Top of the Funnel (TOFU)
Top-of-funnel is a component of the standard organizational marketing funnel. This funnel represents the process a potential customer goes through from discovery to action (e.g., making a purchase). The funnel can be broken down into three components:
- Top-of-funnel (ToFu): The awareness stage
- Middle-of-funnel (MoFu): The consideration stage
- Bottom-of-funnel (BoFu): The decision stage
ToFu is the point at which prospects are initially engaged and “enter” the funnel, and ToFu marketing strategies will therefore focus on building brand awareness and trust over time through content that educates and provides value using tactics like:
- Blog posts
- Social media marketing
- SEO
- Influencer outreach
In essence, the goal of marketing professionals is to use ToFu content to reach a large audience of potential customers with the goal of pulling them into the funnel through engagement. ToFu strategies might also seek to collect contact information for lead nurturing purposes, such as requiring email addresses in exchange for a valuable white paper that includes content that cannot be found elsewhere.
