You know what I’ve been doing over the last few weeks? I’ve been going through everything we tested in our business in 2025. Every funnel, every launch, every marketing strategy, every offer.

And honestly, some of it worked really well—like surprisingly well—and some of it absolutely did not.

And I think it’s really important to be honest about that because I see a lot of people in this industry talking about what’s working, but they never tell you when something stops working or when they scrap a strategy entirely.

Or more importantly, why.

And that’s not helpful.

So today I’m walking you through every single marketing strategy we tried in 2025. I’m gonna give you the real numbers and results, and I’m gonna tell you exactly what we’re bringing into 2026 and what we’re leaving behind.

Because here’s the thing: the market changed this year. The algorithms changed. Buyer behavior changed.

And if you’re not paying attention to that and adjusting your strategy, you’re going to waste a lot of time and energy on tactics that just aren’t hitting anymore.

Strategy #1: The Lead Gen Engine Funnel

This is a classic front-end funnel. You run ads to a lead magnet, people opt in, and they go into an email sequence that sells them a low-ticket product.

At the start of the year, I would give this strategy a solid 7 out of 10. We were able to add thousands of people to our list every week, and it was ROAS positive—which was great, particularly in our very expensive niche.

But here’s what got really interesting.

As the year went on, despite multiple optimizations, the ROAS really dropped. And I think this is directly tied to the changes in Facebook’s ads algorithm.

What Went Wrong

The types of people Facebook was putting our ads in front of were way more likely to opt in than they were to actually buy.

Previously we were getting a lot of buyers coming through with those leads. But the conversions to sales—especially those initial conversions that get attributed back to the ads—that was getting much harder.

By the end of the year we were sitting at about a ROAS of 1, which means we’re breaking even.

What We’re Doing About It

This strategy is still running, but it’s moved from being our major front-end player to being a supporting player. We’ve shifted our focus and our ad budget elsewhere.

Verdict: Yes, bringing it into 2026, but it’s been demoted to a secondary strategy.

Strategy #2: Live Webinars vs. Evergreen Webinars

I needed to create a webinar for our new funnel. So I scheduled a live webinar, invited people to it, and showed up live to deliver it.

The webinar content itself was good. People really liked it. But the actual event of the live webinar? I would only give it a 4 out of 10.

What Went Wrong

Show-up rates were terrible. My market is saturated. They’re skeptical. They’ve been to a million webinars before. They’re also more time-poor than ever. And they’re international, so it’s really hard to find a time that works for even a majority of my audience.

Because the show-up rates were so low (maybe about 15%), it just wasn’t a super profitable exercise.

But Here’s the Twist

Once we turned that webinar into an evergreen webinar, I now rate it 8 out of 10. It’s been running in our funnel ever since, and it’s been making sales consistently.

The actual content of the webinar was good. The offer was good. It was just that live format that doesn’t work for my audience.

Verdict: Live webinars are out. Evergreen webinars are still in.

Strategy #3: The Live Paid Challenge

We ran a live paid challenge and went all in to make it the best thing we’d ever created. The goal was for people to come in, create a funnel, and have it done by the end of the week.

Round One: 9 out of 10

The first time we ran it, the energy was incredible. People were completing it at the highest rate I’ve ever seen. People were making sales within that first week. Our upsell rate into our other programs was over 20%.

It was amazing.

So naturally we decided to run it again three months later.

Round Two: 3 out of 10

And here’s what went wrong.

In between the two challenges, we weren’t adding as many people to our list. So we just didn’t have enough new people to make that same offer to just three months later.

When we opened the doors the second time, even though the sales numbers were similar, the energy was completely different. We had a lot more total beginners come through, and for them, a lot of what we were teaching was overwhelming.

Our conversion rate into our other programs at the end was only about 5%, and it was not as fun to run.

What We Learned

The live paid challenge model can work really well, but it’s very dependent on having the right people in the room. And to get the right people in the room, you need to be very aggressively list-building in between.

Verdict: Live paid challenge with this particular setup is out for 2026. But we’ve turned it into an evergreen funnel, and that’s working really well.

Strategy #4: The Segmented VIP Launch

This one was a huge win.

We went through our entire list and honed in on the top 1-2%. Then we sent them a private invitation to a new high-touch premium offer.

No big public launch. No webinar. No flashy campaign. Just a simple, personal VIP invitation.

How It Performed

I give this a 10 out of 10.

We sold it out really quickly and really simply. No sales calls required. Just a couple of DMs back and forth with people who had specific questions.

The whole thing felt effortless, aligned, and very profitable.

Why Did This Work?

Because we were only reaching out to people who were already our hottest leads. They’d worked with us before. They were engaged and active and trusted us.

When we said, “Hey, we’ve got something new. We think it’d be great for you. It’s invite only, and there’s only a few spots,” they were very ready to say yes.

Verdict: 100% in for 2026. We wanna do more of this.

Strategy #5: Low-Ticket Offer with Direct Ads

This is what’s actually replacing our Lead Gen Engine funnel as our main front-end strategy going into 2026.

I started testing this in November. And based on what I’d been learning about the big shifts in the Facebook ad space, it was becoming clear that Facebook ads were once again really favoring simple, direct low-ticket offers.

Why This Works Now

What Facebook wants right now is it wants to be able to make a lot of conversions really quickly. The quicker the better.

So instead of running ads to a lead magnet and then trying to convert people via email over the coming days and weeks, we started running ads directly to sales for a low-ticket offer.

And here’s the key: it has to be the right offer. Something that is so good, so valuable, so compelling, so unique, so of the moment that people need to have it—they’re gonna buy it cold.

How It Performed

Current score: 10 out of 10.

It is working better than any other ad campaign I think I’ve run in my entire career.

We are getting a 3-5x ROAS on the direct ads versus a 1x ROAS on the lead gen.

I’ve never had more than a 2x ROAS in my market for a direct offer ever.

Verdict: This is going to be one of the pillars of our 2026 strategy as long as it keeps working. 100% in for 2026.

Want to Hear the Full Breakdown?

I cover all seven strategies in way more detail in my latest podcast episode, including the exact numbers, why certain strategies stopped working, the specific algorithm changes that impacted our results, and how to know which strategies are right for YOUR business.

Listen to the full episode here

So What’s YOUR Move?

As you’re planning your 2026 strategy, ask yourself:

• What worked for you in 2025?
• What didn’t?
• And what are you going to do differently this year?

If you want help with any of these strategies, drop us a DM over at @hellofunnels and let’s chat.