Dark social. If you’re not familiar with it, it might sound ominous and uninviting. It might remind you of malicious corners of the internet, such as the dark web. And even if you’re familiar with dark social, it’s probably one of your least favorite terms.
But what is the impact of dark social on brands, and how can you take control of the data?
What is dark social?
The digital space continues to fragment over time. Instant messaging apps, private Facebook groups, privacy-first email services, secure browsers, and disappearing messages: new forms of communication are emerging each day, and a lot of data is getting lost in the process.
Dark social is about content that people share. When someone shares a link to your website, a video you created, or a social media post from your brand account, it’s potentially useful data. But if someone shares it invisibly—in a private app or group—you can consider that dark social.
Your marketing team probably isn’t interested in reading their customers’ private messages (and personal texts, emails, and voice notes don’t count as dark social). However, it’s important to note that a large number of online referrals come from dark social—and that’s likely to continue increasing.
Why does dark social matter?
Dark social affects marketers’ and brands’ abilities to collect data about how content, products, and social media channels are performing. Traditional analytics tools can’t capture activity on these newer platforms, and without a transparent view of each channel, marketers can’t see whether their efforts are paying off.
With known or “non-dark” channels, brands are able to track using tags such as UTM parameters. These are chunks of code that you can add to the end of a web address. They can include information such as the source type, the social network, or the ad campaign.
Whenever someone clicks the link, it records the UTM’s information in Google Analytics. As well as seeing how many clicks you get, you can also see where they’ve come from.
But dark social traffic doesn’t automatically attach these tracking links unless someone copies a shared link with a tag.
If you think about the average cell phone user who looks at content through an app or browser, most of the links they’re sharing with friends won’t have tracking tags. Or, if they do, they could be the wrong ones. For example, if someone finds a link on Twitter and then shares the full link in an email, the UTM data will make it look like all the clicks came from Twitter.
Invisible shares could make up over 80% of total social shares. But there’s no way of confirming this figure. Dark social media keeps us in the dark.
The challenge for marketers is growing. More privacy-conscious consumers and stricter privacy laws mean that browsers, apps, search engines, and email providers are sharing even less information about how users click.
The challenges that dark social brings to marketing campaigns
When data gets lost on dark social channels, marketers have a harder time with metrics, attribution, and reporting. A lack of accurate, timely data can throw off entire campaigns and strategies.
Poor or inaccurate tracking and measurement
From the vast number of social media marketing tools available these days, you’d think we’d have found a way to analyze social media performance. But we haven’t—not consistently, anyway.
Social media platforms are “black boxes:” we don’t exactly know how they work, what algorithms they use, or whether their self-reported data is accurate. We have to take their metrics on trust—and when it comes to dark social, the numbers are even less reliable.
It’s difficult for marketers to track how users share their content and where the clicks are coming from. Who shared the link? What channel did they use? Where did they find the link in the first place?
Without a reliable source of referral data, campaign metrics can become meaningless.
Underreporting campaign performance
When we talk about a lack of data, people often worry they’re overlooking mistakes or getting things wrong. But it’s also possible that your campaigns are performing better than you realize—and that you’re under-reporting as a result.
Let’s say you post an ad on Instagram with a link to your homepage. The ad performs well in terms of views, but you don’t see many shares.
Users could be sharing the ad or the homepage via direct messaging on Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Snapchat, or SMS. You just don’t see these sources in your analytics.
Every social media marketer knows the struggle of trying to report on and justify their work. You need social media management tools that will help you close the reporting gap and get recognition for your efforts.
Misinformed strategy decisions
Dark social holds you back from identifying your audience and increasing social media engagement by advertising in the online spaces they frequent
Inaccurate data means misinformed strategy decisions and a poor return on investment. It’s how we ended up with CMOs who still believe, in 2024, that social media marketing is overrated.
Spoiler alert: they’re wrong.
How to use dark social to improve your marketing strategies
Links are the universal connections that bridge social channels, whether visible or not. They drive direct traffic from an email to a sale page or from one mobile app to another.
They’re also key to illuminating dark traffic. UTM parameters help you track where shares are coming from. Shortened links are easier to share, motivating people to use the version of the link that you want them to use.
For example, photographer Brady Dyer uses Bitly to track how prospects and clients engage with his work via email. Email is normally a dark social channel, but he uses the link shortener and UTM parameters to look inside.
“I include this link every time I email clients with their photos. It’s a video explaining how to access your photos,” Brady says.
Bitly gives Brady insight into how many clients are opening his emails, how many click through, and how many watch his tutorial video. Being able to see each step of the user journey allows him to see where people are most engaged and where people are dropping off so that he can optimize his content accordingly.
Here are a few ways you can bring your dark social data into the light.
Embrace the power of private sharing
First, forget the idea that dark social is inherently bad.
Yes, it’s frustrating that data is hard to obtain. But the fact that people are sharing your content in private messaging apps means they genuinely value it.
That means you have an opportunity to build genuine relationships with your target audience.
If a significant share of your engagement comes from dark social, consider creating content that people will want to share privately—and make it easy for them to do so.
Optimize content for dark social sharing
There are a few ways to make your content dark social friendly:
- Create mobile-friendly content. Create content that’s responsive and easy to read. Most people sharing on dark social channels are using their cellphones, so you should tailor your content to them.
- Encourage sharing. Use shortened links and share buttons to make sharing as easy as possible.
- Include a call to action. Make it personal. Encourage viewers to share content with someone who needs to see it rather than interact with it publicly.
In general, when content resonates on a personal level, users are more likely to share it in private channels: think problem-solving content, human-interest stories, and how-to guides.
Utilize Bitly‘s trackable links with UTM parameters
Adding UTM parameters to your links is the easiest way to gain insight into dark social shares. You can’t guarantee that people will always use the right link, but you can increase the chances by shortening UTM links for ease of use.
Adding UTM parameters to your links is as simple as putting your link into a UTM builder and choosing which information you want to record.
For example, you could use Bitly’s UTM parameters to create a shortened link to your web page and label it as coming from Snapchat. When you share content on Snapchat, use that version of the link.
This will correctly attribute every click from the original post—and from any Snapchat shares it gets—on your analytics page.
Integrate dark social data into your analytics
Once you have UTMs set up, integrate the data with the rest of your analytics. Over time, you’ll be able to view and compare the performance of direct traffic, public social shares, and dark social shares.
Your social media strategy will benefit from a more complete picture of what’s working. You’ll be able to refine your campaigns and target content where it’s most effective.
Customize your strategy with insights from dark social
UTM data can help you optimize content for dark social—and improve your overall social media strategy. It can also help you optimize content in general, giving you insights into what resonates with your customers.
For example, if your content gets a lot of dark social shares, it may be a sign that people find it relatable. You could try to further increase shares by personalizing your messages and focusing even more on relatable content.
Harness the power of dark social with Bitly
Dark social reflects the reality of the customer journey today: we’re all switching channels and devices throughout the day. Word of mouth matters just as much as expensive ad campaigns. And the trend is toward more private, personal content than big broadcasts.
By using trackable links with Bitly, brands can gain more insight into how consumers are sharing content across messaging apps, texts, and email. You can also create more relatable content that speaks to people on a personal level.
Rather than using centralized channels and platforms, more consumers are opting for one-to-one social interactions. Tracking content through these conversations means that you can own and understand the customer experience from start to finish.
Start uncovering dark social data and get started with Bitly today!