Most brands’ #1 source of referral traffic is dark social, ahead of Facebook, Twitter and other social networks combined. Experts estimate dark social now accounts for roughly 65% of content shared.
What is dark social? It is sharing that occurs in ways that cannot be tracked by traditional web analytics—primarily message apps, professional messaging channels (like Slack), and email.
The growing importance of dark social is driven by two key trends. First, public sharing across social platforms has declined, especially on Facebook. Second, usage of private messaging apps (WhatsApp, Viber, etc.) has skyrocketed. There are now more total monthly active users on the top messaging apps than on the top social media.
Dark social will continue to expand as consumers’ privacy concerns increase.
By its very definition, dark social is hard to track. Currently, tools are being created to estimate its impact, including a Dark Social Calculator from Google Analytics.
Sources: Business2Community 2018, BuzzSumo 2018, Get Social 2018, Martech Advisor, 2018, Media Post 2018, SmartInsights.com 2018
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