As Seed-stage enterprise software investors, we’ve seen time and time again early-stage teams focus all of their time and energy on moving prospects down the funnel that, when they finally come up for air, they find their top-of-funnel pipeline has dried up. 

To tackle this challenge, we hosted an Enterprise Masterclass with Robin Izsak-Tseng, veteran growth marketing leader with experience at hyper growth startups like BetterCloud and G2, on building a consistent, always-on top-of-funnel engine ensures that you avoid these gaps and maintain a steady stream of prospects.

See a recap of her 5 battle-tested (and inexpensive) campaigns to build a sustainable and predictable top-of-funnel engine below, but for more context and deeper dive into each –  see the full masterclass slides and webinar recording here.

The Backbone of Sustainable Growth: Top of Funnel Campaigns 

• Prevents pipeline gaps that can stall growth when your mid- and bottom-funnel stages slow down and ensures a constant influx of new prospects. 
• Creates flexibility, resilience, and less dependence on a single channel or tactic; by diversifying your lead sources early, you’re able to pivot and adapt when one source slows down.
• Supports scalable growth because it’s not just about bringing people in…it’s about setting a scalable revenue pace and nurturing leads that convert to opportunities and revenue.
• Gives the marketing team proactive control and allows marketing to always be a step ahead.‍
• Reinforces predictable revenue by maintaining a steady lead flow, which creates a reliable foundation for accurate forecasting.

Key reasons TOFU is overlooked	Why it's bad
Focus on immediate revenue Teams get pressured to hit quarterly numbers, focusing on mid and bottom funnel.	Inconsistent pipe Gaps emerge in lead flow, which impacts subsequent quarters.
Resource constraints Campaigns require time and creativity, often competing with limited budgets and bandwidth.	Lost momentum Without an always-on, sales teams experience dry spells, creating urgency cycles.
Delayed results TOFU results aren't transactional, leading to lower prioritization in hyper-growth organizations.	Reactive marketing When TOFU dries up, marketing goes into reactive mode, constantly chasing leads.

Campaign #1: The Big Idea – Creative, High-Impact Collaboration

To attract more companies seeking hourly workers and boost their hiring pipeline, this marketplace hosted a virtual panel featuring two COOs from competing breakfast industry giants (companies that matched their ICP) on the challenges of hiring. 

Activation: Email outreach, targeted paid ads, promotion across owned channels, and a spotlight in an industry newsletter.

‍Why It Worked:

• Relevant to ICP: Speakers and topic directly addressed the customer’s pain point: hiring and maintaining an hourly workforce.
• Authenticity: It was a rare chance to hear industry leaders speak openly about a shared challenge.‍
• Repurposable content: The company maximized impact by chopping up the recording for use across multiple channels and programs.

Campaign #2 The Scrappy – Small Budget, Big Results

This brick-and-mortar beauty bar sought brand exposure to attract investors and build an initial customer base. With a budget of just $20/day, they ran ads to generate excitement for their grand opening, resulting in a packed event that kept costs low and impact high.

Activation

• Geo-targeted Facebook and Instagram ads: Drove local traffic to the Grand Opening landing page.
• Exclusive offer: Promoted a “free mini-makeover” at the party to boost interest.‍
• Email Campaign: Built and nurtured the email list, maintaining momentum before and after the opening.

Why It Worked:

• Focused spend: A modest budget reached a targeted local audience.
• Scarcity and exclusivity: The limited offer created urgency to attend.‍
• Nurtured excitement: Countdown emails converted sign-ups into attendees and helped build a base of regular customers.

Campaign #3 The Recycle – Repurposing Content for Key Audiences

At G2, they launched an annual report, The State of Software. To better target their ICP of marketing leaders, they created a specialized edition, The State of Software: What CMOs Need to Know.

‍Activation:

• Data-driven customization: Cut data specifically for CMOs, focusing on their key priorities.
• Targeted distribution: Promoted via LinkedIn ads, direct email, and syndication on platforms for marketing executives.
• Nurture sequence: Personalized follow-up emails, sharing related content and inviting feedback.

‍Why it Worked:

• High relevance: Tailored insights attracted high-value engagement from CMOs.
• Cross-channel reach: Leveraged LinkedIn, email, and syndication for CMO visibility.
• Extended content life: Repurposed the flagship report without additional content creation costs.

Campaign #4 The Scale – Automated Engagement at Scale

To boost efficiency and scalability in our customer outreach at G2, they piloted 6sense’s Conversational Email AI tool, enabling them to “personally” engage 10,000 prospects with new product updates on G2. The tool achieved impressive 85% open rates and strong response rates, even handling replies automatically.

Activation

• AI-powered email: Replaced a dull operational email with something engaging.
• Targeted: Focused on contacts with new G2 listings to capitalize on momentum.
• Automated workflow: AEs and CSMs automatically copied on responses to set meetings.
  

Why it Worked:

• Efficient scaling: Reached thousands without added team effort.
• Personalized at scale: Authentic AI responses boosted engagement.‍
• Reliable flow: Automated outreach filled the top of the funnel with qualified leads.

Campaign #5 The Whale – Long-Term ABM for High-Value Targets

‍At BetterCloud, they executed a two-quarter, multi-channel ABM campaign aimed at 500 key accounts, concentrating on building awareness, fostering engagement, and ultimately driving sales conversations.‍

Activation:

• Account-based targeting: Focused on a specific list of 500 target accounts.
• Multi-channel: Leveraged email, LinkedIn, display, direct mail, and retargeting ads to create layered touchpoints.
• Long-term: Strategically sequenced to build awareness first, followed by engagement, then driving conversion.
  

Why it worked:

• Precision: Messaging and offers aligned with personas within the accounts.
• Sustained engagement: ABM isn’t transactional. We were in it for large deal sizes over longer sales cycles.
• High-impact leads: The long-term approach fostered trust, converting awareness into qualified conversations.

If you’re an early-stage enterprise founder or operator thinking through how your product might GTM — connect with us directly to chat about or check out our events page to stay in the loop on all things happening in the Work-Bench community.