Welcome to the Dark Funnel

Let’s be honest: the traditional marketing funnel is a little outdated…

For decades, we’ve mapped the customer journey as a clean, linear path – from awareness to consideration to decision. Nice and neat. Easy to track. Convenient for reporting. But here’s the truth, real buyer behaviour isn’t quite so straightforward.

Because before a prospect ever visits your website, downloads a guide, or fills out a CTA form, they’ve already formed an opinion of you. They’ve seen your brand mentioned on social media. They’ve asked a peer if your product is worth the hype. Maybe they’ve even read an article from your MD in an industry publication. All of this happens before they ever become a lead.

Welcome to the dark funnel (and we promise, it’s not as scary as it sounds!)

What Is the Dark Funnel?

The dark funnel is the invisible, unmeasurable, behind-the-scenes stage of the buyer journey – the part that never shows up in your CRM or Google Analytics. But that heavily influences decisions.

It’s where buyers form opinions, gather insights, and begin to build trust long before they make contact. It looks like this:

• A founder asking for recommendations in a private Facebook or WhatsApp group
• A potential buyer binge-watching your YouTube or TikTok content
• Your brand being name-dropped in a Slack community of 10,000+ industry pros
• A warm intro that lands in someone’s DMs
• A LinkedIn talking-head video that shares real value and gets passed around in team chats
• An editorial feature that positions your business as a respected voice in your sector
• Industry awards and accreditations that signify your credibility.

All out of sight, but never out of influence…

Why is it Important?

If you’re only focusing on what you can track, you’re missing what’s actually driving demand.

Buyers are self-educating – especially in a world where we have an abundance of information available at our fingertips. By the time they land on your radar, they’re already halfway to a decision. That means the perception they’ve built of your business – before you even knew they existed – is often what determines whether they choose you or not.

And remember, people trust people. So, they’ll be interested in what other people say about your brand far more than what you say about yourself. Hence the importance of people-first content, brand advocates, and nurturing those who recommend and refer you.

What Happens in the Dark Funnel?

A lot more than most businesses realise! People are:

• Consuming content passively
• Getting advice from peers
• Watching how you show up – throughout your entire journey
• Making judgements about your brand based on content, tone, and values.

They’re silently building a mental ‘shortlist’ of vendors they’ll consider when the time is right. If you’re not on that list – either because you’re simply not visible or you’re not building those relationships – then you’re out of the game before it even begins.

So, What Can You Do About It?

You can’t ‘own’ the dark funnel, but you can influence it.

• Build a Brand That People Talk About: If your brand is boring, safe, or invisible, people won’t engage or share it. You need a brand that’s bold, transparent, and authentic. Get specific about what makes you different and make it easy for others to recognise and recommend.

• Show Up Where Conversations Happen: Whether it’s social media, sector-specific publications, or industry-focused podcasts and events, you need to be wherever your prospects are hanging out. Not with hard sells, but with valuable, honest, and human content that they can genuinely connect with.

• Empower Your People to be Your Voice: Your team is your secret weapon, and you should be using them. When they’re active online – sharing knowledge, personal experiences, and engaging in conversations – they’re acting as a real walking-talking extension of your business, influencing potential customers long before they’ve hit your site.

• Shift Your Metrics: If your marketing success is still solely tied to tracked conversions or gated content downloads, you’re not seeing the full picture. Pay attention to branded search, direct traffic, word-of-mouth mentions, and social engagement. These are positive signs that your brand is alive and kicking in the dark funnel.

Over to the Dark Side

The dark funnel isn’t a problem, it’s the new reality. Buyers have more power, more access, and more choice than ever before. They’re doing their research in the shadows, influenced by communities and conversations that you can’t control.

The question isn’t: how do we track it?

The question is: how do we stay front of mind when we’re not in the room?

Because in this ever-evolving era of marketing, what people say about you when you’re not looking might just be the thing that drives your next big win.

Time to shine a light on your own dark funnel? Let’s build something worth talking about.