ToFu (top of funnel) content marketing

If a waiter brought your starter, main and dessert to the table at exactly the same time, would that be okay with you?

Probably not.

Or, yes, and you don’t mind your apple pie getting cold as you dip some garlic dough balls in beef gravy. But there’s two kinds of people.

We’re talking to the first ones.

The ones for whom everything must come in a precise order. Who expect a certain sequence of happenings, and who never want to be rushed or pressured into something they might want later.

That’s most of us - and nearly all your customers.

No matter what you’re selling, pestering your audience for their money is never a good idea. But there’s a fine art to keeping them interested, while gently suggesting a purchase is in their best interests.

That’s where Tofu, Mofu and Bofu come in.

It is an ancient (circa 2015) method of understanding lead nurture and sales funnels, and it means great conversions will always be on the menu.

Tofu - Top of the Funnel

Tofu is always the first course. Here, Tofu simply means “Top Of the FUnnel”.

Imagine a sales funnel as an inverted cone. At the top, you want to cast a wide net to attract a large audience of potential leads. This is to get as much attention as possible, so that even unqualified prospects have you on their radar - this is useful because they might have family or friends who are interested now, or may need your product later.

Therefore, top of the funnel content should be eye-catching, easily shareable, and fairly neutral.

Want some examples of excellent Tofu material? Excellent Tofu material includes:

• Blog articles
• Guest posts
• Facebook ads
• Social media

The goal of Tofu material is to educate, inform, and entertain to the point where qualified leads want to exchange contact details for more of the same, or the next level. You want to address their pain or desires, and maybe even offer some solutions, without trying to make a sale.

Save that for Mofu.

This post is one I wrote several years ago, so it may not be the same kind of content you experience on the rest of this site. I'm posting it here as an archive, and to refer back to if I need.