What is TOFU? And why does it matter for blogging?

Everybody knows Tofu. It's white, looks like goat's cheese and tastes like something you might use to fill a hole in your drywall.

But before you gag and click away, we're not talking about that kind of Tofu. We're talking about top-of-the-sales-funnel "TOFU" - entry point level for your future customers and the foundation upon which all customer sales can be built.

For the uninitiated, the sales funnel is recognized as having three main sections - a top, middle and bottom. Your customers start at the top and, all being well, make it all the way to the bottom, where you earn their business and perhaps even turn them into promoters and evangelists.

Business types are far too busy to address these funnel stage terms in full, so the industry has devised a simple shortening that saves vocal chords and makes meetings pass more quickly.

[PORTADA] Estrategias TOFU, MOFU y BOFU para tu Inbound Marketing - http://t.co/AiZKCihzpl por @jordi_hc pic.twitter.com/DmrcK5C1y7

— Marketer TOP (@marketertop) March 26, 2015

Step forward TOFU, MOFU and BOFU. Though they sound like the goofy triplet stars of a cutesy Disney-Pixar cartoon franchise, these three words are in fact serious business. Understanding the nuances of your sales funnel is vital to understanding your business (and making it print you money).

So, to blogging, which we should recognize exclusively as a TOFU tool. Blogging is inbound marketing's best method of attracting new visitors (potential customers) to your website.

Blogging is strictly TOFU because it's a baited hook to get potential customers into the sales process. Your blog is there to answer the questions your buyer personas are asking online - thus drawing them to your website to read your remarkable content.

The best practise with blogs is always to recognize their role at the top of the sales funnel. You shouldn't be talking too much about your product or service, because blogs are not the place to actively sell what you have on offer, nor to get overly immersed in complex specifics for industry experts.

日本の物を見つけてもクソ高いので I love tofuとかいう意味不明の食材に落ち着くスタイル pic.twitter.com/2rHjWeIXkp

— どるぺろお (@Dolceh_lev) August 7, 2014

The role of your blog is a simple one - bring people in, make them feel rewarded and engaged, and as a result obliged to click a call-to-action you've placed in the blog post. Only at that point does a potential customer begin their journey from TOFU to MOFU and beyond.

As per Hubspot:

"Because most people begin their buying process online, one of the most powerful strategies for attracting visitors and converting leads at the top of the funnel is to create keyword-rich content in the form of blogs."

Blogs don't work as targeted at the MOFU of BOFU stages of the sales funnel, because in those stages you need very different things.

The MOFU stage is all about converting your visitors in leads (think landing pages); the BOFU stage is closing those leads into customers (emails, product samples etc.). The content and approach needs to be more targeted and recognize the customer's stage in the buyer's journey.

Staying true to the TOFU blog strategy we haven't gone into great depth here, but hopefully you feel rewarded enough to click on one of Hüify's call-to-actions herein and continue your journey!