What Buyer Signals ‘Live’ Within the Dark Funnel?
Behavior Signals, Explained
As we’ve noted, the Dark Funnel includes highly relevant buyer research activity and intent signals generated mostly on third-party websites. But the Dark Funnel extends to buyer signals that lie in plain sight within your existing marketing automation tools and other solutions, too. (You’ll learn more about this internal Dark Funnel data in a few pages.)
At a high level, behavioral signals can reveal what topics buyers are researching and what solutions they might be considering.
Behavioral signals typically have three dimensions.
These determine the usefulness of a buyer signal and what it can be used for:
Buyer Psychographic Signals
Buyer Readiness Signals, Explained
We’ve covered key aspects of the digital “breadcrumb trail” that buyers leave across the internet as they conduct research. But there’s another type of signal that buying organizations emit in the Dark Funnel, and these clues reveal which organizations are truly ready to acquire and use the kinds of solutions you offer.
These signals are generally easy to capture from your existing customers (since they should be regularly communicating with your customer success team), but most prospects’ readiness signals lurk within the Dark Funnel, far from your detection.
There are three main types of buyer readiness signals:
Let’s take a closer look at each.
Technographics
Organizational performance
Market forces
There are three main categories of buyer signals that “live” inside the Dark Funnel:
Let’s unpack these categories, starting with behavioral signals.
Behavioral signals
Buyer readiness signals
Buyer psychographic signals
(Click below for more info)
Person and Account Fit
Dimension #1
Buyer Interest In a Solution
Dimension #2
Source of Behavioral Signals
Dimension #3
Person and Account Fit
Dimension #1
Buyer Interest In a Solution
Dimension #2
Source of Behavioral Signals
Dimension #3
Person and Account Fit
Dimension #1
Buyer Interest In a Solution
Dimension #2
Source of Behavioral Signals
Dimension #3
Person and Account Fit
Dimension #1
Buyer Interest In a Solution
Dimension #2
Source of Behavioral Signals
Dimension #3
(Click below for more info)
Technographics
Type #1
Organizational Performance
Type #2
Market Forces
Type #3
Technographics
Type #1
Organizational Performance
Type #2
Market Forces
Type #3
Technographics
Type #1
Organizational Performance
Type #2
Market Forces
Type #3
Technographics
Type #1
Organizational Performance
Type #2
Market Forces
Type #3
Ultimately, all behaviors of interest begin with individuals. When a buyer’s identity is known, job title and level within the organization can be extremely valuable in assessing the importance of the behavior. And, when individuals identify which organizations they represent, that too is hugely valuable in assessing the importance of their behavior.
However, in many cases, the precise identity of the individuals researching solutions isn’t known.
But even when the individual is anonymous, their behavioral signals can still be extremely valuable if the behaviors can be associated with a relevant buyer account.
Some revenue technology platforms can identify the actual solutions that a buyer might be researching. This intelligence can be helpful, especially if the buyer is investigating a competitor or an influencer.
But this lone datapoint might not be good enough to activate the kind of marketing and sales motions that move an account through the sales funnel. Instead, it’s usually necessary to know precisely what solutions buyers are demonstrating interest in.
Here, revenue technology platforms that use artificial intelligence become truly invaluable in illuminating and organizing Dark Funnel data. They can process the content from hundreds of thousands of digital properties across the internet and catalog the relevant topics or keywords contained in each.
By identifying which organizations are researching which solutions, intent signals in the Dark Funnel allow you to focus your marketing and sales actions where they are most likely to be effective.
Buyer-behavior signals in the Dark Funnel are largely collected and organized by specialized providers, which use data science to acquire and aggregate data from a wide variety of primary sources, including:
Not all sources carry an equal weight in relevance, and can vary in which part of a buyer’s journey they serve best.
For example, both syndicated content publishers and product review sites provide behavioral signals from identifiable individuals expressing interest in a category of solution. But consumers of white papers on syndicated content sites may be deemed to be earlier in their buying journeys than those who are comparing vendors on product review sites.
Industry solution providers
Publications
Blogs
Social networks
And more
One of the best ways to identify near-term prospects is to uncover their organization’s technographics—the technologies or technical infrastructures used to achieve their business goals.
This critical information can reveal if a buyer’s company uses solutions that compete with yours, and whether
those partnerships are new acquisitions or near the end of their contracts.
Technographics can also reveal if a company’s tech stack is technically compatible with your solution, which is often a critical sales qualifier.
A prospect organization must also have the right set of resources or business conditions that enable—or even require—them to make purchases. Even organizations that are otherwise great fits may not be good prospects now if their performance doesn’t afford them the budget and resources to make the acquisition.
Key factors that strongly influence these time-sensitive purchasing decisions include:
Is the company profitable or not?
Is the company growing?
Has the company recently received investment funding?
Is the company gaining or losing market share?
Is it hiring employees or laying them off?
Market forces refers to external events that might impact a company’s need and ability to make a purchase.
For instance, these signals might include regulatory changes, economic downturns or even the entry of new competitors in a market.
Here are some examples of how market forces impact buyer behavior:
New regulations might require construction companies to make investments in health and safety equipment
Changes in tax laws may accelerate the adoption of new financial reporting solutions for industry-specific businesses
Governmental infrastructure spending could signal the need for machine manufacturers to purchase new equipment
These signals are very useful in helping shape interactions between prospects and revenue teams, and can help sales teams more effectively engage prospects with more personalized—and personal—outreach.
Likewise, having insight into the communication style and engagement preferences of individuals (such as: Are they active in social media conversations? Do they participate actively in business interest groups?) can help sales teams formulate effective outreach.
The third category of data available to support effective buyer enablement is called psychographics, which are used to classify companies and business contacts based on their attitudes and interests. This category, long studied in the B2C space, is now becoming increasingly important and impactful in B2B sales.
Buyer Psychographic Signals
How can psychographic signals positively impact your outreach efforts?
Psychographic signals at the account level can accurately capture whether an organization supports charitable causes and community organizations
Or they might reveal associations with civic organizations or local sporting franchises
They could reflect new organizational-level thinking or priorities resulting from market forces, too
Buyer Behavioral Signals
Buyer Readiness Signals