We’re always on the lookout for new ways to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to social media and marketing. One of those ways is Dark Social — a term you’ve likely been hearing more of over the last couple years and something we talk about a lot over on LinkedIn.

What is Dark Social?

Dark Social refers to online conversations and web traffic that comes from indirect channels or sources, making it difficult to accurately track. These channels are buzzing with activity from B2B buyers, but companies often can’t see the impact directly. That’s because modern marketing analytics tools like to attribute things in a very direct way, like: visitor searched “term,” visitor clicked link, visitor filled out form.

Boom. Easy to track and measure! Execs love this!

Dark social has gotten such a bad rap as of late, but it’s because it’s a bit trickier to talk about and sell to c-suites and executives. We are coming out of a period of what we will dub “toxic metric tracking” – where marketing data and ROI became such a hyper-focus that we went so far into the hole, we lost the bigger picture. The executives were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

One of the challenges of dark social is that it is difficult to track. Unlike public social media platforms, where companies can use analytics tools to monitor engagement and track customer behavior, conversations that take place in private messages or emails are often invisible to businesses. As a result, B2B companies need to be proactive in understanding how their content is being shared and consumed beyond the public channels.

A B2B buying cycle may look like this:

  1. Someone has a problem
  2. They ask their network on LinkedIn
  3. They get a hundred recommendations for different solutions, apps, podcasts, youtube videos etc.
  4. The searcher then goes to youtube, podcasts, etc, and reseaches.
  5. The searcher follows someone on LinkedIn
  6. The searcher sees a post on LinkedIn and screenshots it to send in a private Slack thread
  7. The group communicates about it
  8. Someone else in the company subscribes to their podcast
  9. They talk about the episode at lunch
  10. They attend a conference happy hour and discuss business which reminds the searcher about the solutions they’ve been eying up
  11. They go home and search “company name”
  12. They click the link and fill out a form.

Twelve steps and potentially weeks of build-up. But all the analytics tool is going to see is the last three steps.

These conversations outside of public social media platforms, such as private messaging apps or email. For business-to-business (B2B) companies, understanding and leveraging dark social can be an effective way to expand their reach and connect with potential customers.

How To Leverage Dark Social In Your Business

First, it is essential to create content that is shareable and easy to distribute. For example, a whitepaper or case study that is valuable and relevant to a company’s target audience may be shared via email or private message by someone who found it useful. To encourage this kind of sharing, companies can make their content easily shareable by including social sharing buttons or links within the content. This also includes one of the most controversial topics right now….. (drum roll please) … un-gating your content. 

Secondly, B2B companies can create targeted campaigns that are specifically designed for private messaging or email. For example, a company could create a referral program that incentivizes customers to share their products or services with colleagues via email. Additionally, companies could create personalized email campaigns that target specific customers or groups of customers based on their interests or past behavior.

Lastly, B2B companies can use analytics tools or methods like URL UTM parameters that are designed to track dark social. These tools can help businesses understand how their content is being shared and consumed outside of public social media channels. This data can help companies identify opportunities to improve their marketing efforts and better target their messaging to specific audiences.

Get Outta The Dark About Dark Social

Understanding and leveraging dark social can be a valuable way for B2B companies to expand their reach and connect with potential customers. By creating shareable content, creating targeted campaigns, and using analytics tools, companies can better track and understand how their content is being shared and consumed beyond public social media platforms.

Incorporate dark social into your B2B marketing strategies, B2B companies and see yourself in a better position for how buyers want to interact with brands today.