Dark Social

In this episode, Peep Laja is joined by Kathleen Booth and Dave Gerhardt to unpack the real buying behavior behind B2B SaaS in 2025. They break down the power of dark social, peer communities, and brand storytelling in an era where Google is no longer the first stop. Learn how to win trust, get talked about, and drive growth—without a single paid ad.

Chapters:

[00:00:00] Buyers No Longer Start on Google
[00:01:00] Dark Social Isn’t New
[00:02:00] Community Beats Search
[00:03:00] Trust Comes From Peers
[00:04:00] Why “Dark Social” Caught On
[00:05:30] How Real Word-of-Mouth Works
[00:06:30] Winning Starts With Being Mentioned
[00:07:15] LinkedIn’s Real Role in Buying
[00:08:30] You Can’t Game the System
[00:09:30] Influencing the Influencers
[00:10:30] Brand and Peer Trust Collide
[00:11:30] Build a Narrative, Not Just Features
[00:12:30] What to Spend on Community
[00:14:00] Create Shareworthy Artifacts
[00:15:00] Showing Up Consistently Matters
[00:16:30] Case Study: Carabiner Group
[00:17:30] Making the ROI Case
[00:19:00] Track What Actually Matters
[00:20:00] Key Takeaways: How to Win