{"id":2337,"date":"2018-08-31T16:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T16:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=2337"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:35:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:35:42","slug":"deep-dive-top-of-sales-funnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/deep-dive-top-of-sales-funnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Deep Dive Into The Top Of Your Sales Funnel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you haven\u2019t heard it before, \u201ctop of the funnel\u201d almost sounds like a roller-coaster you\u2019d ride at an amusement park. To experienced marketers, though, it describes the beginning of a journey that takes customers in, around and through all the things they need to know as they start to get interested in a company\u2019s products and services.<\/p>\n

Top of the funnel (or TOFU) content might not seem like a high priority when compared to other materials, like spec sheets or detailed buyer\u2019s guides that help sales teams close more deals near the middle or bottom of the funnel. As the term \u201cfunnel\u201d<\/a> implies, effective marketing means capturing the interest of a wide variety of prospects first, winnowing them down into a group of more likely buyers<\/a>, then arming them with information to make a purchasing decision.<\/p>\n

TOFU content ensures that a company is reaching the largest addressable market possible. Even though a significant portion of that audience may never become actual customers, marketers know better than to dismiss them. After all, those who consume TOFU content may still wind up influencing sales by passing on what they\u2019ve learned to colleagues and peers in other companies, or take what they\u2019ve learned with them when they move to another firm. TOFU content is never wasted if it\u2019s powerful enough to make people want to hear more.<\/p>\n

The trickiest part of creating TOFU content for many organizations is moving away from a marketing approach that consists of \u201cMe, Me, Me.\u201d In other words, TOFU content is not just a form of advertising, where the underlying message is about the brand and the quality it can bring to the market. Instead, TOFU content is laser-focused on empowering its audience with stories that inform, educate or inspire — whether they wind up becoming customers or not. It places the audience\u2019s best interests above all else, knowing that it will indirectly build greater trust in the brand behind it.<\/p>\n

All this means that, in some ways, TOFU content can also be a lot of fun to create, because it takes you out of the day-to-day priorities of your firm and allows you to let you subject matter expertise shine.<\/p>\n

Step One: Play Your Way Into Identifying Themes And Topics<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no limit to the variety of TOFU content a firm can produce, but some of the most common formats include blog posts, social media posts and infographics. You may have produced or are producing some of these already, but keeping the principles of TOFU in mind will focus your efforts to make them more effective. <\/p>\n

Here are a few brainstorming games to help generate some story ideas:<\/p>\n