Dark Social: The biggest missed opportunity in digital marketing

Journal article

Marjan, A., Graham, C., Bruce, M. and Mitchell, A. (2020). Dark Social: The biggest missed opportunity in digital marketing. Journal of Digital and Social Media Marketing. 8 (3), pp. 1-6.
AuthorsMarjan, A., Graham, C., Bruce, M. and Mitchell, A.
Abstract

Following the widespread adoption of closed social media apps, marketers can no longer easily track outbound sharing of website links, or inbound traffic resulting from those shares — so-called dark social. This social traffic is misclassified in Google Analytics as ‘direct’, and little is currently known about its volume or relative behaviour, and therefore how to manage it effectively. This study aims to contextualise the typical contribution of the direct channel to total website reach, identify the relative contribution of (true) direct traffic and estimate the volume of dark social traffic. Traffic flows totalling over 3 million hits were
observed over two years on five websites. The results suggest that the direct channel can contribute over one-third of total traffic and, according to the authors’ estimate, an inbound dark social component of almost one-fifth. This is little understood at present, and the article proposes a future research agenda to develop theory in the area.

KeywordsDark Social, Web Traffic, Google Analytics, Direct Traffic, Social Media, e-WOM
Year2020
JournalJournal of Digital and Social Media Marketing
Journal citation8 (3), pp. 1-6
Web address (URL)https://www.henrystewartpublications.com/jdsm/v8
Publication dates
Print08 Dec 2020
Publication process dates
Accepted09 Mar 2020
Deposited20 Apr 2020
Accepted author manuscript
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