In every marketing and sales campaign, you will always encounter the term “Funnel”. A funnel is a path that a lead follows in order to become a customer. This is a path that you will design in order to convert a lead or prospect into a paying customer. In inbound marketing, the funnel almost always has 3 parts. Let’s take a closer look at each of those parts.
TOFU – Top of the Funnel
No, TOFU is not pertaining to the food. It stands for Top of the Funnel. This is where the funnel starts. Most of your site visitors will belong to this part of the funnel. In this part of the funnel, the crucial thing to know is that this is the part where a lead is learning about your company and your product or service. TOFU is a way to help your leads understand how you can help them and what they can get from you. Think of it as educating your prospective customers on what they can benefit from you.
Provide them with the information about your product and services. This could be done with an offer of free information, with an EBook or white paper, for example. The key here is not closing a deal but to get the direct attention of your leads with the content you have provided.
MOFU – Middle of the Funnel
No, this is not a cuss word. Middle of the Funnel is the second stage of an inbound marketing funnel. In this part of the funnel, you begin to show your leads why they should pick your product or service. Think of it as selling your product/service to them. You show them why it is their best choice and no other product or service in the market can compare to yours.
Most of the time, testimonials, research and interviews are used in this part of the funnel. The integral part of this funnel is you shouldn’t push them to make the purchase right away (although it isn’t rare to see leads converted into a customer at this stage of the funnel). Showing prospects that your service or product is the right choice is enough. That will bring you one step closer to converting them into customers.
BOFU – Bottom of the Funnel
As you’ve guessed, the last stage is called Bottom of the Funnel. This is the part where you need to close the deal and convert your leads into paying customers. Most of the time, this is the part where you introduce them to the pricing options for your product/service.
For example, app marketers provide free demo software to sweeten the deal and ensure that the lead is converted. Think of this stage as a taste test of your product or service. Among the 3 parts of an inbound marketing funnel, this is the most crucial since this is the part of the funnel where you can generate income. That is why it is important for you to emphasize the value of your product or service in this part of the funnel to ensure the conversion.
Now that you’ve learnt what makes up an inbound marketing funnel, you can go ahead and design your own. Of course, this will require good content but that will be a different topic for another day.
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