B2B Buyers Go Dark: How to Win the Silent Research Phase

Jun 22, 2026 · Exit Five
🎧 PodShort 44 min squeezed to 2 AI SprinklerAS Marketing Automation New
Episode artwork
Judy Kimball
Demand Generation at Consensus
Hunter
Director of Demand Generation at Techmetrik
Mason Cosby
Founder and CEO at Scrappy ABM
Exit Five
44 min squeezed to 2
Full episode from Exit Five
Quotable Moments

The modern B2B buyer has gone anti-social. No form fills, no demo requests, no hand-raises.

Dave GerhardtHost of The Dave Gerhardt Show
02:56

If you believe in your organization, and the product, and the content that you're creating, why are you hiding it?

HunterDirector of Demand Generation at Techmetrik
24:05

It takes someone on average seven hours of engagement with your brand to actually trust you.

Mason CosbyFounder and CEO of Scrappy ABM
34:19
Key Insights
  • The modern B2B buyer has become "anti-social," preferring to research products and form opinions using AI before engaging with sales.
  • Brand visibility and affinity are becoming the primary drivers of demand, especially as AI curates buyer shortlists.
  • Consensus saw a doubling of site traffic and a significant spike in demo views/hand-raisers after two influencers posted on the same day.
  • Brands should focus on shaping what buyers find during their research phase, rather than trying to interrupt the process after they've already formed an opinion.
  • Organizations should prioritize un-gating content to make it easily discoverable, believing in the value of their product and content instead of hiding it behind barriers.
  • It takes approximately seven hours of engagement with your brand for a prospect to build trust.
  • For B2B sales, it's more effective to shift focus from merely tracking MQLs to understanding what buyers are measuring at each stage of their journey to provide targeted value.
  • While still in early phases, dedicated AI/LLM visibility pages are expected to drive increased traffic from AI sources, becoming a crucial component of a broader digital strategy.
Metrics Mentioned
  • 20% of Optimizely Opal U graduates (received a promotion or new job after completing the certification.)
  • 13% year-over-year rise (in digital advertising costs for Consensus.)
  • $1500 to $6000 per post (range for influencer fees paid by Consensus.)
  • Doubling of site traffic (observed by Consensus from two influencers posting on the same day.)
  • Doubling of branded search volume year-over-year (sustained by Consensus due to brand activations.)
  • 1500 reactions (on a single viral LinkedIn post for Consensus.)
  • 2.5x increase in time on page (for Consensus's website after adding conversational AI.)
  • Doubled the number of people who booked a meeting (for Consensus with an un-gated vs. gated product tour.)
  • 66% of closed-won deals (at Techmetrik are driven from marketing sources.)
  • 70% of new business (at Techmetrik comes from paid and organic channels.)
  • $130 million (in revenue sourced by Scrappy ABM over three years.)
  • $5.2 million in sales (for Scrappy ABM in three years (bootstrapped with a small team).)
  • $2.5 million revenue closed (by Scrappy ABM in the last 12 months.)
  • 58.5 days (average deal age for Scrappy ABM.)
  • 20-30 posts per day (across six social channels (YouTube, LinkedIn, Meta, Instagram, TikTok, X) by Scrappy ABM's social media marketer.)
  • 7 hours of engagement (is needed for a prospect to trust a brand (on average).)
  • 11% of total SQLs (coming from web chat for Techmetrik (up from 2%).)
  • 1% to just under 13% of closed-won deals (coming from web chat for Techmetrik (a 9x increase since November).)
  • Doubled meeting set rate (from the MQL stage by Consensus after shifting LinkedIn strategy to conversation ads.)

RevBots.ai View:

  • AI Sprinklers: Bolting influencers/chatbots onto legacy demand gen works but misses ARM's orchestrated AI buyer journeys
  • SaaS Hoarders risk drowning in unintegrated tactics (influencers + chat + ungating) without unified data
  • ARM maturity requires replacing MQL obsession with trust-building content ecosystems for dark-funnel buyers
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