted journey, optimizing every touchpoint, and t̶r̶i̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ leading people toward conversion. Even our language was extremely masculine. GO HERE. BUY NOW. DO THIS.
But in "the new world", it’s about free will. Creating spaces where people can enter, explore, and connect in a way that feels organic to them. The language is more feminine. COME EXPLORE. WE'RE HERE WHENEVER YOU'RE READY. GUESS WHAT'S INSIDE.
And it's not just because we're a generation with PDA (pathological demand avoidance). But also because we're existing in a world with infinite possibilities.
A portal is an invitation, not a directive. Instead of herding users through a pre-planned path, we create multiple access points that allow them to engage in their own way, at their own speed, at their own choosing.
Think of it like a living organism, where every interaction expands and deepens the relationship instead of pushing toward a one-time transaction.
Here’s how portals shift the game:
From rigid steps to intuitive flow – Instead of forcing users through a structured pipeline, a portal offers multiple entryways and lets users navigate based on curiosity, energy, and need.
From transactions to relationships – A portal isn’t about a single sale, it’s about an ongoing experience where engagement naturally evolves over time.
From static content to immersive environments – Portals go beyond just blogs and ads. They're rich, interactive spaces like communities, dynamic learning hubs, immersive storytelling, and experiences that people return to.
From one-time conversion to resonance – Funnels optimize for conversion. Portals create gravitational pull. A well-built portal makes people want to stay in your world because it aligns with something deeper in them.
Ahh, there it is. Good marketers are world-builders.
Most brands are out here copying 1D playbooks when they could be creating multi-dimensional realities.
They’re tweaking ad copy, running A/B tests, and optimizing the hell out of their funnels, but at the end of the day, all they’re doing is chasing slightly better conversion rates.
Let's pause to see how that feels in your body. Bored? Unimpressed? Us too.
Meanwhile, tapped in brands are out there building entire worlds. Places people actually want to step into, belong, and co-create with.
Those brands don’t have to beg you to click a button. They’ve made you want to be part of what they’re creating. We call that gravity.
Optimization is about squeezing a few extra percentage points out of a transaction. World-building is about making people care so much that they sell it to themselves – and everyone else for that matter.
When you build a world, you’re not constantly fighting for attention. You become the place people want to return to. That’s why Marvel doesn’t have to hard-sell you on their movies. You’re already in the world. You’re already bought in. Y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶w̶r̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶a̶n̶ ̶f̶i̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶R̶e̶d̶d̶i̶t̶.̶
So yeah, you can keep optimizing, or you can create a world in which people never want to leave. Which one sounds more fun? (For customers and for your employees, because girl, they're bored, too.)
So, what does world-building look like?
Decentralized touchpoints – Your audience flows in and out, led by curiosity, synchronicity, and resonance rather than a pre-defined step-by-step process. The brands winning right now aren’t guiding people. They’re creating spaces worth stepping into. Self-organizing micro-communities on Circle, Discord, or Slack. Creator-led ecosystems like podcasts, Twitch streams, or Patreon. Little Reddit rabbit holes. Things like that.
Experiential & Conscious Design – The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like an experience you get to be a part of. This is why retreats, events, and immersive storytelling are overtaking traditional conversion tactics. It’s why brands with strong identities and actual vibes are outpacing the ones just pushing ads.
AI & Synchronicity-Led Marketing – AI is getting really good at picking up on nonlinear user behavior, but here’s where it gets weird: marketing is starting to mirror synchronicities. The right message, delivered at the exact right moment, in a way that feels cosmic. Brands that learn to ride this wave, using data and intuition, are going to create movements a̶n̶d̶ s̶p̶i̶r̶i̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ a̶w̶a̶k̶e̶n̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ not just campaigns.
Portal-Based UX – If AI is going to give people all the recommendations and answers, get to reinvent the magic of a website. We predict they're going to stop being static pages with drop-down menus and start feeling more like jumping between realities. For instance, imagine instead of following a traditional nav bar, you’re guided through a flow based on play, story, or biometric responses. That’s where we’re headed. AI co-creating with the user in real time, making the entire web experience the media.
What This Means for the Future of Brand Building
Marketing is shifting from forcing attention to becoming a field of resonance. People aren’t looking to be sold to, they’re looking to step into something that feels like a mirror, an adventure, or personal expansion. If your brand can become that, you don’t need a funnel. You just need to become something people want to orbit. (Stay tuned for our course on Brand Lore.)
So, the next time you speak of "marketing campaigns", think in terms of portals and cosmic breadcrumbs. Interesting ways for people to flow in and out, deepening at their own pace, trusting that when the moment is right, they’ll land exactly where they’re meant to.
This isn’t theory. It’s already happening everything, everywhere, all at once. And we’re building it.