Next Best Action (NBA) : from funnels to fluid journeys in the age of AI
There was a time when customer journeys were simple:
.. Ad → Landing Page → Form → Thank You → Wait for a call ..
Marketers lived by the rulebooks of linear funnels, and the “next best action” (NBA) was often templated, timed, and mostly manual .. Well , Not anymore!
“AI didn’t just redesign user journeys , it rewrote the very script of it”
Today, AI doesn’t just ask what to do next. It predicts, personalizes, and pivots based on every scroll, pause, hover, and revisit. Let me explain with a few live wires from the field:
1. Lead generation for services , re-wired
You land on a SaaS website, skim through a product blog, jump to pricing, but don’t fill a form. Traditionally, you’d be lost.
.. now, an AI engine senses the intent, not just the action. A chatbot pops up: “Want a custom ROI calculator based on your industry?”
Thst’s NBA? Not to follow-up—to hold the user right there.
2. Content journeys , not just reading paths
An influencer shares a long-form post on burnout. You read 80% and linger on a paragraph about sleep routines.
Earlier: “Subscribe for more.”
v/s Now: You get nudged toward a sleep tracking app, reviewed by the same influencer—personalized by the AI.
That’s NBA where the context meets commerce.
3. E-commerce that also listens
I searched for “white sneakers for casual wear” last week which is currently in fashion. When I returned to the homepage, it didn’t show me trending items— rather it showed me white sneakers on discount along with “trending with” apparels , in my size, with a “get the look now” option.
At checkout, as I hesitated .. and it offered a small discount and “7 day return with full refund” offer. It wasn’t an upsell. It was a relevant intervention.
So , what are we witnessing here — “The Mega Shift : from funnels to flows”
The biggest change? We’ve moved from static paths to dynamic decisions.
NBA today is not about the next step. It’s about the right step , taken at the right time , in the right voice , for the right user – to achive the right goal !
Whether it’s a micro-copy change done in real-time or a timely nudge, or an invisible orchestration – AI is turning journeys into conversations where the Hero is the User.
I’ll end this post with a a question to reflect on for your respective business which has online presense to sell products or services ( by the way , I’ve been trying to answer it for last 15 months or so and still getting there ) :
Is your AI pushing people down funnels, or is it guiding them through flows?
Because in this era, context isn’t just king—it’s the compass which guides the user in the right direction.
Author – Sumit Rajwade, Co-founder: mPrompto
