Top-of-Funnel Marketing: Functions, Types, & Examples

Do you have a high-quality product but struggle to attract new customers to try it? It is time to implement a top-of-funnel marketing strategy. This strategy is a crucial step that significantly influences purchasing decisions in subsequent stages.

If you want to learn more about top-of-funnel marketing, from its definition and essential roles to key elements, examples, and strategies, check out the explanation below! 

What Is Top-of-Funnel Marketing?

Top-funnel marketing is a marketing activity carried out at the early stages of the customer journey, aiming to increase brand awareness. 

It is important to understand that at the early stages, the audience is still in the discovery phase and is still curious about your product/service, so they are not ready to make a purchase yet. Therefore, brands are not advised to immediately sell their product, but rather to educate, provide information, and build relationships.

The Importance of Implementing Top-of-Funnel Marketing

In general, the customer journey begins when the audience realizes that there is a particular problem or need. Sometimes they are not fully aware of the problem, or are not actively looking for a solution. However, they feel that the situation could be better. This is where their customer journey begins.

Meanwhile, the marketing funnel serves as a guide in the customer journey, which begins at the top of the funnel stage. At this stage, brands need to come up with a top-of-funnel marketing strategy to build awareness and introduce themselves to the audience. 

However, the focus of the brand here is not to sell, but to provide relevant education and information. It is expected that the audience will get a positive impression, understand the problem more clearly, and feel comfortable continuing the interaction to the next stage.

Phases in the Marketing Funnel

The discussion of top-of-funnel marketing would not be complete without understanding the phases in the marketing funnel. The following are the phases in the marketing funnel to help you understand the concept better:

1. Top of Funnel (ToFU)

As explained earlier, the Top of Funnel (ToFU) is the first stage in funnel marketing where brands reach a wide audience. At this stage, potential customers begin to learn about the product, brand, or company, but their knowledge is still quite limited. 

Therefore, brands must focus on building awareness in their marketing strategy. The way to do this is to highlight the pain points or problems faced by the customers, rather than directly selling the product.

Read also: Brand Awareness Campaign & Some Examples from Reputable Brands

2. Middle of Funnel (MoFU)

The middle of the funnel is the stage where brands filter the most potential leads, namely, prospective customers who are beginning to consider their products as solutions to their problems. If the focus of ToFU is awareness, the focus of MoFU is nurturing or maintaining relationships. 

Therefore, brands need to provide a more personal and in-depth experience by presenting insightful, valuable, and engaging content. Some examples include providing free e-books, product demos, and newsletters containing useful solutions.

3. Bottom of Funnel (BoFU)

The third and final stage in the marketing funnel is the Bottom of Funnel (BoFU), where brands filter leads into customers. At this stage, potential customers are already “close” to the brand, as proven by their previous interactions, whether through downloading e-books, attending webinars, or subscribing to newsletters. 

Therefore, the brand's focus is no longer on awareness or nurturing, but on conversion or encouraging potential customers to take real action, usually in the form of purchasing a product.

Elements in Top-of-Funnel Marketing

It is important to understand that the content used in top-of-funnel marketing is intended to attract a fairly broad audience, especially those who are interested in general topics related to your business. Therefore, the content displayed must contain the following elements:

• Attention-grabbing: This can be achieved by giving clickworthy titles, discussing popular topics, or taking a unique perspective.
• Buyer-centric: Focus on the needs and problems of the audience, not the product or service.
• Highly engaging: Encourage the audience to learn more.
• Visually appealing: Have an attractive appearance that is easy to understand.

Examples of Top-of-Funnel (ToFU) Marketing Activities

If you want to get an idea of top-of-funnel marketing activities from famous brands, here are some examples:

• Red Bull - Formula 1: Red Bull introduces the brand to motorsport fans and builds an energetic image.
• Coca Cola - FIFA World Cup: Coca Cola wants to reach a global audience and associate the brand with happy moments, especially in the context of soccer.
• Squarespace: Creates native ads, which are ads that appear naturally in content (for example, as part of a podcast or YouTube video). The goal is to attract new audiences who want to create professional websites.
• Airbnb: Creating blogs and videos about travelers' experiences, to introduce the brand to people looking for travel inspiration.
• #RebuildTheWorld: A global LEGO campaign that invites children and adults to share their LEGO creations. The goal is to attract new audiences and build an educational and fun brand image.

Read also: Digital Campaign: Learn the Definition, Types, and Benefits

Effective Top-of-Funnel Marketing Strategies

Are you planning to implement top-of-funnel marketing in your business? If so, here are some top-of-funnel marketing strategies that you can adapt to your business:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the process of optimizing websites and content to get high rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO content can take the form of blog articles, videos, infographics, or a combination of several types of content.

In general, the way to implement an SEO strategy is by incorporating relevant keywords and creating high-quality content.

By achieving a high ranking on SERPs, your business can appear in a strategic position without having to pay advertising fees. Additionally, website traffic has the potential to increase because the brand will appear more credible in the online realm. 

The good news is that you can implement an SEO strategy with the help of SEO Services by cmlabs. We are ready to assist your business with efficient and data-driven strategies. By utilizing SEO Services by cmlabs, you can save resources because you do not need to build your own in-house team.

We have successfully helped clients from the healthcare and financial industries, such as Siloam Hospitals, OCBC Bank, Pegadaian, JEC Eye Hospitals, and many more, achieve high authority on search engines. Now, it is your business's turn to experience the positive impact!

2. Social Media Marketing (SMM)

As mentioned earlier, the main goal of top-of-funnel marketing is to attract attention or reach a wide audience. Therefore, social media is a platform to consider due to its massive usage.

To implement SMM, you must create content with strong visuals and actively engage in relevant online conversations. Not only that, but you can also actively hold giveaways to create interaction and collaborate with influencers to expand exposure.

3. Content Marketing

In fact, content marketing is not as simple as producing content and uploading it every day. Content marketing focuses on the distribution of valuable, relevant, and consistent content across various platforms. Some types of content marketing include infographics, blogs, videos, podcasts, and social media.

Nowadays, content marketing strategies are often implemented in unique ways, one of which is by presenting stories or narratives behind the brand in an engaging manner that feels relatable to the audience.

4. Sponsorships

Many brands have made this strategy a tradition to reach potential customers. Some examples of sponsorships you may have come across are at marathon events, which are typically sponsored by water brands and sports equipment companies.

These events are generally attended by people who are passionate about sports, especially running. So, involving brands as supporters of their favorite events is likely to create a positive brand image.

However, sponsorship is certainly not limited to offline events. You can also provide sponsorship to online communities or podcasts.

5. DOOH (Digital Out of Home) Advertising

DOOH advertising is one way to increase brand awareness through the use of digital technology placed in public spaces, such as stations, airports, malls, or public transportation. DOOH is included in the offline advertising category. 

Even though digital marketing is growing rapidly every day, offline advertising remains a popular option. This is because this type of advertising can reach a wide audience in strategic locations, create curiosity, and certainly build brand awareness.

By now, you may already have a clear understanding of the top-of-funnel marketing concept and are beginning to consider its application in your business. Did you know that cmlabs offers practical solutions you can try to implement your digital marketing strategy, from ToFU to BoFU?

cmlabs provides almost all integrated digital marketing services, ranging from SEO, SEM, social media design and management, IT development, and many more. We also have various tools that can help brands succeed in the digital realm.

Curious about the details of various Services by cmlabs? Do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation to find the most suitable services for your business!

Read also: Amazon SEO: 8 Strategies to Maximize Your Product Visibility