Dark Funnel

The invisible portion of the buyer journey where prospects research and evaluate solutions without being tracked by traditional analytics.

Definition

The dark funnel refers to buyer activities that occur outside your visibility—private Slack conversations, word-of-mouth recommendations, podcast mentions, private browsing, and more. Traditional analytics only capture a fraction of the buyer journey; the dark funnel represents everything you can't see but that influences purchase decisions.

Why It Matters

Understanding the dark funnel explains why attribution is difficult and why leads seem to appear 'out of nowhere.' Buyers complete 70% or more of their journey before contacting sales, much of it in channels you can't track. Acknowledging the dark funnel helps set realistic attribution expectations.

Examples

A prospect asks peers in a private Slack community for recommendations
Someone hears about your product on a podcast but visits directly
A buyer researches in private/incognito browsing mode
Word-of-mouth referral with no trackable source

How Bullseye Helps

While you can't track private conversations, Bullseye illuminates a key dark funnel area: anonymous website visitors. Identifying who's on your site—even before they fill out forms—reveals buyer intent you'd otherwise miss entirely.

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