Accountants know the importance of social media marketing for generating leads and building brand awareness. But social media is so much more than posting content and getting clients today.
There’s a hidden side to social media that can bring clients to your firm over the long term. It’s called dark social, and it’s something that all accountants should care about.
Let’s shed some light on the world of dark social, why it’s important and how it can benefit accountants.
No, dark social isn’t the dark side of social media, as the name may imply. It’s the things that happen in the dark – the things you can’t see – on social media. These activities are hard to track, like when you share a podcast with a friend and ask them their thoughts.
Behind the scenes, people are sharing and talking about your social content and accounting firm. You just can’t see it, nor can you track its impact.
To put it simply, dark social refers to private site referrals and shares that are extremely difficult to track across social media.
The term “dark social” was coined by Alex Madrigal in an article on The Atlantic.
Dark social is more prevalent than you think. It can go beyond the typical social platforms, like Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. It can also include:
There’s a good chance you’ve seen examples of dark social in the wild, and you’ve likely engaged in the practice yourself.
Maybe you’ve shared a YouTube video with a team member and asked their thoughts on implementing the idea at your firm. This is a classic example of dark social.
Maybe you’ve seen Tweets recommending or discussing a product or service in conversation. The brand wasn’t tagged and no link was shared. This is another example of dark social.
If you can’t track these activities happening behind the scenes and on private channels, why do they matter? Why should accountants and business owners care about dark social?
Because dark social isn’t something to ignore. It’s everywhere, and these are the channels where your clients and prospective clients are very active. It’s estimated that 84% of shares are happening on dark social networks.
Dark social can:
With so many shares happening on dark social, accountants must learn how to incorporate dark social campaigns into their marketing strategies.
Dark social campaigns can benefit accountants in many ways:
Dark social can open your eyes to new demographics that may have previously been invisible to you. Once you become aware of this demographic that may be interested in your services, you can start:
Simply put, dark social can help you expand your reach as an accountant.
Tracking dark social traffic can be tricky, but let’s say that you create a really informative post and share it on your social account. Over the coming days, you notice a spike in traffic. This may be an indication of dark social traffic.
It’s also a clue that the content is something that’s relevant and valuable to your audience.
In this way, dark social can help you create better content that performs well and drives visitors to your website.
Dark social is essentially the “word of mouth” of the Internet, and it can send more traffic to your doorstep – whether it’s your website or your firm’s office.
If dark social is happening behind the scenes and in private channels that can’t be tracked, how can you possibly measure it?
While imprecise, you can use Google Analytics to start measuring your dark social traffic. The goal is to create an advanced segment that separates your direct traffic from your overall visitors and excludes certain pages on your site.
Most dark social traffic comes in the form of direct traffic. But direct visitors can also be people who type in your URL directly or use bookmarks to visit your site. For this reason, we use filters to exclude some of a site’s standard URLs that may be typed in directly.
Here’s how to create an advanced segment to start tracking dark social traffic:
You may have additional parameters that you want to include, but this is a great place to start.
Along with tracking dark social through Google Analytics, you can also get more direct and accurate information about where your visitors are coming from by simply asking them.
For example, when prospective clients fill out a form to schedule a call or meeting, you can add a “How Did You Hear About Us?” field.
This field can be a text field (they type out their referral source), or you can incorporate a drop-down menu with a list of options. I don’t recommend a drop down option because, while it may be easier, people will often pick the first option as the easy way out.
Dark social is everywhere, and accountants must be aware of it to maximize their reach and lead generation online. While challenging, you can track dark social using Google Analytics or other measures. It helps to work with an experienced team who understands the ins and outs of dark social.
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Dark social refers to private sharing of content that is hard to track, like messages or conversations about your firm. Accountants should care because it represents a significant portion of online sharing, potentially influencing client decisions.
By understanding dark social, you can identify new demographics that are discussing your services privately, allowing you to create targeted content and build relationships with these potential clients.
Examples include sharing links through private messages, discussing your firm in community groups, or word-of-mouth referrals that don’t happen on public platforms.
You can use Google Analytics to create advanced segments that help isolate direct traffic, which may include dark social referrals, by excluding certain URLs that are commonly typed in directly.
You can add a ‘How Did You Hear About Us?’ question on your contact forms, allowing clients to specify their referral source, which can give you insights into dark social influences.
Creating better content based on dark social insights can lead to increased engagement and traffic, as it aligns with what your audience is actually discussing and sharing privately.