Founder & Chief Executive Officer
A lot of marketers online are going to tell you that you need to follow the whole TOFU, MOFU, BOFU strategy. And if you have never heard of it, honestly, you do not even have to go search it.
Because to me, a lot of what gets taught around it just boils down to this: follow the trends and be a copypasta of everybody else. And I am here to tell you that I think you should do the complete opposite. I think you should be authentically yourself as much as you possibly can online, and be the weird self that you actually are. Speaking of weird, I am suddenly craving tofu, and I cannot imagine why.
Here is what I will tell you from my ten, now eleven years of doing this. The most authentic videos and the most authentic content I have ever made are the things that landed me the largest amount of money and my largest contracts. And the same goes for so many of my clients who took this same advice. Now, at the end of the day, this is just my advice, and you do not have to take it. I am, after all, some rando on social media. But I think you should give it a try and see what happens when you stop worrying about the funnel formulas and the virality and all of that. Strip it away, just be you for a while, and watch what happens to your engagement and your customer loyalty.
Let me quickly translate the jargon, because I do not want to leave you in the dark. TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU stand for top, middle, and bottom of the funnel. It is just a way of describing where someone is in their journey, from first discovering you, to considering you, to finally buying.
Here is my honest take. The funnel idea itself is not evil, and understanding your buyer’s journey has its place. But what so often gets sold online is a rigid, copy-paste version of it. Make this exact kind of post for this stage, copy this trending format, follow this template everyone else is following. And when everyone runs the same playbook, everyone starts to sound and look exactly the same. That is where it goes wrong. The formula becomes a copypasta of everybody else, and your actual self disappears in the process.
Summary: TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU just mean top, middle, and bottom of the funnel. The concept has its place, but the copy-paste version taught online makes everyone follow the same templates until they all look and sound identical.
Here is the real cost of being a copy of everyone else. You become invisible.
When your content looks like everyone else’s content, sounds like everyone else’s content, and follows the same trending formats as everyone else, there is nothing for a person to latch onto. There is no reason to remember you specifically, because you blend into a wall of sameness. People scroll past sameness all day without registering a single thing. The irony is that the formulas designed to help you stand out are the very things making you blend in, because everyone is using them.
Summary: Copying everyone else makes you blend into a wall of sameness with nothing memorable to latch onto. The formulas meant to help you stand out end up making you invisible, because everyone uses them.
So here is my actual advice, the opposite of the copypasta approach. Be your weird, authentic self.
The quirks you think you should hide are usually the exact things that make you memorable. Your specific sense of humor, your strong opinions, the odd way you explain things, your random tofu cravings at the worst possible moment. That is what makes you you, and you is the one thing no competitor and no template can copy. Weird is not a liability. Weird is your fingerprint. When you let your real personality show, you give people something to connect with, remember, and choose. The goal was never to be a polished version of everyone else. It was to be an unmistakable version of you.
Summary: Your quirks and personality are what make you memorable, and they are the one thing no template or competitor can copy. Being your weird, authentic self gives people something real to connect with and remember.
Now let me back up my big claim, because I know what you are thinking. Sure, Ina, being yourself sounds nice, but does it actually make money? Yes. It is what made me the most money.
In all my years doing this, my most authentic content is what landed my largest contracts, and the same has been true for my clients. The data agrees. According to Clutch’s 2026 research, 85% of consumers have purchased from a brand specifically because it felt authentic, and 81% have stopped supporting a brand because it no longer felt genuine. Authenticity also drives the very things I mentioned at the start, with research showing most consumers say authenticity is necessary for brand loyalty and that brands prioritizing it see higher engagement. So this is not just a feel-good idea. Being authentically you is one of the most profitable strategies you have.
I had a client in Edmonton who was exhausted from chasing trends and copying competitors, with little to show for it. The moment they dropped the formula and started showing up as their real, slightly offbeat self, their engagement climbed and they landed their biggest contract yet. Same business. They just finally sounded like themselves.
Summary: Authenticity wins real business, with 85% of consumers buying from a brand because it felt authentic and 81% leaving when it felt fake. The most authentic content lands the biggest contracts, for me and for my clients.
Being your authentic self is not only a social media thing. It has to carry through everywhere, especially your website, because that is where a cookie-cutter approach quietly costs you.
So many businesses use a template website that looks exactly like every competitor’s, with the same stock photos and the same generic copy. That is the copypasta problem all over again. Strong website design should reflect the real, unmistakable you, your voice, your story, your personality, so a visitor feels the same human they connected with elsewhere. The same goes for your search visibility. Original, authentic content is what search engine optimization rewards, because Google and AI tools are built to surface genuine, first-hand expertise, not recycled content that mirrors everyone else. A good SEO company will tell you that copied, templated content struggles, while original content with a real point of view is what ranks and lasts. Your authenticity is not just good for connection. It is good for being found.
Summary: Avoid a cookie-cutter template website that looks like every competitor. Strong website design should reflect the real you, and original, authentic content is what search engine optimization rewards, since search and AI surface genuine expertise over recycled sameness.
So here is my challenge to you, the same one I gave at the start. Strip away the formulas, the funnel templates, and the virality chasing, and just be you for a while. Treat it like an experiment.
Show up as your real self across everything, your social content, your website, and your emails. If you want help doing it consistently, a social media manager and good social media management can keep your authentic voice showing up regularly, and email marketing services let your real personality reach the people who already chose you. If you want a strategy built around the actual you rather than a template, that is exactly what a great marketing consultant, fractional CMO, or some marketing support should do, and what marketing training and corporate marketing training can teach. The right marketing agency amplifies your authenticity instead of flattening it into a formula. This is just my advice, and yes, I am some rando on social media. But give it a try, and I really do wonder what will happen to your engagement and your customer loyalty.
Summary: Run the experiment: strip away the formulas and show up as yourself across social, your website, and email. A social media manager, marketing consultant, or marketing agency should amplify your authenticity, not flatten it into a template.
Forget being a copypasta of everybody else. The TOFU, MOFU, BOFU formula, at least the copy-paste version of it, turns you into a clone, and clones are forgettable.
In my eleven years doing this, it is the most authentic, most unapologetically me content that landed the biggest contracts, and the same has been true for my clients. So be your weird, authentic self. Let that real you show up everywhere, from your social posts to your website to your inbox. Strip away the formulas, stop chasing virality, and just be you for a while.
This is just my advice from some rando on social media. But give it a try, and watch what happens to your engagement and your customer loyalty.
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