The so-called ‘dark social’ contributes to social sharing that’s twice as much as Facebook, and as many as 91% of us use it on a regular basis.
And this also puts an end to most of the email marketing related posts either asking or explaining that email is not dead!
According to a new study by RadiumOne – ‘The Light and Dark of Social Sharing’ – dark social, is sharing activity that’s invisible to traditional analytics as it takes place via email or instant message, and not via web page sharing mechanisms.
The study claims that 59% of all online sharing takes place through dark social, while only 31% happens via Facebook, and the social channels accounting to a measly 10%.
The topics most discussed using dark social channels are more one-to-one in nature and pertain mostly to the arts and entertainment, careers and travel verticals. Whereas, the topics most discussed via social channels are majorly one-to-many, and mostly pertain to the pets, family and parenting, and real estate verticals.
Irony lies in the fact that what is referred to as dark social might actually be more honest, richer and accurate information for advertisers and brands to learn from, if accessible.
This can be achieved by implementing short URL services that offer a branded URL, and incorporating them into your website’s sharing buttons. When users share via the compact URL, that click becomes traceable, providing valuable information.
Read the full report on VentureBeat.
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