♾️ How to approach TOFU content

You’re reading The Content Loop — a 5-minute read on how B2B SaaS marketers can use original research and product-led content as a growth lever.

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I was scrolling through Superpath last week, and Eric Doty (Dock’s content lead) asked how folks were handling TOFU content (pure SEO) these days.

I’ve always believed that TOFU content has a place. Yes, even your “What is X?” blog posts, but if and only if you do these three things:

• Pick a lane and own the conversation

• Add something substantial (preferably first-party data)

• Don’t shy away from your product, but do it tactfully

Here’s why:

The internet is drowning in “What is X?” content. And honestly, most of it reads like it was copied and pasted from the first page of Google results (or generated by AI).

It usually goes something like:

“What is XXX? XXX helps you do ABC.”

[Insert 1500 words of Wikipedia-quality information without the credible sources 😆.]

[Follow the same SEO format for the rest of the piece.]

But the problem is you’ve paid $XXX for an article that won’t do anything for you.

It doesn’t tell readers why the topic matters, why YOU are talking about it, and how your product solves that problem.

I know traditional advice for TOFU content is not to talk about the product.

But that also means it takes your audience longer to get to the meatier pieces—especially the ones that explain what you do and why you do it.

For example, I recently worked on a piece on “Progressive Delivery” for Flagsmith (a feature flagging platform). It’s not a new-ish concept, but something the platform helps you do.

Right off the bat, we jumped in with process-specific information like this, where we inserted exactly where feature flags (the software category) come in:

But then we went on to explain our POV on this topic—why engineering teams shift left—and then how to realistically do it with a feature flagging platform:

When you think about anyone who lands on this article, they can get answers to three things:

• Information about the main concept

• What actually brought about the change (and what we think)

• How our platform works to help them achieve their main goal

This is just one example of how to flesh out your top-of-funnel topics realistically.

In Flagsmith’s example, they had first-party data like a fleshed-out narrative, webinars, and POV-focused social posts I could pull from.

In your case, it could be a data study or a couple of expert interviews that add to the piece.

From an SEO perspective, you hit the right semantics while still adding new information.

From an LLMO perspective, you give it new and specific information about where you stand as a company.

The next time you’re writing a piece like this, ask yourself:

The reality is that content that brings your audience into your world is about being useful in a way that naturally highlights your company’s approach to solving problems.

Even at the top of the funnel, you can (and should) demonstrate your unique value through the lens of education.

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That’s all for today!

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, hit “Reply” and let me know. 😄