We’re happy to shine the spotlight on our community member Gee Ranasinha, Founder & CEO of KEXINO, a global marketing agency helping start-ups and small-to-medium sized businesses in the USA and EU. Gee recently shared his insights on an important topic for marketers: Dark Social. Here’s a condensed version of his enlightening blog post.
Dark Social: The Hidden Conversations Marketers Can’t See
When is social media not social media? When it’s dark social media.
Dark social refers to online sharing that happens outside the view of visibility, attribution, and analytics tools. It includes private channels like messaging apps and emails, where content is shared without marketers' knowledge. This hidden sharing significantly impacts how content is spread and influences buyers' decisions.
Why Dark Social Matters
Dark social provides marketers with insights into buyer behavior and the influences shaping the sales landscape. As the buying journey evolves, understanding dark social becomes crucial for meaningful engagement and increased sales.
Key Points:
- Dark Social vs. Conventional Social Media: Unlike public social media, dark social is about private, trusted sharing. While traditional social media provides data on public interactions, dark social offers deeper, more personal connections.
- Impact on Attribution: Conventional attribution methods fail with dark social. Shares often lack referral information, making it difficult to track their origin. This misreporting skews analytics, underestimating the traffic from these channels.
- Privacy Concerns: Factors like GDPR and iOS privacy changes have driven the growth of dark social. Users now prefer sharing content privately, increasing the prevalence of dark social.
Adapting to Dark Social
Marketers must update their mindset and strategies to accommodate the hidden nature of dark social. This includes creating shareable content tailored for private platforms and understanding that not all marketing efforts can be precisely measured.
Conclusion: Embracing dark social means recognizing the limitations of traditional analytics and focusing on the quality of engagement over quantifiable metrics.
Read the full version here.
Gee's feedback to the Powerful Marketers Hub community:
"This job can be a very lonely one! Having a supportive community who's got your back and is there to help you become the best you can be is a valuable resource - no matter how far you are in your business career."
💡 We are here to support entrepreneurs with their marketing-related challenges in a versatile way. If you want to be the next member featured in our Spotlight, every active member has this opportunity.
📅 Join our upcoming Mastermind and Marketing Live meetings.
☑️ Connect with Gee Ranasinha on LinkedIn and check out his website.