Understanding dark social: The unseen force shaping online engagement

As a digital marketer, you understand the importance of measuring the effectiveness of paid and organic campaigns through data and analytics. But what about the significant and increasing proportion of social interactions that are occurring in a seemingly unseen and untracked realm? Welcome to the world of dark social; don’t worry, it’s not as scary as the picture looks.

This blog will explore what is categorised as dark social, why it matters and the tools you can use to take control over this valuable data and improve your marketing strategies.

Chances are, you’ve shared a news article link with a colleague. Or a friend calls you to ask for a restaurant recommendation for his upcoming date. Or you send your partner a photo of the next hotel on your bucket list. These are all examples of dark social.

First coined in 2012 by Alexis Madrigal, the term refers to the sharing of social content that occurs in private channels and is untrackable by standard analytics tools.

The main private communication channels where dark social thrives are:

• Word of mouth (the most traditional form) including calls and in-person conversations
• Private messaging apps and social networks like WhatsApp, Facebook Groups and Discord, where users share content in one-on-one or small group settings
• Personal and professional email exchanges
• Employee communication tools such as Zoom and Teams
• Content platforms like YouTube and Spotify, which although public, can still be classified as dark social due to the method by which content is shared

It reflects trusted consumer interactions

Dark social accounts for a significant portion of social traffic and overall online engagement. According to a study by RadiumOne, 69% of online sharing happens through dark social, while for many brands it is actually the top referral source. Marketers that don’t factor this type of sharing into their marketing strategies are missing out on a large segment of audience engagement and potential conversions.

It directly influences the customer journey and buying behaviour

Dark social specifically represents highly authentic, person-to-person interactions. People trust people meaning that private recommendations from friends or family often carry more weight than public endorsements. For marketers, these private shares lead to the most valuable interactions such as product purchases, link clicks and referrals, so the ability to measure them is paramount.

Dark social insights can guide your content strategy

Since people are more likely to share content they find useful, entertaining or relevant in private, dark social provides valuable insight into the types of content that resonate most with audiences. By identifying these patterns, brands can better align their content strategy with audience preferences and craft content that taps into the interests that are driving dark social shares.

It significantly impacts analytics and attribution

Because dark social interactions don’t carry referrer data, most analytics tools misattribute dark social traffic as “direct” traffic. This can lead to incomplete or skewed data on customer engagement, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and even conversion paths. Therefore, brands that do not account for dark social, risk underestimating organic sharing and making misguided marketing decisions on the allocation of advertising spend.

While dark social cannot fully and directly be measured, marketers can employ a variety of strategies to gain insights and more accurately gauge its impact. Here are some effective approaches for tracking dark social engagement to help you better understand how it’s shaping your campaigns.

1 – Use trackable links and URL shorteners

Start by incorporating UTM parameters and link shorteners in your content. These customisable tracking codes added to your URLs can help you identify where your website or social media traffic is originating. For example, creating a UTM tracked URL for your website and sharing it in your brand’s newsletter can reveal when this link is shared externally by your readers through private channels. Ultimately, they offer a window into user behaviour and the reach of these otherwise “invisible” interactions.

2 – Encourage private sharing via dedicated buttons

Make it easy for users to share your content on private channels by incorporating “share via WhatsApp” or “share via email” buttons on your website. These buttons can help drive shares, while allowing you to embed trackable links within the content to measure the channels through which it is distributed most frequently.

3 – Optimise content for mobile sharing

The majority of clickbacks from dark social shares come from mobile devices, compared to desktop. Given this, ensure that your content is optimised for mobile consumption. Mobile-friendly content with easy-to-read layouts, quick load times and intuitive sharing options boosts the likelihood of users sharing your content with their contacts privately, increasing your reach within popular dark social channels.

4 – Analyse direct traffic in your analytics platforms

A significant portion of dark social activity shows up as direct traffic in analytics. By closely analysing this segment, specifically scanning for pages with long URLs that users are unlikely to type manually, you can get a rough estimate of traffic coming from dark social shares. One strategy is to set up a segment in your analytics platform that includes only those direct traffic sources with parameters, excluding typical direct entry points like your homepage. While not foolproof, this approach helps isolate likely dark social traffic, offering a clearer picture of your content’s reach in private, untracked channels.

5 – Leverage social listening tools

While they can’t track private shares, social listening tools can reveal key trends, consumer sentiments and emerging topics related to your brand or industry. These insights can inform your content strategy to align more closely with current audience interests and drive further organic engagement through dark social. Brands like Canva and Samsung have invested in building their own private channels, such as invite-only Facebook groups or Discord communities, respectively. Cultivating these communities enables brands to engage in dark social listening, monitoring organic conversations and word-of-mouth sharing.

While dark social may seem elusive, it holds immense potential for increasing brand awareness, deepening customer engagement and generating conversions. Understanding and tracking it can help brands fill in critical gaps in their analytics, leading to more accurate campaign assessments and data-driven decisions. As privacy concerns continue to grow and drive users to encrypted apps and private messaging channels, the need for brands to incorporate dark social into their marketing strategies has become clear.