What is dark social and how does it help grow your business?
Content Marketing
Key takeaways
- Dark social refers to the sharing of content via private channels. It is untrackable, therefore “dark”. For example, a user might copy and paste a URL into a WhatsApp message and send it to a friend.
- Dark social is great, as its digital word of mouth – friends are great at knowing what content will resonate with one another, so you are often reaching your target audience when content is shared in this way. This can lead to sales really quickly.
I love the TV series Mad Men.
It follows a marketing agency in New York through the late 50s, 60s and 70s.
Working in the world of marketing myself I love watching how marketing was done in a bygone age and marvelling at how much things had changed. I must say I prefer how digital marketing services in Birmingham operate today (especially as a woman)!
Long before the internet was thought of, in those heady advertising days of the ’60s, one enigmatic problem remained the same. How do you track the success rate of channels where you don’t have a direct line between your content and an enquiry or sale?
Some problems, it seems, cannot be solved by the advancement of technology. Tracking the impact of all activity is not possible.
In this blog, we’ll look specifically at demand generated by various digital channels that you cannot track or quantify.
Welcome to the mysterious world of “dark social”.
What is “Dark Social”?
Dark social refers to the sharing of content via private or semi-private channels, such as messaging apps, email, and SMS, as well as through publicly visible social media platforms where your posts might be seen but not interacted with in any way (commented on or clicked on).
The term “dark” does not imply any sinister intent but rather aims to express that this form of social sharing and demand generation is not easily traceable by traditional web analytics tools.
Dark social often occurs when users copy and paste URLs into private conversations or use mobile apps to share content. For example:
- sharing a product link with a friend via WhatsApp,
- emailing an interesting article to a colleague,
- texting a recipe to a family member.
Dark social is digital word-of-mouth
As a Birmingham marketing agency, we feel it’s important to capitalise on dark social and not shy away from it. After all, word-of-mouth marketing is the most trusted ad format by a long way!
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Our free guide reveals the strategy we use for our clients to achieve long-term business growth. Interested?
What channels will you find “dark social” activity on?
Messaging apps
The rise of messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram, has become a hotbed for dark social activity. Users share content, products, and recommendations in one-on-one or group conversations, often beyond the reach of traditional tracking tools.
Email remains a prominent channel for dark social sharing. People frequently share articles, links, and products with friends, family, and colleagues via email, particularly if they want to preserve privacy or avoid public sharing.
Personal conversations
Sharing through SMS is another common form of dark social. Calls, in-person conversations, direct messages …these methods allow for quick, direct sharing of content with specific contacts.
Secure communication
Some users may prefer secure and private communication platforms, such as Signal or Slack, for sharing sensitive or confidential information. These platforms are off the radar of most analytics tools.
Social networks and content platforms
LinkedIn, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, etc are all popular places for all of us to get news and information in the modern world. They are also hotbeds for lead generation whether it be through paid ads or blog posts. If users interact with these posts by commenting on them and sharing, then that’s great and trackable.
But many of your company’s posts will be seen without being interacted with…however, that doesn’t mean they aren’t generating demand. The same goes for content platforms like YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Rumble, Spotify etc.
The role of dark social in business growth
As the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing, dark social is not a nuisance to be overlooked by digital marketing services in Birmingham. It’s a powerful and often untapped resource for businesses to foster growth and expand their reach.
Why?
Because you reach your target audience really quickly!
Users are great at finding your target audience. When they believe a piece of content is relevant to a friend, they share it with them. This results in highly targeted recommendations, making it more likely that the shared content will resonate with the recipient. This in turn increases the likelihood of generating a lead or conversion through that content.
So how can you tap into this to drive demand?
Ultimately, you need to regularly create great content.
Without content, users have nothing to share, and you’ll miss out on loads of opportunities for free advertising!
But, great content doesn’t just happen. It only comes about as part of a planned SEO campaign.
We believe that great content is so crucial to business growth that we have incorporated it into our three-point framework.
Learn more about our KnowShowGrow framework.
When you Know who you are as a business and Show who you are on your website, our SEO campaigns help you to Grow by allowing us to create content that is:
- Relevant to your target audience
- Valuable to your target audience
- Easy to share (so you can maximise the potential of dark social!)
- Optimised for search engines (so that users can find you organically)
- Capable of warming up leads
Learn more about how creating content helps grow your business.
Dark social: untrackable, but very valuable
Personal recommendations are the pinnacle of any product or service when it comes to demand and lead generation. Dark social might fly under the radar, but this stealth bomber packs a big punch. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not going to drop a big payload into your business, especially when your brand and website are on point.
So if you are looking for digital marketing services in Birmingham, make sure you choose a company that understands the importance of courting demand for the long haul.