For years, marketers have described the customer journey as a funnel: awareness at the top, consideration in the middle and purchase at the bottom.

That model is increasingly out of step with how homeowners make home improvement decisions.

Today’s home improvement customer journey is less like a funnel and more like a network. A homeowner might discover a product on social media, research the category on Google, compare options on a retailer’s website, ask a contractor for a recommendation, read reviews, visit a showroom and then return online before making a final decision.

And the journey rarely happens in that exact order.

For manufacturers and marketers in the building products industry, that changes things. The goal is no longer simply moving a customer down a funnel. It is making sure your brand is useful, credible and easy to find wherever the customer moves next.

Home Improvement Decisions Are Built Over Time

Home improvement purchases are different from many everyday consumer purchases. A new roof, garage door opener, HVAC system, flooring project or kitchen remodel can involve significant cost, technical considerations and multiple decision-makers.

That creates a longer and more complex path to purchase.

The Home Improvement Research Institute's 2025 Project Decision Study examines homeowner behavior across 47 project categories, focusing on projects valued at $5,000 or more. The research looks beyond the transaction itself to understand the entire process, from the initial idea through planning, professional selection, product selection, purchasing and project completion.

HIRI specifically examines the influences and resources homeowners use when selecting projects, professionals and materials, as well as the purchasing channels they ultimately use. That broader view matters because there may be many opportunities to influence a homeowner before a purchase.

Search May Start the Journey—but It Doesn't Own It

Imagine a homeowner considering a new outdoor living space.

They might begin with a Google search for deck ideas. That search leads to a manufacturer's educational article. Later, Instagram or Pinterest provides inspiration. A retailer's website helps establish a rough product budget. YouTube explains differences between materials.

Then, a contractor enters the picture.

The contractor recommends a product the homeowner hasn't considered. The homeowner searches for that brand, reads reviews, visits its website and checks availability at a local retailer. They may even visit a dealer or showroom to see the product before returning home and doing another round of online research.

There isn't a clean handoff from awareness to consideration to conversion. Instead, search, social, retail, contractors, reviews, manufacturer websites, dealers and physical locations can continuously influence one another.

The importance of those touchpoints also changes depending on the project. HIRI notes that project timelines differ meaningfully by category: mechanical projects tend to move faster, exterior projects are influenced by seasonality, and major renovations typically involve much longer planning and execution periods.

In other words, there isn't one universal home improvement funnel because there isn't one universal home improvement purchase.

Contractors Aren't Just an Audience. They're Part of the Customer Journey.

One of the biggest mistakes in building product marketing is treating homeowner and professional marketing as separate activities.

Homeowners may research products themselves, but contractors, installers, dealers, designers and other professionals can become highly influential at critical moments. HIRI's research explicitly examines how homeowners select professionals as well as products and materials, reinforcing how interconnected those decisions can be.

Consider what happens when a homeowner spends weeks researching a product online and then asks an installer for an opinion. If the installer recommends something else, the journey can change immediately.

The opposite can happen, too. A contractor may introduce a homeowner to a brand, prompting the homeowner to research it independently before agreeing to the recommendation. That means successful home improvement marketing must build confidence on both sides of the decision.

Homeowners need clear benefits, useful education, reviews and reassurance. Professionals need product information, installation resources, availability, technical support and a compelling reason to recommend the brand.

When those experiences reinforce each other, brands have a much stronger position at the point of decision.

Retail Is Both a Store and a Media Channel

Retailers have also become much more than the final place where a transaction occurs.

Retail websites are research engines.

Homeowners use them to compare prices, check specifications, evaluate availability, read customer reviews, view product imagery and determine what fits their project. That means a product detail page can influence the purchase even when the eventual transaction occurs somewhere else.

A homeowner could research a product on a major home improvement retailer's website and ultimately buy through a contractor or dealer. Conversely, a contractor could recommend a product that the homeowner later researches and purchases online.

For manufacturers, retailer content shouldn't be treated as the final step of e-commerce execution. Titles, descriptions, images, comparison charts, specifications, reviews, videos and enhanced content all contribute to the brand experience. The digital shelf is part of the customer journey.

Reviews Can Send Buyers Backward—and That's Okay

Traditional funnel thinking assumes customers steadily move closer to purchase. Real customers move backward all the time.

A homeowner may believe they've selected a product, encounter several negative reviews and restart their research. They might discover an installation concern and return to Google. A contractor recommendation may cause them to compare brands again. A showroom visit may introduce an entirely different option.

Those moments aren't necessarily failures in the journey. They're part of how homeowners reduce risk.

For higher-cost projects especially, homeowners often need information, professional input and reassurance before committing. HIRI notes that kitchen renovations, for example, demand significant time, information and professional involvement. Instead of asking only, "How do we get customers to the next stage?" marketers should also ask:

What question could cause a customer to leave this path, and will our brand be there when they start looking for the answer?

That shift leads to a very different marketing strategy.

Marketing Should Surround the Decision, Not Chase the Funnel

If the customer journey isn't linear, marketing shouldn't be either. Brands need an ecosystem of connected experiences that helps homeowners move confidently among channels.

1. Own the questions, not just the keywords.

SEO should address the real questions homeowners ask throughout a project, not simply high-volume product terms.

Early searches may focus on inspiration or project costs. Later searches may compare materials, features or brands. Still later, homeowners may search for installation information, reviews, warranties, local professionals or where to buy.

An effective SEO strategy creates useful content across that entire spectrum.

2. Make product information consistent everywhere.

A homeowner shouldn't encounter one product story on a manufacturer's website and a completely different one at retail.

Product benefits, imagery, specifications and positioning should remain recognizable across manufacturer websites, retailer product pages, dealer sites and professional materials. Consistency reduces friction and builds confidence.

3. Treat social as discovery and validation.

Social media doesn't always generate an immediate purchase, and it doesn't have to. It can introduce a project idea, demonstrate a product in a real environment, answer a common question or reinforce a brand a homeowner encountered somewhere else.

Its role may change throughout the journey.

4. Give professionals tools to reinforce the brand.

If contractors and dealers influence the decision, they need more than a product catalog. Installation resources, comparison tools, training, sales materials, project imagery, videos and clear homeowner-facing benefits can help professionals confidently recommend a product.

5. Connect physical and digital experiences.

Showrooms, dealer locations, retail aisles and contractor conversations should lead naturally back into digital experiences. QR codes, project galleries, comparison tools, installation videos, dealer locators and other resources can help homeowners continue researching after a physical interaction.

The experience shouldn't reset every time the customer changes channels.

Measure Influence, Not Just the Last Click

A nonlinear journey also creates a measurement problem.

If someone discovers a product through social media, researches it through search, reads reviews at retail, speaks with a contractor and eventually purchases through a dealer, which channel gets credit?

Traditional attribution models may assign the conversion to the final measurable interaction, but the final interaction isn't necessarily the most influential one.

Marketers should therefore look beyond last-click conversion and evaluate indicators such as branded search growth, product page engagement, retailer activity, dealer or contractor leads, content engagement, review activity, video consumption and assisted conversions.

No single metric tells the entire story. The objective is to understand whether the marketing ecosystem is increasing the likelihood that the brand remains in consideration as homeowners move among touchpoints.

The Brands That Win Will Be the Easiest to Keep Choosing

The modern home improvement customer journey doesn't have a single entrance, and it doesn't have a predictable sequence.

A homeowner can enter through Google, Amazon, a home improvement retailer, TikTok, YouTube, a contractor recommendation, a neighbor's project, a showroom or a dealer.

From there, they can move almost anywhere. That's why the opportunity for manufacturers isn't simply to create a better funnel. It's to create a better-connected experience.

Brands that provide useful information in search, strong content at retail, credible reviews, helpful social content, knowledgeable professionals and consistent experiences across dealers and showrooms give homeowners fewer reasons to remove them from consideration.

The question for building products marketers is no longer, How do we move homeowners down the funnel?

It's, How do we make our brand the easiest choice wherever the homeowner goes next?

About the Author

Christine Corbissero is a marketing professional with more than 25 years of experience helping brands connect strategy, sales and customer engagement. Her background includes retail merchandising, digital marketing and dealer network strategy, giving her a unique perspective on how national brands and local markets work together to drive growth. As a marketing director, she has managed multiple dealer markets, developing campaigns that balance brand consistency with local market relevance. Outside of work, she enjoys absorbing all kinds of marketing and branding, from standout campaigns and retail experiences to the creative strategies that make people connect with brands in memorable ways.

Source: Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI), 2025 Project Decision Study. The study examines how homeowners plan, fund and execute home improvement projects across 47 project categories, with a focus on projects valued at $5,000 or more.