What is the TOFU (Top of Funnel)
The initial funnel step is the TOFU, which stands for Top of Funnel. In this phase, the main goal is to attract qualified traffic to your website by generating visibility and brand awareness.
The main methods are:
- Content creation: Publishing valuable content such as guides, ebooks, research, videos, etc. that attracts users' attention and makes them want to subscribe to your newsletter or contact you.
- Social media marketing: Building a strategy of posts and ads on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn etc.) to increase traffic from social networks to your site.
- Pay per click advertising: Advertising campaigns on Google Ads, Facebook Ads and other platforms to get paid traffic and make your offer known to new potential customers.
What is MOFU (Middle of Funnel)
Once you have generated traffic, you move on to the MOFU, Middle of Funnel phase, where you retain as many visitors on a landing page as possible and turn them into qualified leads, i.e. potential customers interested in your products/services.
You use techniques such as:
- Various types of forms (contact, newsletter subscription, email opt-in etc.).
- CTAs (Call to Action) to prompt the user to enter their details.
- Persuasive messages and content.
- Data exchange for free content (guides, ebooks, webinars etc.).
What is the BOFU (Bottom of Funnel)
The last stage is the BOFU, Bottom of Funnel, where you qualify leads, answer their questions and prepare them to become customers through:
- Email marketing: you build a strategy of automated emails to qualify leads, answer their questions, provide other useful information and nurture them to loyalty.
- Lead qualification: You contact the lead by phone to better understand their needs and propose a customised solution.
- Demos and offers: Solution demos, free trials and special offers are proposed to leads to turn them into paying customers.
- Renewals and upgrades: Renewal of contracts and purchase of additional services/products to existing customers is proposed to increase average order value.
What are effective ways to qualify contacts after lead generation?
Once we have acquired contacts with funnel marketing we need to qualify the contacts, here is how we can do it:
- Phone calls: Calling customers on the phone is one of the best ways to qualify them. You can have a real conversation, better understand their needs, build a relationship and determine if they are ready to become customers.
- Email: Send follow-up emails to leads to stay in touch, provide more information and feed them through the sales funnel. Qualify them over time through a sequence of e-mails.
- Surveys: Use surveys to get more details about the leads, such as their job role, pain points, goals, budget, timeline, etc. This provides valuable information to qualify and personalise messages.
- Quizzes: Host optional quizzes or questionnaires on your website that customers can choose to complete. Analyse their answers to determine their needs, priorities and suitability for your solutions.
- Leadership content: Promote additional content resources such as blogs, podcasts, research reports, tools, etc. Engaging and interacting leads with this content helps to qualify them.
- Special offers: Make offers, discounts or free trials available only to subscribers to your email list and leads. Check who converts to determine your best leads.
- Reviews and referrals: Ask leads for online reviews and referrals to increase social proof and build trust. Their willingness to publicly recommend you qualifies the strongest leads.
- Schedule a demo: Requesting a short demo or consultation call is one of the best ways to qualify leads. Observe how they engage during the call and whether they have any real questions: this validates their interest and willingness to buy.
- Check competitors' websites: Research the websites of the leads' companies to determine their role, department, budget, problems and objectives. The more closely they match the profile of your target customer, the more qualified the lead.
The key is to regularly engage leads through multiple touch points, using a mix of these qualification techniques based on their score and their progression through the funnel. Constantly qualifying leads will ensure you focus your resources on the best opportunities.
