09 Apr What is Dark Social Media?
What is Dark Social Media?
Good question? What is Dark Social Media and how is it affecting your organization’s social media campaigns?
Firstly there isn’t anything sinister going on, however, it can prevent a business from monitoring its social media marketing effectively.
Dark Social occurs when a link/ URL is shared on a social media platform, for example, a blog link or new product page published on a Business Facebook page. The link is then shared privately via:a
- A Messaging App—such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger
- Email—referrers information isn’t shared due to privacy
- Some mobile apps—Facebook, Instagram
How do you monitor dark social traffic then?
When posting a blog or product page on social media, the URL will be unique for example; Hashtagging your week: https://bluebell-web-solutions.com/hashtag-your-week-in-socialmedia
Go to the left-hand navigation bar and select ‘Audience’ and then ‘Overview’ go to the top of the dashboard and add new segment unclick all and select ‘Direct Only’.
Select ‘Behavior’ in the left-hand sidebar and select ‘Site Content – ‘All pages’ this will then provide a list of unique URLs that have been clicked on.
The URLs will be so distinguished you will know whether it has been typed in or shared privately.
Monitoring Dark Social Media?
A business shouldn’t ignore dark social media as it has a huge impact on marketing efforts and website traffic.
It can provide great analytical data on demographics. Here are some ways to help monitor.
- Shortening links, use bit.ly or social media scheduler like Hootsuite is great for social media posts.
- Add share buttons to any piece of content that is on your website.
Implementing dark social into Social Media marketing plans and presentations will offer a greater competitive advantage whilst supporting ROI on Social Media within the organization.
For more information and support on this, feel free to contact the team.
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