Presentation from NetSquared Vancouver's #Tech4Good Trends event for nonprofits in 2018. https://www.meetup.com/net2van/events/245927359/

1. Dark Social
and
Dark Posts

2. Hello!
I’m Ashleigh!
I’m the Communications Director for
Options for Sexual Health
You can find me at @SexWithAshleigh
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3. What do we
want to cover
today?
Disclaimer: I am not the expert! There are many folks smarter than me who can help you and your nonprofit
utilize this knowledge, but with this presentation you will have enough knowledge to get started. Goal: From today’s
session, you will definitely have enough knowledge to sound a whole lot smarter when talking about Dark Social and
Dark Posts!
Dark Social
○ What is it?
○ What do we need to know
about it?
○ What can we do to utilize
this knowledge?
○ Some tools and tips
Dark Posts
○ What are they?
○ What do we need to know about
them?
○ How can we use this power for
awesome?
○ Who can benefit from this?
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4. ?
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5. 1.
Dark Social
Not as evil as it sounds!

6. Dark Social:
Dark Social is the portion of referral
traffic that lacks information to trace it
back to its source.
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7. “[Dark Social] refers simply to the
private sharing of links via mediums
that don’t pass a referrer in traditional
web analytics platforms, such as
email, Slack, Text, Facebook
Messenger, and WeChat.
--Matt Tesmond from Simply Measured
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8. “Oh! Kittens!” It all starts
when
someone
reads an
article on how
to bathe
kittens the safe
way.*
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*https://adespresso.com/blog/dark-social/

9. second
last
first
We all do this…
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We see an article/blog/link
We send the link to a friend via
some sort of direct message
(Slack, Email, Facebook
Messenger, etc.)
Friend reads article,
laughs, cries, emotes.
No trace.
Boom- Dark social!

10. 84%of shares are “Dark Social”
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11. So what can
we do about
this?
○ Make Google Analytics work for you!
○ Be strategic
○ Use tools that can help you
A multipronged approach will give you more
accurate numbers and analytics!
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12. Place your screenshot here
Take Aways
○ Dark Social allows
people to send
links/URLs without
referral or
traceable steps
○ This can yield
deceiving analytics
○ There are ways to
track your
posts/URLs
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13. 2.
Dark Posts
Not as evil as they sound!

14. Dark Post:
An unpublished post that appears as a
sponsored advertisement without
appearing on the page.
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15. “
[Dark] posts are ad objects that appear
in consumer timelines, but do not exist
on the company’s social page. They
appear as normal-looking posts, but
have calls to action like “Learn More,”
“Shop Now,” or “Like Page.”
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--Matt Tesmond from Simply Measured

16. 16

17. 17

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19. How can I use
Dark Posts?
People who
love kittens
People
between 19-35
People who
live in urban
centres
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BINGO!

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21. Place your screenshot here
Take Aways
○ Facebook has a
step by step
tutorial on how to
create Dark Posts
(unpublished
posts).
○ It can be useful for
A/B testing of ads.
○ There is now
transparency but
post will not show
up in your feed.
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22. Dark Social
The sharing of links
through direct messages
rather than through
searching/referrals.
Dark Posts
Unpublished posts on
social media shared as
sponsored
content/advertisements
Transparency
Since late 2017,
Facebook has increased
transparency in
advertising, and allows
you to see the ads a
page is running.
Let’s review
some
concepts
URL /UTM
Creating a URL that
allows you to track clicks
can give you insight into
dark social shares of
your posts.
A/B testing
Dark Posts allow you to
test variables on the
success of your call to
action, sale, promotion,
etc.
Evolving
Technology is constantly
evolving, and nonprofits
need to be able to utilize
the trends. Nonprofits
tend to be a few years
behind for profits in
adapting and adopting
technology trends.
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23. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at @SexWithAshleigh
&
drashleighturner@gmail.com
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