Monetising dark social is the key to profitability, Radium One report finds
Research by Radium One revealed exclusively at Mumbrella360 found that Australians share most of their content through dark social channels, suggesting that marketers are missing a major piece of information for understanding consumer interest.
Dark social, a term used to describe the social sharing of content that cannot be measured by analytics programs, was revealed as a leading driver of Australian shared content.
The findings showed that almost 90% of Australian social sharing occurs through dark social, while globally, dark social channels make up over 80% of total content sharing in the markets where RadiumOne operates.
The results come as the 2016 CMO Survey showed that 40% of CMOs believe social offers little contribution to business performance. This is despite marketers plans to double spendings on social media from 10% to 20% over the next five years.
RadiumOne’s research suggests that CMOs may not be aware of the contribution of dark social channels, and they should look towards tracking dark social to effectively reach target audiences.
The report found 90% of social marketing goes to social networks but this does not account for channels that are not measured by analytics. With 84% of sharing occurring outside of public social networks, the research suggests marketers are missing a key element in their approach to social content sharing.
With 80% of Facebook’s ad revenue for Q4 of 2015 generated from mobile and 63% of engagement with shared content occurring through mobile, strategies that track all forms of social content shares across owned and earned media will be key for marketers in understanding consumer interests.
RadiumOne APAC managing director, Kerry McCabe said the new research will challenge brands, content creators and media buyers to focus on a ROI approach to content sharing and distribution.
“Dark Social is a big piece of the sharing universe. This interest and intent data source is particularly powerful when it comes to mobile, where the majority of sharing and interacting with shared content is occurring,” said McCabe.
To read RadiumOne’s report in full, go here.
Just another compelling argument for great content marketing – creating great articles, video, photography etc will ensure you can reach people through open facing social media (measurable) and closed networks (messenger apps, email, closed groups, direct messages, forums etc) – paid media on digital is not a strong solution.
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Dear advertisers, no one wants to share your ad for you.
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I’d say there is probably a few more “keys” to profitability than dark social. I would suggest this headline is somewhat over the top (to say the least)
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