ToFu, MoFu, BoFu: Understanding the marketing conversion funnel

You’d be forgiven if you said you’d never heard of ToFu, MoFu and BoFu, or at its worst, simply thought it was marketing jargon.

However, understanding ToFu, MoFu and BoFu is important for any marketer or content creator looking to develop a winning conversion funnel, that identifies potential customers and turns them into paying customers.

Every business wants to sell its product or service to its ideal customer profile (ICP). The key is knowing how to subtly introduce your brand through various touchpoints at the right time, that matches the buyer’s mindset and need – resulting in a conversion once they are ready.

That’s exactly what ToFu, MoFu and BoFu are:

• The Top of the Funnel (ToFu)
• The Middle of the Funnel (MoFu)
• The Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu)

These three concepts make up the structure of your sales funnel. Without them, your marketing efforts will undoubtedly fall short.

So, let’s start by understanding how ToFu, MoFu and BoFu marketing works and why mastering your conversion funnel is the key to a successful marketing strategy, that turns effort, ideas and execution into revenue.

What is a marketing conversion funnel?

A marketing conversion funnel is a framework that outlines the stages a potential customer goes through before making a purchase. There are a number of different marketing conversion ‘funnels’, but all share one thing in common: they map the customer’s buying journey.

A conversion is a desired action that your business wants a customer to take. This could be anything from:

• Hitting a subscribe button
• Making a purchase
• Completing a contact form

It’s worth noting that not all customers make it through the funnel. This is because not everyone is guaranteed to convert, whether that’s because they lose interest in the product or service midway through, they realise it’s too expensive or they found another business that offers something better.

The funnel gets narrower (as funnels do), the further down it goes, with the remaining customers being the ones who decide to buy (or convert).

The ‘Conversion Benchmark Report‘ by Unbounce, analysed 41,000 landing pages, 464 million page views, and 57 million conversions and found a median conversion rate of 6.6% across all industries. They also looked at the conversion rate based on 9 different industries, the results showed a range from 3.8% to 12.3% as seen in the graph below:

What is the ToFu, MoFu, BoFu model?

First, let’s answer the questions “What is ToFu, MoFu, BoFu?”.

ToFu, MoFu and BoFu are marketing acronyms used to represent how people move from first discovering a problem or need, to exploring solutions, to finally deciding who to buy from.

Each stage of the ToFu, MoFu, BoFu represent different touchpoints of the customer journey. The brands that perform well in search, both traditional search engines and large language models (LLMs), are the ones that anticipate the pain point behind each customer query and respond with helpful content that matches that moment, rather than forcing a solution too early.

ToFu vs. MoFu vs. BoFu: A quick comparison

Below you’ll find Hive19’s ToFu, MoFu, BoFu comparison table, where we break down each stage and look at how people research, compare and convert including:

• User’s search behaviour and intent.
• Content types for ToFu, MoFu and BoFu.
• The key performer indicators (KPIs)
• The return on investment (ROI) you can expect from each stage.

Each stage of ToFu, MoFu and BoFu serves a specific purpose in guiding your customers towards conversion, with strategies and content tailored to address their needs at different points in the buyer’s journey.

At the top, the focus is on creating awareness, the middle looks at nurturing interest, and the bottom is about converting them into a customer.

What are the benefits of using a sales funnel?

From our own experience, there are five benefits of using a sales funnel.

In this section, we’ll look at each of the benefits of utilising a considered and structured sales funnel, along with real-world examples to help inspire your content marketing strategy.

1. Streamlined efficiency

A structured sales funnel helps you streamline your marketing efforts by guiding potential customers through each stage of the buyer’s journey.

By automating processes and nurturing leads with targeted content, you’ll find it easier to move leads further down the funnel and toward your desired conversion.

Through market research, you identify the broad questions your ideal customer profile (ICP) is asking about your product or service allowing you to answer them early on.

At Hive19, we use automation tools and software to uncover real user intent at different stages of our client’s customer journey. This ensures any content we create for a campaign shows up with the right answers at the right moment.

Recommended tools and software for improving funnel efficiency:

Identify gaps in demand
Google Trends and AnswerThePublic are both great for spotting patterns in how interest evolves over time and the specific questions people search for around a product or service. These insights are particularly relevant at the ToFu stage, where broader informational queries reveal early pain points and needs where your brand should be providing solutions to.

Pay attention to real conversations
Some of the most valuable customer insights don’t always come from keyword research tools. Instead, spend time where people talk openly on platforms like Reddit, Quora. Any niche industry communities are where users ask questions in their own words, often reveal pain points, objections and misconceptions that sit between ToFu and MoFu.

Addressing these concerns early reduces friction later in the funnel. By the time users reach further down the conversion funnel, they’re already informed, qualified, and much closer to making a confident, quicker decision.

When each stage of ToFu, MoFu, BoFu has a clear objective, inefficiencies or underperforming content become much easier to spot and fix.

2. Personalisation opportunities

Research from Deloitte shows that most shoppers notice personalisation in only about 43% of their online interactions.

“Brands said that they personalize a much higher percentage of customer experiences — 61% on average. This reveals a gap between brand intent and consumer perception. In other words, many brands are still not delivering personalization in the ways that matter most to consumers.” – Personalizing growth Report, Deloitte.

Creating tailored content to each stage of the funnel allows you to provide personalised experiences for your audience.

By understanding the needs and preferences of a potential customer, you’re better equipped to deliver relevant messaging and offers, increasing engagement and driving more qualified leads into conversions.

• Top of Funnel (ToFu): Focus on educating and inspiring specific audience groups, helping the user understand their individual problem at a deeper level.
• Middle of Funnel (MoFu): Highlight why your business can provide the perfect solution over competitors.
• Bottom of Funnel (BoFu): Focus on converting the final sale by providing compelling bespoke offers, detailed product specifications based on their customer journey so far, relevant testimonials, and clear calls to action (CTAs) to complete the conversion.

3. Post-purchase engagement

A solid sales funnel doesn’t end at a conversion; it extends into post-purchase engagement.

By continuing to nurture and engage with customers after a conversion, you can encourage customer loyalty, brand advocacy, referral sources and repeat purchases which solidifies long-term value from each customer.

B2B services:
Post-purchase content focuses on onboarding, education and trust-building to improve lifetime value (LTV), reduces churn and supports long-term client retention.

B2C brands:
Post-purchase content reinforces confidence for your customers. This guides product usage and encourages repeat purchases through reassurance, education and loyalty-driven engagement.

4. Strengthens your online reputation

We can all agree that keeping up appearances by maintaining a positive online reputation is crucial for any business in today’s marketplace.

How your brand is perceived online will have a direct impact on your marketing sales funnel. When audiences come to rely on your brand to provide helpful, relevant content at every touchpoint, over time your brand reputation will result in higher trust, stronger consideration at MoFu, and faster, more confident purchase decisions at BoFu.

At ToFu (Top-of-funnel), reputation is built through authority and helpfulness. Educational content that answers early-stage questions that can help your ICP better understand their problem and positions your brand as knowledgeable and impartial, rather than sales-led.

This ToFu stage content, is often where brands earn quality backlinks, social shares and mentions that strengthen SEO and brand visibility in LLMs and as a result, online reputation.

At MoFu (Middle-of-funnel), credibility becomes currency. Comparison pages, case studies, testimonials and expert-led insights help validate your claims and opinions. Customers want reassurance that others like them have had success with your solution – reinforcing your reputation as a trusted and proven solution.

At BoFu (Bottom-of-funnel), online reputation is reinforced through experience. Clear pricing, honest FAQs, social proof and strong UX all contribute to confidence in a brand at the point of conversion. Even small details such as page speed, checkout experience and accessible support impact how trustworthy a brand feels.

Practical ways to improve reputation through your funnel:

• Use expert quotes, original research or first-hand insights in ToFu content to demonstrate authority.
• Publish detailed case studies and real customer outcomes at MoFu.
• Actively request reviews and customer/client testimonials post-purchase and include them at BoFu.

5. Higher conversion rates

Higher conversion rates are the natural outcome of a funnel that aligns content with user intent at every stage.

Without a structured funnel, prospects are often pushed towards a conversion far too early. This can create friction and lost engagement. A ToFu, MoFu and BoFu framework ensures prospects only see conversion-focused messaging once they are informed, confident and ready to act.

Brands that align funnel stages with customer intent consistently see higher conversion rates because users feel understood rather than immediately sold to. Each stage answers the right question at the right time, reducing hesitation and shortening decision cycles.

Understanding ToFu (Top of funnel)

ToFu, as you now know, stands for Top of the Funnel, which represents the awareness stage.

At this stage, you’ll want to cast a wide net to attract potential customers who are looking for a solution to whatever their problem is.

The mission here is to position yourself as a trusted source of information and instigate the beginning of their buying journey as you look to provide a solution to a problem they’re currently facing.

The main challenge here isn’t getting as many customers as possible, it’s about driving the right ones in. In the later funnel stages, the wrong customers (the ones who aren’t that interested in what you’re offering) will likely lose interest and look elsewhere.

So, be sure to do your audience research.

ToFu discovery channels

So, where does the ‘awareness’ stage really begin for customers?

ToFu discovery no longer happens just in one place. The omnichannel experience has expanded rapidly into a mix of traditional search (Google, Bing), social platforms, communities and AI-driven platforms (Google’s AI Overviews, Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity etc.)

Whether awareness begins in Google, an AI chatbot, on TikTok, Instagram or a forum thread, the goal is to meet users at the point of curiosity, provide clarity of your solution, build trust and set up the next stage of the journey as an obvious next step for them.

ToFu content works best when it shows up early, answers real questions clearly, and resists the urge to sell too soon.

ToFu marketing strategies

ToFu marketing strategies primarily revolve around building awareness and attracting potential customers. These aim to cast a wide net and capture the attention of a much broader audience at the start.

There are a number of marketing strategies that can help generate awareness, including:

• Search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Digital PR link building
• Pay-per-click advertising (PPC)
• Influencer marketing

The goal is to spark interest and initiate the buyer’s journey by providing helpful and relevant information without a hard sell approach.

ToFu content (building awareness stage)

We’ve briefly discussed how content creation at the top of the funnel focuses on building awareness to establish your brand as a trusted authority in your industry.

So, your ToFu content should be informative, engaging, and tailored to address the pain points and interests of your target audience.

Remember, you’re not trying to convert them into customers at this point. Instead, provide solutions to their pain points to establish you as a helpful source of information.

4 examples of ToFu content

ToFu content should attract attention and build awareness for your brand, before a buying decision is ever considered. The goal isn’t the hard sell, but to show up early, provide unique value, and introduce your brand as a credible source of information.

Here are 4 real-world examples of ToFu content that you can replicate for your own brand:

ToFu social media posts

Social media marketing works best as a ToFu channel when sharing insights, rather than pushing services.

Educational posts that provide industry data, statistics, emerging trends or a unique take on common pain point felt within your industry, positions your brand as a relevant source across this early-stage discovery.

This Instagram post is a great example of how we, at Hive19, share relevant marketing statistics to frame why content strategy matters, helping audiences understand what’s changing and why it’s important.

By leading with relevant, interesting facts rather than promotion, our post positions our agency as a credible source at the earliest stage of the buyer journey.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hive19 (@hive19agency)

ToFu blog posts

Blog posts are one of the most common formats of ToFu content. Educational articles that help audiences address a common challenge, expand on foundational concepts in the form of evergreen content guides helps your brand capture early-stage, informational intent and provide clarity before a solution is ever evaluated.

Informational keywords should underpin your ToFu content strategy. Make sure your articles, guides and blogs are 10x better than what is currently being provided by competitors and match the value being shared to how and why your ICP is searching, when first exploring a problem relevant to your industry.

ToFu Videos

Explainer videos, courses, tutorials, or behind-the-scenes glimpses that provide value and showcase your brand’s expertise.

Image source: Hubspot

Infographics

Visual representations of data, statistics, or processes that simplify complex information and make it easily digestible for the audience.

Let's talk about AI in content marketing and what we can expect in 2024. Download our report here (and check out our cute chatbot that can summarize the report for you!) #ThinkBigWithAI

⬇️ https://t.co/wBomzaHy3j. pic.twitter.com/uwEYh8urkY

— Semrush (@semrush) February 9, 2024

Understanding MoFu (Middle of funnel)

MoFu, or Middle of the Funnel, is the consideration stage.

This is the point where customers become more invested in finding a solution to their problems. At this stage, the goal is to nurture their interest and position your business as the solution to their needs.

Middle of funnel marketing strategies

MoFu marketing strategies aim to engage with leads who are considering their options.

These strategies involve personalised communication, targeted messaging, and providing valuable information to address specific pain points or challenges faced by your potential customers.

Some examples might be:

• Targeted email marketing campaigns
• Online classes or workshops
• Free tools like Metadata checkers
• Calculators
• Quizzes

Anything that’s relevant to your brand and keeps your customer’s attention.

Additionally, you could also consider incorporating link building into your marketing strategy to help establish your brand as a credible authority in your industry through off-site content marketing.

MoFu content (consider stage)

MoFu content is designed to provide valuable information and solutions to leads who are actively considering their options.

This stage is about building trust and a relationship with your customer. No hard-selling, just providing a solution to their needs.

4 examples of MoFu content

Here are a few examples of MoFu content that work:

Comparison guides

Detailed comparisons between your product or service and competitors, highlighting your unique selling points.

Case studies

Real-life examples of how your product or service has helped previous customers overcome challenges or achieve their goals.

👉 View our Pitchbox case study

Webinars

Interactive online presentations that delve deeper into specific topics or aspects related to your offering, providing in-depth knowledge and insights.

White papers

Comprehensive reports or guides that offer in-depth analysis, research findings, and solutions to industry-related issues, demonstrating your expertise and thought leadership.

Understanding BoFu (Bottom of funnel)

Here we have the third and final stage, BoFu, known as the decision stage.

At this point, potential customers are close to making a purchase decision. Here you’ll be looking to seal the deal and turn your readers into buyers (or, get them to convert in some way).

BoFu marketing strategies

BoFu marketing strategies focus on facilitating the decision-making process and removing any remaining barriers to conversion.

These strategies often involve offering personalised incentives, providing reassurance, and addressing any final concerns or queries your readers may have.

BoFu content (decision stage)

So, what is BoFu content? BoFu content is geared towards providing leads with the information and encouragement they need to make a final purchasing decision.

This content should highlight the unique value proposition of your product or service, address any remaining concerns, and provide clear calls to action to prompt conversion.

4 examples of BoFu content

BoFu content should convert high-intent prospects who are already familiar with their problem, your solution, and your brand. At this stage, the goal is not education or brand awareness, but confidence and clarity at the point of decision.

The most effective BoFu content removes final doubts, reinforces trust, and makes it easy for prospects to take action. This is where commercial intent is highest, so messaging should be tailored and closely aligned with the user’s needs and expectations.

Here are 4 real-world examples of BoFu content that help turn consideration into conversion.

Free trials or demos

Offering leads the opportunity to try out your product or service for free before making a commitment.

Image source Xero

Customer success stories

Highlight positive stories that other customers have had with your brand.

Limited-time offers or discounts

Providing exclusive discounts or time-sensitive offers to incentivise leads to make a purchase decision.

Product comparison charts

Creating comparison charts that highlight the superiority of your product or service over competitors, helping readers make an informed decision.

After purchase: capturing return business

Once a customer has made a purchase, it’s essential to continue engaging with them to keep them interested in your brand and returning to make more purchases. This can include:

• Sending thank you emails.
• Providing exclusive offers or discounts.
• Asking for feedback to improve your customer experience.

Let’s look at a few of these in more detail.

Exclusive discounts

One of the best ways to keep customers on your good side is by offering discounts on future purchases. They give your customers a great reason to come back and buy more of whatever it is you’re selling at a reduced rate.

Even something as simple as a 10% discount can help persuade someone to make a repeat purchase, and at a very low expense to your business.

Personalised customer service

It should come as no surprise that customers like to feel valued and appreciated, and personalisation is a great way to achieve this.

Simple things like addressing your customers by name, remembering their preferences, and offering tailored recommendations show that you genuinely care about their experience.

Things like personalised emails, a dedicated account manager and customer loyalty programs can help improve their experience. The main aim here is to leave a lasting impression and help create stronger relationships with your customers.

Creating your buyer personas

The best way to get to know your customer? Create them.

By that, we mean create a persona that represents your ideal customer.

This persona should embody your target audience’s demographic and psychographic traits, allowing you to better understand their needs, preferences, and pain points.

You should be able to get most of the core data from Google Analytics, but if you have any recent surveys or tools that dive into a little more detail, use these too.

Start by giving your personas names and personalities to humanise them and make them relatable. Then, include details about their goals, aspirations, pain points, and objections to understand their motivations and decision-making processes better.

Your audience persona might look a little something like this at the start:

Name: Margot
Age: 28
Occupation: Marketing Manager
Industry: SaaS
Location: Camden, London (near tech hubs)

Margot is tech-savvy and stays up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in software development.

• She’s single and career-oriented, with no children
• Margot values innovation, efficiency, and continuous learning
• In her spare time, she enjoys attending tech meet-ups, coding challenges, and gaming

Keep regularly updating your personas as market trends and consumer preferences change. This way, your personas remain relevant and reflective of your audience’s changing needs and behaviours.

Having a super specific persona essentially helps you tailor your marketing strategies and messages to resonate with your ideal customers – the outcome is higher audience engagement and conversion rates.

How to identify Tofu, Mofu and BoFu keywords?

Knowing how to identify ToFu, MoFu and BoFu keywords is important to make sure you’re able to accurately align your content with each stage of the marketing funnel.

So, ToFu keywords typically focus on broader topics related to the industry or problem your product solves. These keywords often include informational-based terms, such as:

• “How-to”
• “Tips”
• “Best practices”

MoFu keywords, on the other hand, target users in the consideration stage who are looking around for solutions to their problems. These keywords may include product comparisons, reviews, and terms indicating intent to purchase or further explore specific solutions.

Then there are BoFu keywords, which are highly targeted and aim to capture users ready to make a purchase decision. These keywords often include terms like:

• “Buy”
• “Pricing”
• “Free trial”
• “Demo”

To identify these keywords, use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs.

Learn from your competitors’ strategies

What’s the benefit of learning from your competitors’ conversion funnels? You get to see what works for them and what doesn’t, and how to apply it to your own.

A strong starting place would be to identify your main competitors and analyse their websites, landing pages, and marketing campaigns. Look for elements such as call-to-action buttons, lead capture forms, and value propositions.

You should also pay attention to the user experience and journey through their funnel as well, and jot down any friction points or areas for improvement. Then, analyse their content strategy, including the types of content they produce and how they engage their audience at each stage of the funnel.

If you’re able to, be sure to monitor their social media channels and presence, as well as email marketing campaigns, and customer reviews to understand how they interact with their audience and address their needs.

By learning from what your competitors are doing well, and where they’re falling short, you can refine your own conversion funnel and develop more effective ways to attract and keep customers.

Get started with ToFu, MoFu and BoFu

While knowing the ins and outs of ToFu, MoFu and BoFu is crucial to optimising your marketing conversion funnel, that’s only half the battle.

You’ll need to keep on top of industry trends and market shifts to keep up with your customers’ demands and keep them engaged with your brand.

Monitoring key metrics and updating your processes as and when needed will help keep your content relevant and your customers engaged.

Below, we’ve answered some of the most common questions associated with ToFu, MoFu and BoFu.