Framework · Visual Reference

Diagram Library

Thirty diagrams illustrating The Marketing Helix framework. Thin line art in the framework's visual language: from the complete model to individual forces, trust mechanics, signal gravity, and the post-purchase loop. All diagrams available to download as PNG.

Group 01

Framework Overview

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The Marketing Helix: Complete Model

Framework Overview
The customer as a straight line moving up, with trust, relevance and timing winding around it before and after the purchaseThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the middle of the picture. Three strands, trust, relevance and timing, wind around the line as a helix: wide at the bottom, where most messages drift past, and tightening as they rise to a ring marked purchase. The funnel ends at that ring. The customer line carries on above it, the three strands stay close around it as the Post-Purchase Helix, and dotted gold lines carry trust out to two new potential customers, each drawn as a line of their own. THE CUSTOMER PURCHASE THE FUNNEL ENDS HERE. THE CUSTOMER KEEPS MOVING. NEW POTENTIAL CUSTOMER NEW POTENTIAL CUSTOMER TRUST COMPOUNDS BEFORE THE PURCHASE THE POST-PURCHASE HELIX MESSAGES DRIFT PAST TRUST RELEVANCE TIMING

The complete model. The customer is the straight line through the middle, and it moves up. Trust (purple), relevance (teal), and timing (blue) wind around the customer: far out at first, where most messages drift past, and closer as they align. The funnel ends at the purchase. The customer does not: the three forces stay close in the Post-Purchase Helix, and trust reaches new potential customers.

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Customer in Motion

Framework Overview
The customer as a straight line moving up through time, with trust, relevance and timing winding around itThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the middle of the picture, with a marker on it at the moment labeled now. The line below the marker is solid: the path already traveled. The line above it is dashed: the path still ahead. Three strands, trust, relevance and timing, wind around the line as a helix and close in as they rise to the customer. Around them, small gray messages drift past, and one is being pulled in toward the customer. TIME NOW THE CUSTOMER AHEAD BEHIND PULLED IN DRIFTS PAST TRUST RELEVANCE TIMING

The customer is never stationary. They are the line through the middle, moving straight ahead through time, while trust, relevance, and timing wind around them as a helix. The solid line behind shows where they have been; the dashed line ahead shows where they are going. No stage gates, no waiting rooms.

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The flat rings of a gravity well lifting off the plane into a spiral that climbs around the customer lineAt the bottom, three flat gray rings lie on a plane around the customer line: the gravity well seen at one instant. From the outer ring a blue line lifts off the plane and winds upward around the customer, turn after turn: the same rings, climbing through time. The customer is the dark straight line rising through the middle. THE FLAT GRAVITY WELL: ATTRACTION AT ONE INSTANT THE CUSTOMER THE SAME RINGS, CLIMBING THROUGH TIME

Lift the flat gravity well off the plane and let it advance through time, and the rings become a spiral that climbs around the customer. Attraction is preserved; motion and compounding are added. The static well becomes a path.

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Market in Motion

Framework Overview
Five customers as five rising lines, each with the same message orbiting at a different distanceFive customers are drawn as five dark straight lines, all rising, each at a different height. A blue message orbits every one of them, at a different distance each time: far out around the first, close around the third, in between around the others. The market is many customers, all moving, each on a different orbit. FAR OUT CLOSE MANY CUSTOMERS, ALL MOVING, EACH ON A DIFFERENT ORBIT THE SAME MESSAGE (BLUE) ORBITS EACH OF THEM AT A DIFFERENT DISTANCE

The market is not a single customer: it is many customers, all moving at once, each on a different orbit. The same message sits far out from one, closer to another, and close to a third. Marketing is not a campaign aimed at one stage; it is a field condition maintained across all of them.

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Group 02

The Three Forces

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The Three Forces

The Three Forces
Trust, relevance and timing as three rings turning around the customer, each on its own planeThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the middle, with a marker at the center of the picture. Three rings turn around that center, each tilted on its own plane: trust in purple, relevance in teal, timing in blue. A dot on each ring shows where that force is now; the three dots sit at different points. Each turns at its own pace, and pull needs all three near at once. TIMING RELEVANCE TRUST THE CUSTOMER EACH TURNS AT ITS OWN PACE. PULL NEEDS ALL THREE NEAR AT ONCE.

Three forces turn around the customer at the center, each on its own plane and at its own pace: trust, relevance, and timing. When all three are near at the same moment, pull occurs. They rarely align by accident.

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Three Forces Aligning

The Three Forces
Trust, relevance and timing moving independently over time, meeting at one moment, then separating againThree lines run left to right over time: trust in purple, relevance in teal, timing in blue. Each wavers on its own course, at its own rhythm, apart from the others. At one moment, marked alignment, all three meet at a single point. To the right of that point they separate again: it does not last, because all three keep moving. TRUST RELEVANCE TIMING ALIGNMENT IT DOES NOT LAST: ALL THREE KEEP MOVING TIME

Trust, relevance, and timing each follow their own course through time, never quite synchronized. At one moment all three meet: that convergence is the pull. It does not last, because all three keep moving.

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Trust, relevance and timing moving independently over time, meeting at one moment, then separating againThree lines run left to right over time: trust in purple, relevance in teal, timing in blue. Each wavers on its own course, at its own rhythm, apart from the others. At one moment, marked alignment, all three meet at a single point. To the right of that point they separate again: it does not last, because all three keep moving. TRUST RELEVANCE TIMING ALIGNMENT IT DOES NOT LAST: ALL THREE KEEP MOVING TIME

Trust, relevance, and timing each follow their own course through time, never quite synchronized. At one moment all three meet: that convergence is the pull. It does not last, because all three keep moving.

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Group 03

Signal Gravity

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Push vs. Pull

Signal Gravity
Two panels: a brand pushing force outward past its customers, and a customer pulling messages inwardTwo panels side by side. On the left, labeled push, a brand is a small square sending straight arrows out in every direction; three customers, drawn as rising lines, stand in the way and the arrows pass them by. On the right, labeled pull, the customer is a rising line with a marker on it, and three blue messages curve inward toward that marker: the customer draws in the messages that have earned it. BRAND THE CUSTOMER PUSH FORCE GOES OUT IN EVERY DIRECTION AND PASSES THE CUSTOMERS BY PULL THE CUSTOMER DRAWS IN THE MESSAGES THAT HAVE EARNED IT

Left: push radiates outward from the brand: broadcast, undirected, indifferent to where the customer is, and it passes the customers by. Right: pull works from the other end: the customer draws in the messages that have earned it. Same energy, opposite direction, different outcomes.

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Convergence Field

Signal Gravity
A gravity well: a sheet bending toward the customer at its center, one message spiraling in and one drifting pastA flat grid seen from above and in front, sagging into a well at its center. The customer is the marker at the bottom of the well: the pull comes from there. A blue message that carries trust, relevance and timing circles the well in a spiral, each turn closer to the customer than the last. A gray message without them crosses the far side of the sheet on a nearly straight line and drifts past. THE CUSTOMER THE PULL COMES FROM HERE A MESSAGE WITH TRUST, RELEVANCE AND TIMING IS PULLED CLOSER WITH EVERY TURN WITHOUT THEM, IT DRIFTS PAST

The sheet bends into a well around the customer at its center. A message that carries trust, relevance, and timing comes closer with every turn; one without them drifts past. The pull comes from what has been built up over the years, not from the message.

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The Gravity Well

Signal Gravity
A gravity well: a sheet bending toward the customer at its center, one message spiraling in and one drifting pastA flat grid seen from above and in front, sagging into a well at its center. The customer is the marker at the bottom of the well: the pull comes from there. A blue message that carries trust, relevance and timing circles the well in a spiral, each turn closer to the customer than the last. A gray message without them crosses the far side of the sheet on a nearly straight line and drifts past. THE CUSTOMER THE PULL COMES FROM HERE A MESSAGE WITH TRUST, RELEVANCE AND TIMING IS PULLED CLOSER WITH EVERY TURN WITHOUT THEM, IT DRIFTS PAST

The sheet bends into a well around the customer at its center. A message that carries trust, relevance, and timing comes closer with every turn; one without them drifts past. The pull is not built by the marketer on command; it forms where trust, relevance, and timing have accumulated over time.

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Group 04

Trust

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Trust Compounding

Trust
Trust rising in steps, each step larger than the last, until an interruption turns the line downA chart of trust over time. A purple line climbs in five steps, one per credible interaction, each marked with a dot; every step keeps what the earlier ones gained and rises further than the one before: trust compounding. At the fifth dot a mark labeled interruption appears: contradiction, silence, or a poor experience. From there the line turns gray and falls. TIME TRUST INTERRUPTION CONTRADICTION, SILENCE, OR A POOR EXPERIENCE EACH CREDIBLE INTERACTION ADDS MORE THAN THE LAST

Each credible interaction can strengthen the meaning of the ones before it: every step rises more than the last. The pattern is conditional. Contradiction, silence, or a poor experience interrupts it, and the line turns down as readily as it turned up.

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Orbit Tightening

Trust
One message circling the customer line, each orbit tighter than the one below itThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the middle of the picture. One message, drawn in blue, circles the line as it rises. Its first orbits, at the bottom, are wide: distant awareness. Each turn is tighter than the one below, and at the top the message is in close orbit beside the customer: active consideration. THE CUSTOMER THE MESSAGE, NOW CLOSE ORBIT: ACTIVE CONSIDERATION EARLY: WIDE ORBIT, DISTANT AWARENESS

As trust builds over time, the message's orbit around the customer contracts. Early orbits are wide: distant awareness. Each aligned signal pulls the orbit tighter, until the message sits in close orbit: active consideration.

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Trust Decay

Trust
Trust in close orbit around the customer while it is reinforced, then widening turn by turn after the last reinforcementThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the middle. Low in the picture, trust circles the line in a close orbit: it is being reinforced. A dotted mark shows the last reinforcement. Above it, in silence, every turn of the orbit is wider than the one below, and trust drifts away from the customer. LAST REINFORCEMENT THE CUSTOMER SILENCE: THE ORBIT WIDENS REINFORCED: CLOSE ORBIT

Without reinforcement, trust decays. Past the last reinforcement, every turn of the orbit is wider than the one before, and trust drifts away from the customer. Trust is not a permanent asset. It is a maintained state. Silence is not neutral; it is erosion.

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Trust: The Permission Condition

Trust
One message circling the customer line, each orbit tighter than the one below itThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the middle of the picture. One message, drawn in blue, circles the line as it rises. Its first orbits, at the bottom, are wide: distant awareness. Each turn is tighter than the one below, and at the top the message is in close orbit beside the customer: active consideration. THE CUSTOMER THE MESSAGE, NOW CLOSE ORBIT: ACTIVE CONSIDERATION EARLY: WIDE ORBIT, DISTANT AWARENESS

Each interaction builds an orbit. As trust accumulates, the orbit tightens and the message moves closer to the customer. The pull is generated by accumulated credibility, not by message force.

→ Read: Trust in depth
Group 05

Timing

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The Readiness Window

Timing
The customer's readiness rising to a peak and falling, with a short shaded window around the peakA curve of readiness over time: it rises to a peak and falls. A shaded window, bounded by two dashed lines, marks the short interval around the peak. A marker on the rising side is labeled too early, not ready yet. A marker on the falling side is labeled too late, the peak has passed. TIME READINESS THE WINDOW TOO EARLY NOT READY YET TOO LATE PEAK HAS PASSED

The customer's readiness rises to a peak, then falls. The shaded zone marks the window during which a message can meet active readiness. A message that arrives before the window (left marker) or after the curve descends (right marker) misses, even if trust and relevance are present.

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Three messages arriving at different moments on the customer's readiness curve: one too early, one in the window, one too lateA curve of the customer's readiness over time: it rises to a peak and falls. A shaded window marks the interval around the peak. Three messages arrive as arrows from above. The first lands on the low early part of the curve: too early, not ready yet. The second, in blue, lands inside the window and makes contact. The third lands after the curve has fallen: too late, the peak has passed. TIME READINESS THE WINDOW MISSES TOO EARLY NOT READY YET MAKES CONTACT MISSES TOO LATE THE PEAK HAS PASSED

Three messages arrive at different moments on the customer's readiness curve. The early message arrives before readiness has formed. The late message arrives after the peak has passed. Only the message that lands inside the window makes contact.

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Timing: The Convergence Condition

Timing
The customer's readiness rising to a peak and falling, with a short shaded window around the peakA curve of readiness over time: it rises to a peak and falls. A shaded window, bounded by two dashed lines, marks the short interval around the peak. A marker on the rising side is labeled too early, not ready yet. A marker on the falling side is labeled too late, the peak has passed. TIME READINESS THE WINDOW TOO EARLY NOT READY YET TOO LATE PEAK HAS PASSED

The customer's readiness rises to a peak, then falls. The shaded zone marks the window during which a message can meet active readiness. A message that arrives before the window (left marker) or after the curve descends (right marker) misses, even if trust and relevance are present.

→ Read: Timing in depth
Group 06

Relevance

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Context Field

Relevance
Concentric rings around a core, the inner ones in color An archery target: a straw boss bound at the rim, standing on a timber A-frame staked into the grass. Arrows are stuck in the outer rings and more have missed into the grass below. One arrow sits dead in the center, the only place every ring overlaps; it is marked in blue.

Relevance is not about the message alone: it is about the overlap between the customer's current context (outer zones) and the message's fit (inner zones). The center is the intersection of all context fields. A message is relevant only when it lands inside that overlap. The overlap is dynamic; it changes as the customer moves through their consideration.

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After the Sale

Relevance
Three customers after the sale: one says nothing, one hates you and tells everyone, one loves you and their influence multipliesThree panels. In each, a customer after the sale is a dark rising line with the three forces wound closely around it, and the next customers stand beside it as plain gray lines. First panel, says nothing: no line passes between them and no one hears anything. Second panel, hates you: red dotted lines carry the word to each of three next customers, and each moves away. Third panel, the widest, loves you: bold gold dotted lines carry the word to three next customers, each of whom gains a gold ring of trust, and from each of them more gold lines reach nine further customers: they tell everyone too. Trust arrives before you do. SAYS NOTHING NO ONE HEARS ANYTHING HATES YOU TELLS EVERYONE. THEY MOVE AWAY. LOVES YOU TELLS EVERYONE. THEY TELL EVERYONE. TRUST ARRIVES BEFORE YOU DO. A CUSTOMER, AFTER THE SALE THE NEXT CUSTOMERS

Three customers after the sale. One says nothing: no one hears anything. One hates you and tells everyone: they move away. One loves you and tells everyone, and they tell everyone: influence multiplies, and trust arrives before your first message does.

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Signal Interference

Relevance
A clear signal reaching the customer, and the same signal fading at each crossing with competing signals until it is lostThe customer is a dark rising line on the right. Above, a clear signal runs as one solid blue arrow straight to the customer and arrives. Below, the same signal sets out the same way, but competing and inconsistent signals cross its path three times. After each crossing the blue line is thinner, fainter and more broken, and it is lost before it reaches the customer. THE CUSTOMER A CLEAR SIGNAL ARRIVES THE SAME SIGNAL COMPETING AND INCONSISTENT SIGNALS CROSS ITS PATH LOST

A clear signal travels a clean path and arrives. Competing signals: inconsistent messaging, irrelevant content, mismatched context: cross its path, and at each crossing clarity is reduced until the signal is lost. A brand without semantic authority creates noise instead of signal.

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Relevance: The State-Match Condition

Relevance
Two panels: the same messages pointing in every direction, and the same messages all pointing at the customerTwo panels side by side, each with the customer as a dark rising line with a marker on it, and the same seven messages placed around it, drawn as short arrows. On the left, labeled scattered, the arrows point in unrelated directions and none points at the customer. On the right, labeled focused, the same seven arrows sit in the same places, and every one points at where the customer is now. SCATTERED THE SAME MESSAGES, POINTED ANYWHERE FOCUSED EVERY MESSAGE POINTS AT WHERE THE CUSTOMER IS NOW

A message is relevant only when it points at where the customer is now: their current decision state. The same messages aimed anywhere else arrive as noise, however clearly they were sent.

→ Read: Relevance in depth
Group 07

Helix vs. Funnel

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The Traditional Funnel

Helix vs. Funnel
A funnel with fewer points at every level and one arrow out of the baseA large riveted funnel on a stand, with beans falling into its open mouth from above. It is built in courses marked awareness, consideration and decision, and the wall has split open at every seam: beans pour out sideways and pile up on the floor as lost. Only a thin trickle leaves the spout into the jar marked purchase. The widest split, at the first seam, is marked in blue. AWARENESS CONSIDERATION DECISION PURCHASE LOST LOST

The funnel assumes customers enter at the top and fall through stages: awareness, consideration, decision, purchase. Each stage filters out more. The model is linear, sequential, and controlled by the marketer. Most customers never reach the bottom. There is no mechanism for non-linear entry, trust accumulation, or post-purchase re-entry.

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Group 08

Post-Purchase

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The Post-Purchase Helix

Post-Purchase
The customer line continuing up past the purchase, with trust, relevance and timing still winding around itThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the picture. Low in the picture it passes through a ring marked purchase, where the funnel ends, and it keeps going. Trust, relevance and timing stay wound closely around the line above the purchase. Higher up, a gold ring carries the four things a purchase can become where trust keeps growing: retention, repeat purchase, loyalty and influence. From influence, dotted gold lines carry trust out to two new potential customers, each drawn as a line of their own. RETENTION REPEAT PURCHASE LOYALTY INFLUENCE THE CUSTOMER PURCHASE THE FUNNEL ENDS HERE. THE CUSTOMER KEEPS MOVING. NEW POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS TRUST COMPOUNDS TRUST RELEVANCE TIMING

After the purchase the customer keeps moving. Where trust keeps growing, a purchase can become retention, another purchase, loyalty, or influence, and influence reaches new potential customers as trust before the first message does. A well-served customer makes the next customer easier to align.

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Trust, relevance and timing as three rings turning around the customer, each on its own planeThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the middle, with a marker at the center of the picture. Three rings turn around that center, each tilted on its own plane: trust in purple, relevance in teal, timing in blue. A dot on each ring shows where that force is now; the three dots sit at different points. Each turns at its own pace, and pull needs all three near at once. TIMING RELEVANCE TRUST THE CUSTOMER EACH TURNS AT ITS OWN PACE. PULL NEEDS ALL THREE NEAR AT ONCE.

Three forces turn around the customer at the center, each on its own plane and at its own pace: trust, relevance, and timing. When all three are near at the same moment, pull occurs. They rarely align by accident.

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Orbit to Alignment

Trust
One message circling the customer line, each orbit tighter than the one below itThe customer is a dark straight line rising through the middle of the picture. One message, drawn in blue, circles the line as it rises. Its first orbits, at the bottom, are wide: distant awareness. Each turn is tighter than the one below, and at the top the message is in close orbit beside the customer: active consideration. THE CUSTOMER THE MESSAGE, NOW CLOSE ORBIT: ACTIVE CONSIDERATION EARLY: WIDE ORBIT, DISTANT AWARENESS

The message's path begins as a wide orbit and tightens with every trusted, relevant signal until it sits in close orbit beside the customer. Movement, not stages: alignment follows while trust and relevance hold. The same path widens again when they weaken.

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All diagrams use the site palette: #111827 · #2563EB · #7C3AED · #14B8A6 · #9CA3AF · #D1D5DB
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