More than three quarters (77%) of publishers’ or marketers’ content shared via mobile phones takes place via ‘dark social’ channels, a new study has found.
Bringing into question whether there is a disconnect between where marketing budgets are going and where people are actually sharing content, the latest research from RadiumOne reveals that people are increasingly sharing content behind closed doors via private channels such as email, text and instant messaging.
In fact, 84% of global sharing is now happening outside of public social networks. However, more than 90% of social and sharing marketing investment is being poured into social channels.
“One of the reasons for this investment disconnect is that until recently, marketers haven’t known how to harness Dark Social sharing behaviour,” said RadiumOne’s European managing director, Rupert Staines.
“The many channels and platforms consumers use to share the things that matter to them, and the behaviour around this, is evolving by the day. It’s becoming increasingly complex and harder for brands to keep up with the fast pace of consumers.
“However, brands can harness sharing technology to allow them to take a channel and platform agnostic approach to keeping up with consumers.”
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Additionally, the study found that when it comes to engaging with shared content, 80% of UK mobile click-backs happen via dark social. Furthermore, when looking at dark social sharing across all devices, smartphones account for 64% of the times people click on a link shared in Dark Social.
Staines said the findings should challenge brands, content creators and media buyers to take a “broader and more ROI-focused approach” to how they think about ‘the sharing economy’.
“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 interacting with shared content is occurring,” he said.
“The opportunity for brands is to track, gather and activate these valuable signals to connect their owned and earned media investments with paid media effectiveness.”
