The buyer’s journey is changing, which means marketing and sales funnels are changing too. With buyer behavior shifting to self-education and solo research, go-to-market teams are having to rethink the buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey is not linear, and it can be difficult to understand all the touchpoints that influenced your buyers’ decisions. You may feel in the dark about what’s truly happening in your buyer’s journey. In fact, there’s a term for these “dark” touchpoints: The Dark Funnel. And today, we’re going to explore how you can conquer dark funnel marketing and use it to improve win rates and revenue.
What is dark funnel marketing? The broad marketing definition is awareness marketing which is difficult to measure. However, a more functional definition is any interactive communication that helps educate a buyer about your industry, product/service in a neutral, informative way.
Paula Pollock is the founder of the Pollock Marketing Group, a midmarket B2B agency focused on growth marketing. She rose through the corporate sales ranks at AT&T and Qwest Communications, then switched to marketing, helping drive qualified sales leads for Shutterfly, Walmart Global eCommerce, and GE Digital. Her experience gives her a unique sales perspective that isn’t found in many marketers.