Members of the Brandlective team attended ‘The Rise of Dark Social’ event at Workspace on Fleet street on 4th March 2020. It was a short but informative discussion led by Diarra Smith, from Business insight programme, Knowledge peers. The panel included Donovan Justice, who is the CEO and founder of Digital Detox, which is a strategy, design and development agency based in Brixton. Jay Richards, founder of Imagen (formerly divinic) was also in attendance, who helps agencies and brands collaborate with over 200 thousand Gen Z.
Who are Gen Z? Those born between 1996-2010. Simple.
Overall it was a great panel discussion with some key takeaway points. Donovan suggested the best way to tap into the generation known as Gen Z is actually to host focus groups. He emphasised that building a 2-way conversation with them is paramount to understanding what they want from a brand, service or product. Notoriously Gen Z is bombarded online with so many brands trying to grab their attention, and while this is one way to get some exposure, it’s certainly not the best way. Gen Z is keen on brand loyalty, and want to have an input, so in a way rewinding to ‘old school’ techniques could potentially win them over. They are more likely to be interested in your new service or product if they have been invited to your business to discuss their opinions, rather than being spammed on their news feed with sponsored content.
“Nothing is going to replace a two-way conversation”
Next to give his advice on approaching Gen Z as an audience was Jay, who highlighted the importance of re-educating yourself on what they want, and being humble in your ways. It would be best if you took time to do the research properly, don’t rush to roll out a new product or service before knowing what your target customer really wants.
Jay’s company slogan is “brutally honest Gen Z insights” so it goes without saying they almost have no filter when giving their feedback. While some business owners wouldn’t take criticism from an 18-year-old, if they are your target market, you literally cannot afford not to listen.
Moving onto the mysterious Dark Social side of the discussion, the main question to prompt is “What do you want out of interrupting a private conversation?”. Now seems a good time to actually explain what dark social is:
“Dark social is when people share content through private channels such as instant messaging programs, messaging apps and email.”
If you’re like us, you probably share links periodically on your favourite social platforms. Places like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and other social channels.
However, we also frequently share interesting links with family, friends, and coworkers on Whatsapp, Email, Slack, and via texts.
And that’s just the tip of the private sharing iceberg. There’s an ever-expanding universe of channels and apps that people are use to share links, including FB Messenger, Google Hangouts, Skype, WeChat, Telegram, Tango, Snapchat, Viber and many more. They’re rapidly gaining popularity, and new ways to share are appearing all the time.
This private sharing is harder to track than content shared on public platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, so many social media marketers don’t realise how big of a slice dark social has of the social media sharing pie.
3 Mind-Blowing Dark Social Stats
- 84% of consumers’ outbound sharing from publishers’ and marketers’ websites now takes place via private, dark social channels such as email and instant messaging. (RadiumOne)
- 46% of consumers age 55 and older share only via dark social, as opposed to those in the 16 to 34 age group, where only 19% do so. (RadiumOne)
- Messaging apps are now bigger than social networks (Business Insider)
Donovan of Digital Detox suggested that brands shouldn’t be tapping into these dark social spaces by selling or pushing their content, but allowing engagement and interaction. As tracking this space is hard, brands need to add value, so Gen Z for example, are more likely to build a relationship with you if you have fun interactive content slipping into their private channels as opposed to a constant pop up logo.
The main focus of addressing Gen Z is authenticity. Be honest. They will catch you out if you’re not telling the truth.
“Address issues they care about, whether it’s wellbeing or sustainability.”
One great example we can take from the wellbeing stance is Instagram’s decision to remove like counts in some markets. This sort of approach resonates with a lot of people, so they are more likely to connect and engage with the brand.
Gen Z’s brains are wired differently; they want simplicity and experience from a brand. Loyalty and retention over acquisition will give you that competitive advantage.
Taking action on this advice can be daunting, so here are 4 steps to help you get started:
- Look over your current social results. Where do you see traffic coming from currently? How much ‘direct’ traffic do you see? (Hint – in your Google Analytics account look in Acquisition>Source/Medium).
- Identify which of your posts and social channels are most popular.
- Brainstorm ways to create more quality posts that are sharable on your top channels.
Now you know what dark social is, why you should track it, who can help you track it, and what to do with your data and insights.
So, how will you engage with GenZ and will you make any changes to your marketing strategy to consider ‘Dark Social?
Let us know your thoughts, question, ideas.
Event Speakers:
Lead by Diarra Smith, Business insight programme, Knowledge peers @KnowledgePeers
Donovan Justice, CEO & Founder of Digital Detox @detoxLDN
Jay Richards, Founder of Imagen @wearedivinc @jaykrichards
#WBIBreakfast
