While software-based attribution can excel at reporting on the activities that help capture demand, when it comes to identifying the many untraceable interactions that help create that demand (say, conversations on social media or word-of-mouth referrals), things get murky very quickly.
By the time today’s B2B buyer has searched for your brand on Google, clicked on your shiny paid ad or ventured to request a demo, they have been busy behind the scenes gathering data. Perhaps a co-worker repeatedly expressed a pain point. Interest was piqued by a podcast on the topic. Maybe a word-of-mouth referral finally put you in the spotlight.
The term “dark funnel” describes this significant part of the B2B buyer’s journey that evades conventional analytics tools.
As data privacy and platform changes reduce visibility further, understanding and illuminating the dark funnel has become crucial for any marketer wishing to capture insights into their customers’ behaviour at the beginning of their buying journey.
What we do in the shadows
The need to shine a light into this shadowy realm of post-Covid purchase activity is pressing. For when buyers do emerge and initiate contact, they are already 70% of the way through their journey.
Prof. John Dawes of the B2B Institute has delivered a cold hard truth: “Only 20% of business buyers are ‘in the market’ over the course of an entire year; something like 5% in a quarter – or put another way, 95% aren’t in the market.”
When ready—and only then—buyers initiate first contact with sales 83% of the time, having largely established their requirements beforehand, and will have probably made their decision between suppliers by the time they get in touch.
84% of deals are won or lost before providers know they even exist. The fact is, if you haven’t won over a buyer conducting research whilst in the dark funnel, you only have a 16% chance of winning the deal—if you heard about it in the first place.
To be successful, you need to make people who aren’t in the market now aware of your brand and favourable to it, so that when they do enter the market your brand is the one they think of first.
It’s time to glow in the dark
Brand building is a powerful way to shine in the dark funnel, allowing B2B marketers to influence and engage potential buyers across invisible touchpoints, creating a foundation of trust and preference that can later translate into measurable results for all to see.
Establish trust
A great deal of independent research takes place when choosing between suppliers, not least because more than two-thirds of buyers feel B2B brands all pretty much look and sound the same. A strong brand gives buyers confidence and recognition when they encounter information indirectly, whether through industry articles, social media, or peer recommendations. This trust can lead them to engage when they’re further along in the buying process.
Be consistent
Brand building requires staying present in the market through content, thought leadership and social proof. These are difficult to measure directly but highly impactful when done right and regularly. When potential clients see your brand repeatedly in these untrackable channels, it builds familiarity that can drive preference later, even if you can’t trace it back to a single campaign.
Make an impression
In the dark funnel, word-of-mouth and peer recommendations are incredibly influential, as B2B buyers prefer trusted colleagues’ opinions to blatant sales patter. A strong brand increases the likelihood of these recommendations because it leaves a memorable, positive impression that others are more likely to endorse.
Adapt to privacy changes
Google’s decision to deprecate third-party cookies in its Chrome browser and emails with tracking pixels now flagged as spam is a loss for tracking data but a win for brand building. Brands with strong awareness and reputation have a natural advantage since buyers may already be inclined to consider them without direct, measurable prompts.
Play the long game
As we’ve said, since most B2B buyers aren’t immediately in the market, brand building helps keep your business top-of-mind throughout a lengthy buying cycle. Effective brand building can nurture leads passively, making it easier to convert them later when they’re finally ready to take the plunge.
We’ll show you the way forwards
Create a more holistic understanding of buyer behaviours with a combination of enlightening strategic, data-driven and brand-focused approaches, and start accessing hidden insights within the dark funnel.
We will be releasing further content on this topic in the coming weeks so follow us on LinkedIn to get notified as soon as it’s live.
