Dark Social

What is Dark Social?

Dark social refers to the sharing of content through private channels, such as messaging apps, email, and text messages, which are difficult to track by traditional analytics tools due to their private nature. This type of sharing is significant as it represents a large portion of consumer interactions and influences buying decisions, especially in the B2B sector, where peer recommendations hold more weight than traditional advertising.

The Challenges of Tracking Dark Social

Dark social channels include private messaging apps like WhatsApp, Discord, and Slack, as well as emails, private messages within native apps, and private social media channels such as closed Facebook Groups and private subreddits. These channels significantly impact marketing analytics by obscuring the source of a large portion of web traffic and social media mentions, making it challenging for marketers to accurately measure campaign effectiveness and understand audience behavior.

Strategies for Leveraging Dark Social

To effectively utilize dark social in marketing strategies, consider:

• Employee Advocacy: Encourage employees to share content on their personal networks, indirectly influencing their audience through dark social channels.
• Content Diversification: Include a mix of direct links, text-based content, native videos, static images, and third-party content in your distribution strategy to engage audiences across different dark social platforms.
• Active Participation: Be an active participant in dark social channels to effectively reach your ideal customer profiles.
• Google Analytics: Create advanced segments to identify dark social traffic by separating overall visitors from direct traffic and excluding specific pages.
• "How Did You Hear About Us?" Field: Add a required text field in forms on your website to gather direct feedback from visitors on how they discovered your brand, providing insights into dark social's impact.
• Increased Brand Awareness: Leverage dark social to significantly increase visibility and awareness among your target audience.
• Enhanced Inbound Opportunities: Understand and participate in dark social channels to increase inbound opportunities, such as leads and conversions.
• Shortened Sales Cycles: Utilize the word-of-mouth influence generated through dark social to directly impact buying decisions and shorten sales cycles.
• Accurate Attribution: Gain insights into dark social traffic for more accurate attribution of marketing efforts, helping you understand where your efforts are most effective.

Dark Social vs. Public Social Channels

Dark social and public social channels differ in their nature and the way they impact marketing efforts. Dark social refers to the sharing of content through private channels like messaging apps, email, and text messages, which are difficult to track and often appear as "direct" traffic in analytics tools.

On the other hand, public social channels involve sharing content on public social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which are easier to track and measure due to the public nature of the shares and the availability of analytics tools provided by these platforms.

Essential Tools for Managing Dark Social

Managing dark social effectively requires the use of various tools and strategies to gain insights into this elusive traffic source. Some essential tools for managing dark social include:

• URL Shorteners: Tools like Hootsuite's Ow.ly or Bitly help in accurate analytics measurement by adding tracking information to shortened links, allowing for better attribution of traffic and ROI.
• Social Listening Tools: Platforms such as Hootsuite Streams and Hootsuite Insights mine the web for conversations about your brand, competitors, and products, helping to identify engagement opportunities and protect brand reputation.
• Google Analytics: Creating advanced segments in Google Analytics helps identify dark social traffic by separating overall visitors from direct traffic and excluding specific pages.
• Form Fields on Company Websites: Adding a required "How Did You Hear About Us?" text field on forms related to demos, pricing, or contact can provide accurate information about the impact of dark social channels.
• Sharing Buttons and Tools: Improve your sharing buttons with tools like sharethis, making it easier to track if people share your content via email, messenger, or text.
• Comprehensive Tracking Solutions: Consider using platforms like GetSocial or Po.st for a more in-depth approach to tracking dark social traffic.

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