May 13, 2025

Top of Funnel Marketing: 7 Strategies to Attract New Customers 

Are you looking to attract new customers? Check out these 7 top-of-funnel marketing strategies to help you reach a wider audience and grow your business.
Top of Funnel Marketing: 7 Strategies to Attract New Customers 
Top of Funnel Marketing: 7 Strategies to Attract New Customers 

Key takeaways:

  1. The top of the funnel (TOFU) marketing is the initial touchpoint for a potential customer. It involves campaigns and activities that expose your brand to a new audience and takes them on the journey to become customers.
  2. With top-of-funnel marketing, you can reach a massive number of prospects. The larger the number of prospects the higher your chances of acquiring new customers.
  3. Some top-of-funnel strategies include driving traffic with content marketing and SEO, social media marketing, and influencer marketing. 
  4. Blog posts and articles, social media posts, infographics, videos, podcasts, ebooks, etc are examples of TOF marketing content. 

A customer's journey starts from when they find a product right until they make the final buying decision. The customer goes through what is called a marketing funnel. 

The customer starts at the top of the funnel, narrows into the middle of the funnel, and ends at the bottom of the funnel.

Understanding customer behavior at each stage of the funnel will help you engage with prospects and turn your leads into customers.

In this article, we will zero in on what the top of funnel marketing is, why it is important, and some of the best top-of-funnel strategies to help you attract new customers. 

What is top-of-funnel marketing? 

Top-of-funnel marketing involves marketing to a wide audience to capture new leads. Think of it like casting a fishing net into a wide ocean. 

Top-of-funnel marketing involves campaigns and activities that expose your brand to a new audience and takes them on the journey to become customers. 

The top of the funnel (TOFU) is the initial touchpoint for a potential customer. Here, they get to know your business exists. 

At this stage, the customer doesn't know about your product or offering and is in research mode. 

All campaigns and activities at this stage of the funnel should focus on education and building trust. Your content should be able to solve a customer’s problem or address their needs. You want to avoid making a sales pitch at this stage.

At the top of the funnel, you want to attract as many prospects as is enough to trickle down further into the funnel. 

Here’s a quick overview of what the entire marketing funnel looks like:

Top-of-funnel (TOFU)

This is the awareness phase where customers are searching for solutions to a problem or need. At this stage, customers are in search of educational materials and resources that can help them.

Middle-of-funnel (MOFU)

The middle of the funnel is the consideration phase. At this stage, customers begin to narrow their options to the one that will best solve their problem. You want to create content that helps customers evaluate products and services. So think of email marketing, e-books, white papers, etc.

Bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) 

The bottom of the funnel is the decision stage where customers finally pick which company or seller they want to buy from. 

At this stage, the customer considers testimonials, product reviews, prices, etc. You want to create content that can capture hot prospects and turn them into customers. 

Why is top-of-funnel marketing important? 

The top of the funnel is a crucial part of the entire marketing funnel. At this stage, you want to cast a wide net and get as many customers into the funnel. The goal here is not to drive sales, as only a small percentage of these prospects will become customers. 

Here are some reasons why the top of funnel marketing is important: 

  • With top-of-funnel marketing, you can reach a massive number of prospects. The larger the number of prospects the higher your chances of acquiring new customers.
  • The top of the funnel is the first touchpoint for customers. With TOFU marketing, you can introduce your brand to potential customers by providing valuable information. 
  • With top-of-funnel marketing, you can introduce prospects to a memorable experience and keep your brand top of mind. This makes it easy to lure them through to the bottom of the funnel increasing your conversion rate. 
  • Top of the funnel marketing strategies like SEO-optimized blogs, videos, and social media posts drive organic traffic. The more people interact with your brand early on, the higher the chances of future conversions.
  • Top-of-funnel marketing creates a retargeting pool for email marketing and ad campaigns. 
  • Without TOFU efforts, there wouldn’t be enough leads entering the middle and bottom of the funnel. A well-executed TOFU strategy ensures you have a steady flow of potential customers moving toward conversion.

7 top-of-funnel strategies to attract new customers 

Here are seven top-of-funnel strategies that can help you reach new audiences and drive traffic to your store:

  1. Understand your audience 
  2. Drive top-of-funnel traffic with content marketing and SEO
  3. Create quality educational content
  4. Reach a wider audience with social media
  5. Build trust with influencer marketing 
  6. Avoid appearing too “salesy”
  7. Include a call to action 

Understand your audience 

The journey all starts with understanding who your audience is. You need to have an in-depth understanding of who they are, where they spend their time online, what their interests are, and what their pain points and frustrations are. 

Carry out deep research on your customer's demographics, behavior, interest, pain points, etc, and create a buyer persona.

Understanding your audience will help you create content that appeals to them and provides answers to their problems.

The more your content can resonate with your audience, the more likely they are to convert at the bottom of the funnel.

Drive top-of-funnel traffic with content marketing and SEO

Consumers usually begin their journey by browsing search engines like Google, looking for answers to specific questions or solutions to their problems. 

To attract a massive audience, you want to optimize your website content for SEO. For example, you want to include relevant keywords that potential customers may be searching for. You can use keyword research tools to create a list of relevant keywords and add them to your website content.

You also want to create valuable content that provides answers to customers’ questions and problems. For example, you can create a blog post to raise awareness about a particular problem and present your product or service as the solution.

Create quality educational content

As we mentioned earlier, at the top of the funnel, consumers are looking for answers to specific questions or problems. They are looking for largely educational and informative content that provides the answers. 

You want to share educational content like blog posts and provide customers with all the answers they need.

In addition, it is important to pay attention to the quality of your content. A poorly written blog post will only put your customers off and affect your overall SEO ranking. 

Reach a wider audience with social media

With social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc, you can push content, attract a wide range of audience and drive traffic to your website. You want to focus on the social media platforms that your target audience uses the most. This is where having a deep understanding of who your customer is, comes in.

Create relevant content across your social media platforms and engage with your audience. As you build a strong and loyal following, you can gradually drive them through to the bottom of the funnel.

Build trust with influencer marketing 

To build trust and attract users into your sales funnel, you can leverage influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing works effectively, as it is similar to a personal recommendation. People trust these influencers and will most likely try whatever product they recommend. 

Research to pick the best influencer that suits your brand. The influencer can host giveaways or contests to engage with their audience and direct potential customers to your website. 

Avoid appearing too “salesy”

As we’ve established throughout this article, consumers at the top of the funnel want to educate themselves and learn more about products and services that address their needs. The last thing consumers want to do at this stage is to buy a product.

At the top of the funnel, you want to avoid appearing “salesy” or aggressive as this can drive prospective customers away instead of luring them in. 

Include a call to action 

A call to action is a great way to move your prospect further down the marketing funnel. For example, you can have prospects provide their email in exchange for educational content like an ebook. This way, you can easily capture new leads and drive them into the funnel. 

Types of top-of-funnel marketing content 

TOF content is designed to attract potential customers by increasing awareness, piquing interest, and providing value without immediately pushing for a sale. Here are some types of top-of-funnel marketing content: 

  1. Blog posts and articles

Blog posts and articles can help answer customer questions and provide information about topics relevant to them. A customer will likely tilt toward a brand that helped them answer a question or understand a concept. With blog posts, you can educate your audience and also improve your website’s SEO. Some examples of blog posts include how-to guides, listicles, industry insights, and thought leadership articles.

  1. Infographics

Infographics are a visual representation of information that combines words and images. It presents data or complex information in a visually engaging and easily digestible format. This can include statistics summaries, process diagrams, and visual storytelling.

  1. Videos

With videos, you can provide informational content, or tell a story that captures attention quickly and conveys information in an engaging, memorable way.

Some examples of videos include explainer videos, brand story videos, tutorials, and short-form videos on platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels.

  1. Social media content 

With social media posts and campaigns, you can reach a broad audience, spark conversations, and build a vibrant community. 

You can share social media content like stories, and live sessions that share tips, behind-the-scenes looks, or user-generated content.

  1. Podcasts

Podcasts can provide in-depth discussions and insights while building a community around your brand.

You can do industry interviews, panel discussions, or storytelling episodes related to your niche.

  1. Ebooks and whitepapers 

With ebooks and whitepapers, you can offer comprehensive insights or solutions to problems, usually in exchange for contact information. This is an effective way to generate leads for your business. 

Some examples of ebooks and whitepapers include in-depth guides on industry topics or detailed market research reports.

  1. Webinars and live events

With webinars and live events, you can educate your audience in real time, allowing for interaction and direct engagement. You can showcase your expertise and build strong relationships with your customers. 

You can hold educational live sessions, Q&A webinars, or live product demos.

How do you measure top-of-funnel marketing success? 

Since the major focus of top-of-funnel marketing is not to acquire new customers but to reach a wider audience, measuring success may be slightly difficult. 

However, here are some key metrics that can help you measure the top-of-funnel marketing success: 

  • Reach: Your reach represents the total number of individuals who have seen your ad or content across various platforms. This metric can help you measure the success of your marketing campaign. For example, if you have a massive reach with few engagements or clicks, you may need to make some changes to improve your performance. 
  • Impressions: Impressions refer to the number of times your target audience has seen your campaign or content. 
  • Views: Views refer to the number of times your target audience has engaged with your content. 
  • Website traffic: Website traffic measures how many people visit your website. Google Analytics breaks this into sessions and users
  • Average time on page: This metric measures how long your website visitors stay on your site. With this metric, you can find out if visitors engage with the content on your website. If the average time on the page is high, it means visitors are engaging with your content. 
  • Bounce rate: Your bounce rate shows you how many people land on your site and leave immediately without engaging. A very high bounce rate may indicate that your content is not relevant or visitors are not having a pleasant experience.

Final thoughts 

Top-of-funnel marketing is a crucial part of the marketing funnel, as it helps you attract potential customers. It also helps you improve brand awareness and build trust with new audiences. 

Keep in mind that at this stage, you want to attract as many prospects and guide them further into the marketing funnel to become customers. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is top of the funnel in marketing?

Top of the funnel (TOFU) in marketing is the first stage of the customer journey, where businesses attract and create awareness among potential customers. This stage focuses on reaching a broad audience, generating interest, and educating prospects rather than making immediate sales.

What is a tof in marketing?

TOF stands for Top of Funnel, which refers to the first stage of the customer journey where businesses attract potential customers. Here, businesses focus on targeting a wide audience who may not know about the brand. The aim is to generate awareness and interest using informative and engaging content to build trust and credibility rather than focusing on conversions.  

What is the top and bottom of the marketing funnel?

The top and bottom of the funnel refer to different stages in the customer journey. The Top of the Funnel (TOFU) stage is the awareness stage where the goal is to attract potential customers and generate brand awareness. Here, the people may not know about the brand but have a problem the product/service can solve. Marketing strategies here include paid ads, social media marketing, blogs, etc. 

On the other hand, the Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) is where the potential customers lead to paying customers. Here, people are actively considering a purchase and need a final push. Businesses will want to provide compelling reasons for customers to take action and buy from them instead of a competitor.

Marketing strategies here include product demos and free trials, case studies, testimonials, limited-time offers, etc. 

What is the top end of the funnel?

The top end of the funnel or top of the funnel is where businesses focus on attracting customers and creating brand awareness. Businesses focus on generating leads, educating, informing, and building brand awareness.

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