Introduction
In our agency work, we often see companies launch Google Ads campaigns without considering the stage of the funnel their audience is in. However, tailoring your campaigns to TOFU (Top of Funnel), MOFU (Middle of Funnel), and BOFU (Bottom of Funnel) is essential to maximizing your performance and ROI.
This article explains how to map Google Ads campaign types (retargeting, cold targeting, similar audiences) to funnel stages, drawing on our real-world experience and best practices from official Google resources .
Understanding TOFU, MOFU and BOFU
|
Stage |
Objective |
Audience type |
|---|---|---|
|
TOFU (top of the funnel) |
Attract attention and create awareness |
Broad audiences, affinity, similar |
|
MOFU (middle) |
Educate and engage |
In-market audiences, frequent visitors |
|
BOFU (low) |
Convert |
Remarketing, customer lists |
These three stages describe a prospect's journey from discovery of your brand to purchase. Aligning your campaigns with this funnel allows you to use the right messages and formats at the right time.
TOFU: Attract and inspire with large audiences
For the top of the funnel, you target internet users who are not yet familiar with your brand.
Recommended campaigns:
-
Display campaigns with affinity or similar audiences.
-
YouTube campaigns to generate curiosity and build awareness.
-
Demand Generation campaigns to deliver engaging visuals across key platforms.
Objective: Reach a large volume of users and generate qualified traffic to your site or product pages.
Read Google's recommendations for the top of the funnel
MOFU: Engage and nurture interest
In the middle of the funnel, your prospects are familiar with your brand and comparing their options.
Recommended campaigns:
-
Max Performance Campaigns to combine signals and track your prospects across multiple channels.
-
Discovery campaigns to present content and offers tailored to their interests.
-
In-market targeting to target those who demonstrate a clear purchase intention.
Objective: to remain present, respond to information needs and encourage deeper interaction.
Learn more about in-market audiences
BOFU: Convert with smart retargeting
At the bottom of the funnel, your prospects are close to purchasing.
Recommended campaigns:
-
Remarketing via Shopping campaigns to re-present viewed products.
-
Search campaigns to capture high-intention queries.
-
Lookalike audiences based on your best customers to expand the pool of qualified prospects.
Objective: generate direct conversions, sales or contacts, based on strong signals.
The importance of combining campaign types
Effectiveness doesn't come from a single format, but from the combination. For example, a user might discover your product via YouTube (TOFU), click on a Discovery ad a few days later (MOFU), then search and click on a Shopping ad (BOFU) before purchasing.
Understanding and mapping this journey is key to allocating your budget and adjusting your messaging. Google recommends a multi-channel, iterative approach to improve overall performance.
Check out Google's guide to the marketing funnel
Strategic support for each stage
At Bofu, we analyze your audience data and goals to build a strategy tailored to each stage of the funnel. As a certified Google Partner , we help you select the right types of campaigns and optimize your performance over the long term.
Conclusion
Aligning your Google Ads campaigns with the TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU funnel allows you to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. Whether it's retargeting, cold calling, or similar audiences, this structured approach increases your chances of conversion and your ROI. To implement a comprehensive, expert-led strategy, explore our Google Ads services and boost your campaigns to more results.
