Too many B2B marketers still begin with the wrong question:
“Let’s go viral,” or worse, “Let’s just post more often.”

At L2C, we believe that content without strategy isn’t the answer.

To truly drive business growth, you need a content engine, a structured, performance-driven system that attracts the right people, nurtures them with relevant content, and converts them into customers. This means thinking beyond isolated blog posts or campaigns, and instead designing a funnel-based content strategy aligned with your buyer journey, CRM, and revenue goals.

Let’s break it down.

Why your B2B marketing needs a funnel-based content engine

Not all content has the same purpose and that’s exactly the point. A strong strategy maps each piece of content to a specific stage in the marketing funnel, ensuring it supports your overall growth engine.

At L2C, we use a simple but powerful framework: the 3H model (Help – Hub – Hero), aligned with each funnel stage.

Each type of content has its role. The goal is not to create more content, but to create the right content at the right time — and connect it with automation and data.

TOFU: Top of funnel – Attract with help content

The top of the funnel is where people are discovering a problem, but not yet looking for a product. This is where Help content comes into play. Your goal is to rank in search, answer key questions, and begin building top-of-funnel awareness.

Think of TOFU content as your digital storefront. It drives content visibility, builds authority, and pulls in relevant traffic, even if those visitors aren’t ready to buy (yet).

Some high-performing TOFU formats include:

• SEO-optimized blog posts targeting long-tail keywords
  
  
• Educational how-to guides and explainer videos
  
  
• Infographics, checklists, and social media carousels
  
  
• Podcast episodes or bite-sized LinkedIn thought leadership
  
  
• Informational pages that address common pain points
  
  

At this stage, traffic potential is high, but conversion will be lower by design. And that’s okay  because every TOFU piece should point toward the next logical step in the funnel (MOFU content). That could be a lead magnet, a related case study, or a comparison guide for further exploration.

MOFU: Middle of Funnel – Nurture with Hub Content

Once you've attracted the right people, the next step is to build trust. That’s what Hub content does. Your audience is now aware of their challenge, and they’re considering different ways to solve it. They want substance, not fluff.

The middle of the funnel is where your brand must shift from helpful voice to credible guide. The focus is on demonstrating expertise, building authority, and staying top-of-mind as they move toward a decision.

Effective MOFU content includes:

• Buyer guides, comparison pages, and solution explainers
  
  
• Webinars, deep-dive articles, and recorded demos
  
  
• Customer case studies and testimonials
  
  
• Gated lead magnets like templates or whitepapers
  
  
• Nurture email flows based on lifecycle stage and behavior
  
  

Here, engagement matters more than reach. Are people reading, clicking, and coming back? Are they progressing in the funnel? We track this through metrics like time on page, downloads, MQL scoring, and content-assisted conversions.

Smart automation using tools like HubSpot ensures that leads receive content based on actual behavior. Someone who downloaded a guide last week shouldn’t get the same content as someone reading your pricing page for the third time.

BOFU: Bottom of Funnel – Convert with Hero Content

When your leads reach the bottom of the funnel, they’re no longer just exploring, they’re ready to make a decision. Here, your content should help them take that final step with confidence.

Hero content is built to convert. It’s persuasive, proof-driven, and focused on the offer. You’re not explaining “why change?” anymore, you’re showing “why you?”

Typical BOFU content includes:

• ROI calculators, pricing breakdowns, or product deep-dives
  
  
• Customer video testimonials
  
  
• Free trial or demo landing pages with compelling CTAs
  
  
• Personalized sales content sent via outreach or automation
  
  
• One-pagers that align your solution to their specific use case
  
  

This content doesn’t need to generate volume. It needs to generate trust, urgency, and decisions.

To make this work, we layer in CRO tactics,  from page structure and call-to-action clarity to personalized retargeting ads that bring warm leads back at the right time.

Connecting the funnel with smart automation

Your content engine only performs when it’s connected. That’s where automation becomes the glue between awareness, engagement, and conversion.

At L2C, we design smart automation workflows around:

• Behavioral triggers: what a user reads, downloads, or clicks
  
  
• Lifecycle stage: segmenting by awareness, interest, decision
  
  
• Firmographics: job role, company size, or industry
  
  
• Lead score: based on both fit and intent
  
  

Someone who reads three blog posts on a pain point? We invite them to a webinar. Someone who views the pricing page twice? They get a follow-up with a customer case study and demo CTA.

This ensures that each lead gets the right message, at the right time and keeps moving forward.

Measuring what matters

A good content strategy is driven by insight, not instinct. We look beyond vanity metrics and measure performance at every funnel stage.

Here’s what we track:

• TOFU: Organic traffic, click-through rate, bounce rate
  
  
• MOFU: Time on page, scroll depth, MQL creation, email engagement
  
  
• BOFU: Demo requests, SQL quality, deal conversion rate, pipeline influence
  
  

Using tools like GA4, Looker Studio, SEMrush, Hotjar, and HubSpot, we evaluate content performance and iterate based on real-world behavior and CRM feedback.

Avoiding the common marketing pitfalls

Even strong content teams can fall into avoidable traps:

• Publishing content with no CRM or funnel alignment
  
  
• Prioritizing TOFU traffic while neglecting MOFU and BOFU engagement
  
  
• Failing to define KPIs for each funnel stage
  
  
• Producing content in silos without strategy, automation, or feedback loops
  
  

The result? Traffic without conversions. Content without growth.

The fix? Build systems, not just assets. Align content, CRM, and sales are aligned from day one.

Final thought: Content without strategy is just noise

Content should be your most scalable growth channel, but only if it’s engineered to perform.

By applying a funnel-first content marketing approach, mapping content to each buyer stage, and connecting everything through smart automation and lead intelligence, you can turn your content into a revenue engine.

At L2C, we help SaaS and B2B scale-ups build content machines that drive measurable impact — not just impressions.

Ready to make your content work harder (and smarter)?
Let’s build your content engine.