Jump to section Overview Funnels don’t collapse suddenly. They erode quietly. Dashboards may appear stable while real buyers drop off where you least notice. Consider a single buyer journey on the Atlassian Marketplace. They may begin with a paid ad, drop into your listing, then slip away to Google to read a competitor’s blog. Later, they receive your general product pitch email that fails to fit them. The buyer’s momentum stalls, pushing them towards your competitor’s narrative. Effort isn’t the issue. You use ads, content, email, and listings. The problem: each stage works in isolation. The story breaks. The flow disconnects. Buyers abandon. We call that funnel debt: outdated mechanics and fractured messaging that quietly drain revenue. 10 Signs You’re Suffering from Funnel Debt Brighttail’s nearly decade-long track record in the Atlassian Marketplace means we know exactly where funnel debt shows up and how to close those gaps. Our Full-Funnel Insight Package has turned fragmented, underperforming funnels into high-flow systems delivering results like +2,000% traffic growth and +1,000%+ SEO lift. The signs you’re about to read are drawn from patterns we’ve diagnosed again and again. And the fixes? They’re straight from the Full-Funnel Insight Package playbook, which we have used to help vendors reclaim demand and outpace competitors. Attract (Paid + SEO) Sign #1: You’re Still Only Targeting BoFu Keywords If your paid and SEO strategy is stuck on queries like “Jira integration pricing” and “Confluence app demo,” you’re fishing only where demand already exists. That makes CAC skyrocket because you’re competing in crowded auctions. Meanwhile, competitors are shaping new demand earlier – B2B buyers tend to be more than 70% through their journey before contacting a vendor. Fix: Layer MoFu and BoFu campaigns into your mix. Think topic clusters like “How to streamline Jira workflows without overhead” or “5 ways to improve Confluence adoption.” Pair with landing pages that capture interest before it turns into a branded search for your competitor. Sign #2: Your Blog Strategy Was Built for SEO in 2019 Keyword volume is not intent. Publishing articles that rank but don’t align with what buyers need leads to inflated traffic that doesn’t convert. We’ve seen vendors produce dozens of blogs without a single path back to a demo. Fix: Build intent clusters. Think awareness posts linked to MoFu guides, which then connect to decision-stage assets (BoFu) and your Marketplace listing. Every piece should act as a bridge, not a dead end. Sign #3: Your Competitors Are Gaining Share by Out-Positioning You The strongest competitor isn’t always the one with the most features. It’s the one who frames the problem best. Buyers often decide who’s “leading” before they even arrive at the Marketplace listing. Fix: Take control of the narrative. Use ads, blogs, and SEO content to define the problem space and seed your unique advantage. By the time they reach your listing, the story should already lean in your favor. Engage (Content + Email) Sign #4: Every Email Nurture Starts with “Here’s What Our Product Does” Leading with features is a surefire way to lose attention. Buyers want to know you understand their pain points before they care about your feature set. Fix: Flip the sequence. Start with insights into the problems your buyer is facing (“Why admin overhead slows Jira adoption”), then link to comparison guides or case studies. The product comes only after buyers trust you to understand their world. Sign #5: Your MoFu/BoFu Content Gaps Stall Buyers Mid-Journey Plenty of vendors invest in awareness blogs but fail to bridge the gap to decision-making. Buyers learn something useful, but have nowhere to go next. Fix: Fill the middle. Add comparison guides, ROI calculators, and proof-driven case studies. These assets create momentum and keep buyers moving forward instead of drifting back to Google. Sign #6: You Have One Landing Page for Five Buyer Personas A project manager, an IT admin, and a finance lead don’t care about the same things. Sending them all to a single generic landing page means no one feels understood. This is supported by research from McKinsey: 71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76 percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. Fix: Segment by role, use case, or funnel stage. Create tailored landing pages and nurture flows that speak directly to each persona’s priorities. Convert (Marketplace + CTAs) Sign #7: Your Marketplace Listing is a Copy-Paste of Your Website Buyers evaluate differently inside the Marketplace. They’re comparing side by side, scanning for proof points, and looking for alignment with what they saw earlier. A generic website-style listing falls flat. Fix: Rewrite your listing for Marketplace criteria: clear problem-solution framing, credibility markers (reviews, customer logos), transparent pricing, and language that echoes earlier touchpoints so the journey feels cohesive. Sign #8: Your CTAs and Conversion Paths Lack Cohesion If every blog ends with “Contact Sales” or every ad dumps to a homepage, you’re forcing buyers to restart their journey at each click. That kills momentum. Fix: Map CTAs like stepping stones. Awareness blogs should lead to MoFu guides, which link to Marketplace listings, which tee up demos. Each action should be the logical next step, not a shot in the dark. Sign #9: You’re Running Ads Without CRO-Ready Content Paying for clicks is expensive. Losing them because your post-click experience doesn’t match the ad promise is worse. Fix: Align ad creative tightly with landing pages. If your ad says “Cut Jira admin by 40%,” the landing page should show exactly how, supplemented with a relevant next step like a demo or case study. Post-Conversion → Retention/Expansion Sign #10: Your Funnel is Still Linear While Buyers Move Back and Forth Today’s buyers don’t move neatly from awareness to consideration to decision. They loop (to the tune of more than 27 touchpoints). They revisit blogs, ask peers in Slack groups, and check reviews before pulling the trigger. If your funnel only works linearly, you miss opportunities to re-engage. Fix: Build modular journeys. Give buyers ways to re-enter at different stages, consume more content, and reconvert. For existing customers, that means targeted nurture for upsells, re-engagement campaigns, and expansion plays. What This Means for You If you see three or more of these signs in your funnel, you’re operating with debt. It may not feel urgent today, but every week of inaction compounds the cost: higher CAC, slower pipeline, and lost renewals. Brighttail’s Full-Funnel Insight Package is designed to surface these gaps and reset GTM engines for today’s Atlassian Marketplace reality. What it includes: A full-funnel audit across every touchpoint Journey mapping to align message, medium, and motion A reset plan that prioritizes flow, fit, and velocity Modernize your funnel before your competitors widen the gap. Get a Full-Funnel Audit Check now.
Learn how to win out-of-market buyers with our new book—Buystander Personas.
Learn how to win out-of-market buyers with our new book—Buystander Personas.