Shining a Light on Dark Social: Strategies for Modern B2B Marketers

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, one term is rapidly gaining traction among professionals and CMOs alike- Dark Social. This seemingly ominous phrase refers to a powerful and often overlooked aspect of online interaction that can significantly impact your marketing strategy, especially in the realm of marketing attribution.

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What is Dark Social

Dark social refers to the social sharing of content that occurs through private channels like messaging apps, email, and other direct communication methods that are not trackable by traditional web analytics tools. The term was first coined by Alexis C. Madrigal in a 2012 article for The Atlantic, where he highlighted the challenge marketers face in tracking content shared via these private, untraceable channels.

According to RadiumOne, 84% of online outbound sharing happens via dark social channels. You can learn more about dark social from Later, which details the complexities of these interactions and their impact on marketing.

Unlike public social media interactions, which can be easily tracked and analyzed, dark social interactions leave minimal digital footprints. This makes it difficult for marketers to accurately attribute the source of traffic and conversions, posing a significant challenge for marketing attribution.

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Why Does Dark Social Matter

The significance of dark social cannot be overstated, particularly in an era where personalized marketing and accurate attribution are crucial. It has profound implications for how businesses understand their audience, measure the effectiveness of their campaigns, and allocate marketing budgets. If a large chunk of your traffic is coming from dark social, but you’re not accounting for it, you might be misattributing your success (or lack thereof) to the wrong channels. The article on Agorapulse discusses how underestimating dark social can lead to significant gaps in your marketing attribution.

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The Impact of Dark Social on Marketing Attribution

Marketing attribution, the process of determining which channels and touchpoints are responsible for driving conversions, becomes particularly complex in the presence of dark social. Traditional attribution models like last-click, first-click, or multi-touch attribution often fail to capture the full picture, leading to skewed data and potentially misguided decisions.

Here’s how dark social impacts marketing attribution:

• Invisible Referrals: Traffic from dark social is often recorded as "direct traffic" in analytics tools. This makes it difficult to determine the actual source of the traffic, as it bypasses the usual referral paths. Consequently, marketers may falsely attribute this traffic to other channels.

• Underestimated Social Media ROI: Since dark social interactions are not tracked, the ROI of social media campaigns may be undervalued. Marketers may incorrectly assume that their social media efforts are underperforming when, in reality, significant engagement is happening in untrackable channels. This is further explored in Forbes, which highlights the importance of recognizing the hidden value of dark social.

• Incomplete Customer Journeys: Dark social obscures the customer journey, making it challenging to understand how users move from awareness to conversion. This can hinder the optimization of marketing strategies, as marketers lack a comprehensive view of how their audience interacts with content. According to Google Analytics, 18% of direct traffic is dark social traffic, which is misattributed.

• Linking to the Dark Funnel Concept: One of our blogs talks about the concept of the dark funnel, and how it is closely related to dark social. The dark funnel refers to the stages of the buyer journey that occur before prospects enter the traditional sales funnel and are not easily tracked or measured. This untraceable phase is critical for understanding the full scope of customer behavior and the challenges in attribution.

Integrating dark funnel insights with dark social understanding can help marketers better anticipate and influence buyer decisions early in the journey.

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Strategies for Addressing Dark Social

While dark social presents challenges, savvy marketers can employ several strategies to mitigate its impact and even leverage it to their advantage.

1. Encourage Trackable Sharing

One way to combat the effects of dark social is to encourage more trackable sharing. This can be done by providing clear and easy-to-use sharing buttons on your content that direct users to share via trackable channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. The more accessible these options are, the more likely users will opt for them over copy-pasting links into private messages.

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2. Use UTM Parameters

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are invaluable for tracking the source of traffic. By appending UTM codes to your URLs, you can gain more insights into where your traffic is coming from, even when shared through dark social channels. While this won’t capture all dark social activity, it can help you better understand the behavior of users who engage with your content through these channels.

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3. Leverage Dark Social Analytics Tools

There are emerging tools designed specifically to address the challenges of dark social. For instance, tools like GetSocial offer analytics capabilities that provide insights into dark social sharing. These tools can track copied links and estimate the volume of traffic coming from dark social channels, giving you a better understanding of this elusive part of your audience.

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4. Incorporate Dark Social into Your Attribution Model

Incorporating dark social into your attribution model is crucial for capturing the full scope of your marketing impact. By integrating this often-overlooked element, you can gain a more accurate understanding of customer journeys and the true influence of your content. This approach helps identify hidden pathways that drive conversions, allowing you to optimize your marketing strategies and allocate resources more effectively.

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5. Monitor Direct Traffic Closely

Since much of dark social traffic is categorized as direct traffic, closely monitoring this metric can offer clues about the effectiveness of your dark social strategy. By analyzing spikes in direct traffic following the release of content or campaigns, you can infer the impact of dark social sharing.

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Dark Social as a Marketing Opportunity

Rather than viewing dark social solely as a challenge, marketers should see it as an opportunity. Dark social represents highly engaged, often word-of-mouth sharing among close networks, which can be more influential than public sharing. By understanding and tapping into dark social, marketers can foster deeper connections with their audience and harness the power of these intimate, trust-based interactions.

While dark social complicates traditional marketing attribution, it also presents unique opportunities to connect with audiences in more personal and impactful ways. By recognizing the significance of dark social and incorporating strategies to address its challenges, marketers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of audience behavior. This insight enables more accurate attribution, optimized marketing strategies, and better resource allocation. Ultimately, embracing the nuances of dark social can lead to more effective and meaningful customer engagements, driving success.