TOFU Content is Essential
Creating top-of-funnel marketing content often feels like shouting into the void while your sales team taps their feet impatiently, waiting for leads that seem to take forever to materialize. "Where are the qualified prospects?" they ask, as you publish your third thought leadership piece of the week.
TOFU content is the essential fuel that powers your entire marketing flywheel. And if your flywheel isn't spinning, it might be time to check what you're feeding it.
The Flywheel vs. The Funnel: Why Marketers Are Making the Switch
Funnels assume customers follow a linear path, and once they convert, they fall out the bottom, and the relationship is over. On the other hand, flywheels recognize that happy customers become promoters who feed new prospects into your system.
What attracts those new prospects in the first place? Well-crafted TOFU content.
Why Your TOFU Content Might Be Failing Your Flywheel
If your content isn't generating momentum, you might be making these classic mistakes:
You Create Content Nobody Wants
A brilliant 3,000-word exposition on industry trends means nothing if it doesn't answer questions your audience is actually asking. Do the keyword research—it's boring but necessary.
You Navelgaze
Your audience doesn't care about your company history, mission statement, or new office location. They care about their problems. Be the solution, not the brochure.
You're Too Impatient
TOFU content shouldn't ask for marriage on the first date. Build trust first, and the sales pitch can come later.
You Post & Ghost
Content without distribution is like a tree falling in the forest with nobody around. It might make a sound, but nobody's there to hear it.
How to Create TOFU Content That Actually Powers Your Flywheel
1. Become obsessed with your audience's problems
The best TOFU content starts with a simple question: "What keeps my audience up at night?" Not "What product features can I highlight?" Not "How can I rank for this keyword?"
Talk to your customers, read their complaints on Reddit, hang out in their online communities, and create content that makes them say, "This person hears me."
2. Make it easy to consume
Your prospects aren't going to work hard to understand your content. So:
- Use clear, conversational language
- Break up text with subheadings and bullet points
- Include visuals that clarify, not complicate
- Get to the point quickly
3. Focus on one clear next step
Every piece of TOFU content should have one job: guide the reader to a single, obvious next step. Not five calls-to-action. Not ten related articles. One. Clear. Step.
Maybe it's subscribing to your newsletter or downloading a resource—make it logical and low-commitment.
4. Create content that naturally attracts links and shares
Your flywheel gains momentum when your content spreads without you constantly pushing it. Create content that's:
- Surprisingly helpful
- Backed by original research or unique insights
- Visual and easy-to-reference
- Contrarian but thoughtful
Measuring TOFU Content Success: Beyond Vanity Metrics
Stop obsessing over page views and social media likes. Instead, track metrics that indicate flywheel momentum:
- Return visitors: Are people coming back for more?
- Content shares: Is your audience doing your distribution for you?
- Newsletter signups: Are you building a permission asset?
- Time on page: Is your content actually being consumed?
The Flywheel Effect: Patience Required
Flywheels creak to life slowly. Creating TOFU content can feel thankless at first. You push and push, seeing minimal results. But here's where most marketers fail—they give up too soon.
The magic of the flywheel is that it builds momentum over time. Those early blog posts might bring in just a trickle of leads. But six months later, they're still working for you, bringing in organic traffic, building your authority, and, yes, generating leads.
Ready to Spin Your Flywheel?
Your content strategy isn't just about creating stuff—it's about creating momentum. Attention is scarce, and acquisition costs keep rising; that self-sustaining momentum isn't just nice to have. It's the difference between marketing that drains your resources and marketing that drives your growth.
Ready to talk about your content juggernaut? Reach out to us today.
