glossary
TOFU / MOFU / BOFU
Top, middle, and bottom of funnel — shorthand for the awareness, consideration, and decision stages content and offers are mapped to.
By The Marketinque TeamReviewed June 2026
The three letters split the buyer journey by intent. TOFU (top of funnel) is awareness: the buyer is learning about a problem, not shopping. MOFU (middle) is consideration: comparing approaches and shortlisting vendors. BOFU (bottom) is decision: pricing pages, demos, case studies, trials.
The model’s real job is matching content and offer to intent. A demo CTA on a TOFU blog post asks for marriage on the first date; a thought-leadership essay on a pricing page wastes a ready buyer’s time. Map each asset to a stage and give it the next smallest step, not the final one.
In the full-funnel model, TOFU work lives at the attract stage, MOFU at nurture, and BOFU at capture and activate. The demand generation guide maps the stages end to end, including what happens after the sale.
worked example
For an email platform: the TOFU asset is "Why deliverability is getting harder"; the MOFU asset is "How to choose an email platform" with a comparison checklist; the BOFU asset is a migration guide plus a live demo. Same audience, three different moments.
Related terms
Sources
- E. St. Elmo Lewis, The AIDA model (1898)
- McKinsey & Company, The consumer decision journey (2009)
Compiled by The Marketinque Team to our editorial standards.