You’ve heard the terms ‘acquisition funnel’, ‘TOF / MOF / BOF’ thrown around but what does this acronym soup mean?  

15 years of running $XXM lead-gen programs later, I want to share some hard-won lessons about what works at every stage of the funnel in the lead-conversion journey.   

Top of the funnel (TOF)

Goal: Make target audience aware your brand exists and has relevance using highly scalable marketing tactics at a minimal cost per impression / view / click 

Activities: 

• Ad buys in digital publications

• social media ads

• speaking sessions at conferences

• TV ads, Radio ads, even Billboards (not relevant for series A / B) 

KPIs: Reach & frequency metrics – impressions, views, and clicks

Don’t: 

• spend too high a % of marketing budget (zoom in on just your target audience)

• expect these activities to generate leads use mass email or SMS marketing tactics yet

• start without a campaign landing page  

• Forget to implement Google tag manager (GTM) on your site & set up necessary tracking for every ad you run, metrics must inform marketing spend 

Middle of the funnel (MOF) 

Goal: Convert TOF lead awareness to consideration via opt in to email nurture or demo (depending on sales motion)

Activities: 

• Distribute offers (free trial or sample)

• Publish thought leadership (whitepaper or infographic)

• Retarget site visitors & former customers via Google ads and on social media

• Run email nurture sequences to opt ins from TOF, lapsed leads & customers

KPIs: Free trial signups, White paper downloads, email opens & clicks, site traffic from retargeting channels 

Avoid: 

• Offers that seem desperate (e.g. cash for a demo), or unrelated to product

• Starting without a CRM or contact database in place 

• Sub-par experience for the trial, sample or whitepaper

• Trying to ignore email marketing CAN-SPAM laws   

Bottom of the funnel (BOF)

Goal: Convert leads to customers by demonstrating product’s value and overcoming objections

KPIs: Lead to customer conversions, ARPU, time to close

Activities: 

• Optimize the website (publish an explainer video, test on-site chat, update content & design)

• Launch Sales email sequences

• Send SMS messages with limited time offers

• Distribute product one-sheets, customer stories & competitor feature comparisons

• Run platform demos (consider interactive / clickable demos)

Don’t:

• Use standard contact forms for demo signups. Make demo scheduling friction-less (e.g. embed MixMax, Calendly etc. on landing page)

• Continue to contact leads if they don’t engage after several emails, calls or texts

• Share Sales collateral that is not professionally designed 

CMOs and CEO reading this post, happy to chat live about your unique situation and how to leverage this playbook – it’s definitely not one size fits all but the general principles apply.