The dark funnel is a mysterious concept in B2B marketing that has recently gained traction.
It is a concept that is still largely unknown and often misunderstood. Understanding the dark funnel helps to first look at the traditional marketing funnel. The conventional funnel models how leads move through the sales process, from awareness to conversion.
The dark funnel, on the other hand, is a much more complex concept. It is the idea that there are many more potential leads and customers in the market than are being identified by traditional marketing efforts. The dark funnel refers to the areas where the marketing efforts you cannot track are actively influencing your customers.
This article will explore the mystery behind the dark funnel and how it is applied to uncover untapped opportunities in B2B marketing.
What is Dark Funnel B2B Marketing?
Dark Funnel B2B Marketing is a strategic method of marketing a business to other businesses (B2B).
This approach uses data from various sources to create personalized campaigns tailored to the target audience.
The concept of a dark funnel is vital for marketers to understand, as it sheds light on the often overlooked processes of a customer’s journey.
In short, the dark funnel refers to the number of hidden touchpoints users go through in their customer journey.
These touchpoints are typically not visible to the marketer and can include digital and physical interactions.
For example, a user may search for a product online, visit a store, and ask employees questions before purchasing.
While the marketer does not track these interactions, they still impact the overall customer experience.
The dark funnel can also refer to any internal processes a user must go through before completing a purchase.
Dark Funnel Attracts Demand Generation
Dark funnel marketing and demand generation are highly correlated, as both are strategies used to drive consumer engagement and lead to eventual sales.
Dark funnel marketing is tracking consumer activity across multiple channels and devices, both online and off, to gain insight into consumer behavior.
This information is used to identify potential leads and target specific individuals, enabling marketers to leverage a more efficient and practical approach to marketing.
Demand generation, on the other hand, is creating and nurturing customer relationships to generate leads that can be further qualified and converted into sales.
It includes creating content, developing campaigns, and launching promotions.
Dark funnel marketing and demand generation together create a powerful combination that drives customer acquisition, lead generation, and market growth.
By leveraging the insights from dark funnel marketing, marketers can identify and target qualified leads, leading to increased customer engagement, customer acquisition, and, ultimately, increased sales.
Dark Funnels Change The Way We Think
Before the internet made a significance to how we do things, people needed more means to conduct a significant amount of their research. They sought expert advice and information from a salesperson or professional.
The most crucial portion of a buyer’s journey was “visible” because they started working with a professional or expert.
Today, things have changed dramatically. When evaluating a purchase, buyers today only spend about 17% of their time visiting potential suppliers, according to Gartner.
Since the beginning of time, people have communicated through word of mouth. Even instant messaging, social media, and texting have existed for years in venues where marketers cannot monitor them.
Referrals from friends, coworkers, and family greatly influence purchasing decisions.
To effectively communicate with customers, it is essential to understand the channels through which customers interact and utilize them appropriately.
Rather than relying solely on channels that can be tracked, such as email or website visits, it is important to meet the customer where they are to maximize the potential of communication.
It could mean utilizing social media, text messages, or other forms of communication.
Additionally, it is significant to consider the different preferences of customers when using these channels; some customers may prefer email, while others may prefer text messages.
By considering the customer’s preferences and understanding the different communication channels, businesses can ensure that they provide a high-quality customer experience and optimize their communication efforts.
Dark Funnels Accounts the Undocumented Buyer’s Journey
Dark funnel marketing is based on the premise that the customer journey is not easily captured.
This idea has been supported by numerous studies that have found that consumers often take several different paths to purchase, and these paths can be challenging to track and measure.
As a result, marketers may not be able to accurately document the entire customer journey, as some of the data points may need to be included or completed.
Additionally, due to the ever-evolving nature of technology and customer behaviors, the customer journey is constantly changing, making it difficult to capture every nuance of the process.
As such, dark funnel marketing seeks to fill the gaps in our understanding of the customer journey by utilizing various strategies to identify and target potential customers.
It includes the use of predictive analytics to understand better the motivations of potential customers, as well as the use of anonymous data to identify patterns and trends in the customer journey.
Third-Party Content Platforms Are Beyond Your Control
Dark funnel marketing is a concept that emphasizes the importance of understanding the customer journey and the role third-party content platforms and influencers play in it.
By recognizing that these platforms and influencers are out of their control, marketers must be aware of how customers interact with their brand and the content they are exposed to.
This lack of control means that marketers must focus on developing relationships with third-party content platforms and influencers to ensure that customers are exposed to the right content at the right time to maximize customer engagement and conversion rates.
Furthermore, marketers must understand the customer journey to determine which platforms and influencers are most effective in driving customer engagement and conversion.
Dark funnel marketing is a powerful tool for B2B marketers as it enables them to target accounts that may have been previously overlooked and entice them with relevant and personalized content.
While dark funnel marketing requires a longer sales cycle, it can dramatically increase sales if implemented and utilized correctly.
The success of dark funnel marketing depends on effective strategies, targeting the proper accounts, and providing relevant content at the right time.
Businesses can achieve outstanding results by harnessing the untapped potential of the dark funnel in B2B marketing.
