Debunking Sales Funnel Jargon: ToFu, MoFu & BoFu… Erm, WTFu?!

Understanding sales funnels and marketing automation is hard enough; the delicate balance of strategy, creativity, and technicality can overwhelm most entrepreneurs looking to go it alone, and build their own funnel.

Online marketing is like entering a rabbit hole full of shiny objects.

The lure that attracts so many entrepreneurs into the hole, is the tempting thought of being just one funnel away from business breakthrough, the dream, the success, the fame, the...

I know! A compelling proposition, right?

Well, the truth is, you are indeed just one funnel away from the business of your dreams, and it's my mission to help you build that funnel... and to start you need to get clear on the most critical and foundational concept of them all.

No, we're not talking about variants of THAT kind of tofu... we're talking about the 3 key stages of any type of sales funnel and as it relates to the different mindsets your prospects on their journey to self improvement.

Prospects (the people & businesses who have yet to come into your world) are all at different stages of what marketers call 'the buyer journey.'

They don't yet know of you, your service or your offering... and might not even be sure of the problem they have. Whether they're just searching online how to solve a general problem, recommendations, or looking for specific information that will help them make some kind of purchase decision, each of your prospects are seeking different types of information based on what stage they are at.

So, it's your job to provide relevant content that answers their questions and guides them further along your sales funnel.

As I mentioned earlier your customer's journey as it relates to sales funnels, can be segmented into three stages: top-of-the-funnel (ToFu), middle-of-the-funnel (MoFu), and bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu).

Let's illustrate this:

This is where your customer's journey begins and is full of prospects who are looking for information on a particular topic and improve their lives in some shape or form.

Whatever they might be looking for they most certainly will not be in the mindset to make a purchase or investment of any kind (time, money, or emotional). Remember your prospects are just trying to started about a problem/need/situation they are facing.

Your job is to provide the right type of content, to the right prospect at the right time; much easier said than done, but through my coaching & training I can help you get crystal clear on your market, message, and method.

Now your prospects have collected sufficient information on their topic (might have even become a new lead), they're more knowledgable, and now willing to invest more time digging deeper into the topic... they begin to zero in.

Content-wise you could provide similar content to that in ToFu, except here, in this stage, your prospects are ready to invest more time and energy, and your content can go into more detail: case studies, reports, white papers, mini-courses, eBooks, video tutorials, etc.

At some point, your prospect will have gathered all the information they need, they would have consumed your content by reading your blog, opting in to download something, subscribe to your email list, etc.

Now they need a real solution, they are close to making a purchasing decision. Now, your new leads just need some convincing (not in a cheese-ball salesy kind of way) of why choosing your product or service, over your competitors, is the best choice they can make.

Usually, at this stage, it's not about providing more content... if you've done your job right, they should have everything they need. Sales qualified leads (SQL) just need some help over the finish line. This isn't about convincing them your option is best, it's about assuring them that your product/service will get them the results they are looking for.

So instead of content, you should be looking to get SQL's on to your call sheet with free discovery sessions, consultations, free-trials whatever suits your business model. The key takeaway here is: help your leads make the right decision, do not try to convince or sell to them.

So now you have a clearer understanding of the stages of the customer journey and how they related to the sales funnel. Understanding ToFu, MoFu & BoFu will make all the difference in your sales & marketing efforts... and you'll be better prepared to build sales funnels and marketing automation into your business.