Audiences & targeting
What is Marketing funnel (TOFU/MOFU/BOFU)?
A marketing funnel is the path a customer travels from first hearing about you to buying, split into three stages: top of funnel (TOFU) for awareness, middle of funnel (MOFU) for consideration, and bottom of funnel (BOFU) for conversion. On Meta you map each stage to different campaigns, audiences and creative, because a cold stranger and a cart abandoner need very different ads.
Example
A TOFU campaign runs a broad prospecting audience with a short brand video to earn cheap reach. MOFU retargets video viewers and page visitors with proof — reviews, a comparison, a demo. BOFU retargets cart abandoners and product viewers with a dynamic product ad and an incentive to close. One offer, three audiences, three messages.
Why it matters
Trying to sell to everyone with one campaign wastes budget: cold audiences rarely buy on the first touch, while warm audiences don't need convincing to notice you. Mapping campaigns to funnel stages lets you judge each stage on its own metric — reach and CTR at TOFU, engagement and lead cost at MOFU, CPA and ROAS at BOFU — instead of blaming a prospecting ad for not closing sales it was never meant to close.
How to use and improve it
Build a broad TOFU prospecting campaign for reach and cheap attention, feed its engagers and site visitors into MOFU retargeting with proof-driven creative, then close with BOFU dynamic product ads and offers to cart abandoners and product viewers. Exclude people who already converted from earlier stages, and read each stage against the metric it actually controls. Geniusko's free audit shows which funnel stage your spend is concentrated in and where the gaps are.
Frequently asked questions
What do TOFU, MOFU and BOFU mean?
TOFU is top of funnel (awareness — cold audiences meeting you for the first time), MOFU is middle of funnel (consideration — warm audiences weighing you up), and BOFU is bottom of funnel (conversion — high-intent people ready to buy).
How do I map Meta campaigns to funnel stages?
Use broad prospecting audiences and awareness or engagement objectives at TOFU, retarget engagers and visitors with consideration creative at MOFU, and retarget cart abandoners and product viewers with conversion campaigns and dynamic product ads at BOFU.
Do I need all three funnel stages to run Meta ads?
No. Small accounts often start with a broad prospecting campaign plus basic retargeting. Add distinct MOFU consideration content as your warm audiences grow large enough to justify their own campaigns.
Which funnel stage should get the most budget?
Usually TOFU prospecting, because it feeds everything below it — warm and BOFU audiences can only be as large as the top of your funnel. Retargeting is efficient but small, so it closes demand rather than creating it.
Related
How does your account score?
A free Meta ads audit gives you a 0–100 score, shows wasted budget, and lists the exact next steps.
Run a free audit