Master Sales Funnel Strategies: Tofu Mofu Bofu!

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By Jennelle McGrath

7 min read

If there’s one thing digital marketers tend to be suckers for, it’s a great acronym.

Between SEO, SEM, and SERPS, we’re always finding clever ways to break down concepts into four letters or less.

Utter a phrase like “Tofu MoFu BoFu” anywhere else and you’re likely to raise more than a few eyebrows. But members of the average sales marketing agency will instantly recognize such language as the song of their people. Read on to unlock the mysteries of Tofu MoFu BoFu, what it means, and how it relates to the sales and marketing funnel.

Tofu Mofu Bofu Meaning

Tofu, MoFu, and BoFu are actually three separate acronyms that refer to different parts of the marketing funnel, including how we think about content marketing funnel stages. The marketing funnel is sort of like a V-shaped map of the buyer’s journey, the steps prospects go through on their way to becoming paying customers. With that in mind, let’s reveal what each acronym of the Tofu, MoFu, and BoFu funnel stands for:

ToFu= Top of Funnel
MoFu = Middle of Funnel
BoFu = Bottom of Funnel

But knowing the stages of Tofu, MoFu, BoFu marketing isn’t quite the same as understanding them. In the next few sections, we’ll take a closer look at each and how it fits into a well-rounded marketing strategy.

Understanding Tofu (Top of the Funnel)

Let’s start at the top of the funnel, home to the awareness stage. This is where potential customers meet your brand for the first time, whether they come upon your website through a search engine result or encounter one of your digital ads on social media.

A ToFu sales marketer has several different goals at this stage. The first is to understand their target audience, the people most likely to be interested in their product or service. From there, it’s all about finding ways to reach that audience, shine a light on their pain points, and assure them that you have a solution.

Common ToFu content strategies include:

Blog posts
SEO
Social media posts and engagement
Free resources, templates, or kits
Paid advertising
Infographics
Videos

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Tofu

Top of the Funnel

Mofu

Middle of the Funnel

Bofu

Bottom of the Funnel

Exploring Mofu (Middle of the Funnel)

Middle of the funnel or MoFu marketing is designed to target customers in the consideration stage. A customer enters the consideration stage once they’ve become aware of a problem they want to solve and set out in search of the best way to do so.

MoFu marketing is largely about explaining why your solution is better than competitor alternatives. This is the stage where you want to gain a potential customer’s trust and answer any questions they may have about your product or services.

Common MoFu marketing strategies include:

Comparison charts
Email campaigns or newsletters
White papers and eBooks
Webinars and case studies
Free samples

Deciphering Bofu (Bottom of the Funnel)

Bottom of the funnel (BoFu) marketing caters to customers who are ready to pull the purchase trigger and become paying customers. Given that most of the hard work is done, what is BoFu marketing all about?

Simply put, the goal here is to make it as easy for a potential customer to make a purchase as possible. There are several things you can do here to help decrease the odds of a customer abandoning their cart at the last minute.

Common BoFu strategies include:

Offering plenty of easy payment options
Ensuring that your checkout process is as quick and easy as possible
Offering free trials, consultations, or product demos
Building assurance with customer reviews and testimonials
Offering coupons or discounts
Making sure your pricing is clearly outlined and transparent
Following up on abandoned carts with discount offers

Integrating Tofu Mofu Bofu into Marketing Strategies

ToFu, MoFu, BoFu marketing can be incredibly helpful when it comes to creating a comprehensive marketing strategy that attracts customers at all stages of their journey. It can also help you avoid the mistake of attempting to shove customers straight into the BoFu stage right out of the gate.

Most modern consumers lost their patience for such overly salesy tactics long ago and now demand a more helpful, less intrusive marketing structure. While creating a campaign that aligns with every stage of the funnel takes a bit of work, there are now plenty of great tools designed to help.

For example, HubSpot’s forever free CRM comes with sales and marketing automation tools for every step of your campaign. From landing page and form builders to email templates and ad management, you’ll find free resources for taking your campaigns to the next level.

Challenges and Solutions

As a customer, there’s no bigger turn-off than finding yourself on the receiving end of a bad marketing campaign. Let’s explore several common ToFu, MoFu, BoFu mishaps and how to keep them from happening to you.

Common ToFu Mistakes

Setting out without a strategy in place.

Keep your next campaign from ending up all over the metaphorical map by building off of a clear strategy for addressing each stage of the buyer journey.

Not understanding your target audience.

Taking the time to thoroughly understand your target audience will help you better address their pain points, speak their language, and anticipate their needs.

Putting social media on autopilot.

Don’t be the marketer who attempts to take the “social” out of social media - always take the time to interact with fans and followers.

Being overly salesy.

Attempting to make a sale five seconds after introducing someone to your plan is about as charming as proposing marriage on the first date. Don’t do it!

Common MoFu Mistakes

Ignoring the competition.

Take the time to do your competitor research and figure out what sets you apart from the competition - we can all but guarantee your competitors will.

Neglecting the basics.

Don’t put all that effort into earning new leads, only to greet them with a subpar website or keyword-stuffed blog posts.

Being insincere or impersonal.

Up to 90% of consumers say that sincerity can make or break their opinion of a company. Personalization has been shown to reduce customer acquisition costs by up to half.

Common BoFu Mistakes

Not using social proof.

According to research from BigCommerce, 82% of Americans seek out recommendations before making a purchase, and 70% trust the reviews of people they even don’t know.

An inconvenient purchase process.

Research reveals that 97% of customers have abandoned a purchase due to an inconvenient checkout process. Make the conversion process as easy and seamless as possible!

Conclusion

The proper balance of ToFu, MoFu, BoFu tactics can make a powerful foundation for your next marketing campaign. Ready to take your business to the next level? Fill out our Growth Readiness Scorecard to get actionable insights on how to get started!

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