Content marketing has become one of the popular methods for engaging customers in this digital age. According to a CMI survey, 94 percent of B2B marketers and business owners use content marketing among other digital marketing services. However, only 9 percent of them claim it to be effective for their organization. Often, due to the absence of an effective content marketing management plan, content marketing leads to failure. An effective content marketing management framework can open up vast opportunities for businesses. Business owners with content development services can streamline their efforts to channel their lucrative benefits. However, businesses must first understand the content funnel before landing on a strategy.  

Understanding Content Marketing Management Funnel 

Content marketing, like other online marketing services, guides a customer through the marketing funnel. Businesses are required to satisfy all three stages of the funnel to acquire customers.   

• Awareness – Any content must first inform a reader about the problem being acknowledged. Consequently, the content must talk about the value being offered with its solution.
• Evaluation – Readers or prospects, after going through the awareness stage, evaluate the various choices a business offers them.  In this stage, prospects examine both a business’s and its competitor’s solutions without any purchase action.
• Conversion – Once a prospect passes through the Evaluation Stage, purchase decision making effectuates. At this stage, a business’s goal is to convert leads to frequent, high-ticket buyers.

A cold prospect cannot evaluate a solution without being aware of the problem. And conversion is only possible after a buyer’s evaluation of the possible courses of action.TOFU-MOFU-BOFU is a powerful framework that addresses all three stages and acts as a guide for businesses to steer a buyer’s journey.   

What is TOFU-MOFU-BOFU?

According to a Gleanster Research study, 50 percent of qualified leads aren’t convinced to make a purchase. TOFU-MOFU-BOFU acts as a primer for effectively nurturing leads in a content marketing management strategy. Under this framework, businesses employ content marketing services to create content for every stage of the buyer's journey. 

TOFU: Top of the Funnel

ToFu content involves raising brand awareness. Under this, businesses promote customer engagement and spread brand familiarity via content. ToFu content focuses more on providing information that addresses either a requirement or a query. Consequently, businesses attain their aim of generating a high volume of leads. Some examples of content used at this stage include blogs, infographics, and video content.  

MOFU: Middle of the Funnel

Under MoFu content marketing, businesses begin positioning themselves as the market leader of a product. MoFu content includes targeted offers and in-depth knowledge about a product or service pertaining to a brand. It is the most complicated funnel stage. Businesses structure their content strategically to filter out qualified leads fit for conversion. Typically, businesses excessively use comparison charts, white papers, eBooks, and webinars at this stage.   

BOFU: Bottom of the Funnel

BoFu content represents the closing stages of a buyer’s journey. At this stage, content marketers and businesses direct prospects to content that sells a product. Content types at this stage comprise of case studies, product demo videos, and consultations. BoFu content ultimately cements a customer purchase decision. Businesses can also include case studies and testimonials to demonstrate their product or service value. In simpler terms, BoFu content acts as a digital brochure for a business.   

Conclusion

In 2020, marketing is all about being customer-centric. Seeing that, content marketing can be the most rewarding digital marketing channel due to its high malleability. However, it requires persistence and proper execution. Businesses must show patience when it comes to reaping numerous benefits from this channel. Apart from TOFU-MOFU-BOFU, there are many other content frameworks. A professional content marketing agency can correctly align every business segment with an effective content strategy. Connect with us if you would like to discover the right framework for your business.