Silently observing: your prospect in the dark funnel

Your prospects are silently reading your posts. They are tuning in to podcasts. They are listening to discussions in communities. They are comparing solutions on third party review sites. They are having private conversations on messaging apps. And at social events and conferences, they are gathering feedback and opinions. And receiving word of mouth recommendations.

While you remain oblivious to all this activity.

The inadequacy of current marketing intelligence

The problem here is that CRMs and traditional tracking apps fall short. All that these can see and track are organic and paid search results, direct traffic, marketing campaign results and paid media results.

That which is visible and obvious and only the latter part of the buyer journey.

While what you need is to know is who, where and how far along your lead has come in the buyer journey.

Disrupting the traditional funnel

The typical funnel is one where the marketer navigates the prospect through three stages - from attracting and creating awareness, to educating the prospect, and through engagement, and nurturing leading the prospect to conversion.

However, what is increasingly acknowledged and observed is that buyers don’t follow this linear, logical process to conversion. The reality is that it is much more complex and opaque.

The reality of the modern buyer funnel

The buyer is becoming increasingly independent. Their buying decision process gets initiated much before their first touchpoint. Most have already done the legwork through expansive independent research and education. And these conversations take place behind the smokescreen called the dark funnel.

What actually happens in the dark funnel

Let’s take the example of a small business CXO considering the purchase of a team management tool.

Typically, the CXO starts by exploring the market through multiple informal channels. They seek opinions in their peer group or engage in conversations within closed groups. Conferences, seminars and online communities become sources of feedback and exchanging information. These interactions help shape the CXO’s opinions and ultimately become the basis for shortlisting a few select solutions.

Meeting the buyer where they are

Now when the CXO approaches your business, it is crucial that you correctly identify the buying stage that they are in. If you misconstrue your initial touchpoint with the lead prospect as their first encounter with your brand, it could cost you a lead. The CXO is an advanced stage, in-market buyer and must be given the urgency that it deserves.

In-market buyers typically expect prompt responses and targeted information. Their likelihood of closing a deal is significantly higher. It is crucial for the sales team to recognize this and swiftly engage and close the deal.

Shining light into the dark funnel

So how can a business get these insights? Is it possible to look inside the dark funnel? As of now, no. It is, like the term says, a dark and opaque area and beyond the scope of existing tracking tools. It is like a black hole where little is known about the origin, drivers, or the roadmap of the buyer.

However, there is one way to extract additional insights.

And that is by layering in psychographics.

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Psychographics as an illuminating influence

The majority of businesses rely on demographic, behavioral, and geolocation data to identify potential prospects. These attributes are primarily quantitative in nature.

Psychographic data, on the other hand, is qualitative data. Psychographic data reveals deep insights into a person’s attitudes, interests, values, and beliefs which have a strong bearing on their buying behavior.

Psychographic trackers uncover cues that traditional CRMs miss. These are traits that are used in personality modeling and provide vital cues on buyer behavior.

Estimating buyer intent and readiness based on personality traits

Personality traits can strongly influence buyer behavior.

• For instance, when a prospect’s values align with a business, it indicates a higher chance of lead conversion.
• A personality with a bias for action will have a short buy cycle – decision making will be quick.
• A neurotic type may focus on certain features that are not core to the product but of higher significance to the individual.

Such early insights into these characteristics can be path breaking information, giving the marketer a competitive edge. Notwithstanding the hindrance caused by the lack of visibility into the dark funnel signals, the marketer can meet the customer exactly where they are with the intelligence provided by psychographic insight.

In a nutshell

The exciting connect between personality types and outcomes is best explored through psychographic profiling. In the absence of adequate quantitative buying signals blurred by the dark funnel, qualitative information can play an important role in accurately assessing buyer intent and gauging purchase readiness.

This knowledge can be a gamechanger until the discovery of digital tools that can monitor, track,measure and report back from the dark funnel!

Not many businesses have discovered the power of psychographic data in targeted marketing. Those that have, have experienced success. Have you leveraged psychographics in your marketing initiatives? What was your experience? Do share your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you.

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