Advertising Question of the Week: What Is Dark Social?

It sounds sinister. Like someone lurking in a corner talking smack about you. (Popularly known as high school.)

But dark social refers to the social sharing of content that occurs outside of what web analytics programs are able to measure. And it often gets a bad rap. Especially from seasoned marketers. 

Dark Social Is Traffic That Comes from the Share of a URL 

Yet analytics tools like Google view it as direct traffic. So companies that are measuring their web traffic solely through old-school web analytics are missing key insights about how folks are really discovering their content and products.

Back in the dark ages of the internet, arriving at a site was predominantly a straight shot. If you wanted shoes, you went to Zappo’s site. If you wanted to start raising chickens or alligators (or both because you have issues), you went… to some other site. 

But now there are multiple ways one lands on a site:

Native Mobile Apps 

Mobile apps either fire up a browser instance in-app (such as Twitter), or force your current browser to open a new browser window with the URL in question in the browser. Either way, the browser goes directly to the site and looks like direct traffic to Google.

Email 

For the (perceived, at least) sake of privacy and security, most email-providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook don’t pass a referrer when a user clicks the link.

Chat 

Whether it’s web/desktop based chat, or through chat-based native mobile apps, chat clients of all kinds don’t pass referrers either, leaving Google in the dark about their true origin. 

Even texting is considered dark social.

Many estimates state that 84% of social shares are dark. And this is precisely why it falls out of favor with those of the marketing ilk who rely on analytical insights to structure their social media strategies.

As such, dark social is often given labels such as ‘challenging’,  ‘worrisome’ and ‘terrifyingly horrible’. The last one is an exaggeration. And frankly, all of these words are restrictive in their scope.  

Marketers who want to achieve success with their social media marketing are approaching dark social from a new - and necessary - angle. And it’s this:  

Dark Social Is An Opportunity

Dark social has a huge impact on traffic. It reaches unique demographics; particularly the 55+ crowd, over 40% of whom share only through dark social. Dark social is

everywhere. And we mean, everywhere. It’s especially prevalent in industries like personal finance, food and drink, travel and executive searches. 

It’s an amazing marketing opportunity in that its data gives a detailed representation of consumers’ genuine interests. Getting familiar with this information allows marketers to access a targeted audience of connections for their clients.

“How do I get the data though?” you might be asking. “Didn’t you just say that dark social can’t be measured by web analytics?”

Settle down. 

Dark Social Is Getting Integrated into Digital Marketing Tactics

So far it’s slow-going, because it’s relatively restricted. And it should be. Sharing is often private for a reason and it would be rather callous of brands to hunt for insights among private conversations between friends. Or alligator and chicken breeders. 

But there are some tactics and tools marketers are employing to tap into some of this valuable information. For instance, they’re:

• Shortening URLs for outbound links in content and emails, then tracking how many clicks those links receive.

• Making sharing easier with thoughtfully placed, sophisticated share buttons that match the quality of content. 

• Watching other social platforms by checking for a simultaneous spike in link traffic coming from sites like Reddit or Facebook.

• Using some of the newer tools that track dark social traffic origins and analyze their outcomes.

And as time marches on, the tools and tactics will become more defined and elaborate. But dark social will probably always defy algorithms. And as long as ethics are in play, there will be no way to game email or people’s instant messages or texts. 

Which, even as marketers, we see as a good thing. There really is such a thing as too much information. 

Creating Impactful Advertising in a World of Distractions

Terence Winter, the guy behind Boardwalk Empire, once said, “Any distraction tends to get in the way of being an effective gangster.”

So why are we citing Mr. Winter? 

Mostly because it sounds cool. But it’s also true. And not just for gangsters. While the wild world of digital has opened multiple doors for marketers and advertisers, the countless distractions that are part and parcel with this medium have made it more difficult to create impactful advertising. 

Your Target Market Is Surrounded By Distractions 

Some studies suggest that the average consumer is exposed to up to 10,000 brand messages per day. And that’s today. As marketers have increasing numbers of channels to reach their customers, that number will keep climbing.

Add to that how often people switch between screens. That figure currently stands at around 21 times. No, not per day. Per hour. Short attention spans are seriously trending. #WaitWhat

And it turns out that the short attention span is the perfect petri dish for growing that marketing bacteria strain known as click bait. Honestly, click bait is gross. Like bacteria. Plus it rarely offers any real value. Like bacteria. It’s a desperate attempt to get attention and is devoid of anything of value to a potential customer.

So Consider What the Customer Needs Vs. What You Wish to Achieve

When marketers understand precisely who the customer is, they are better equipped to create attention-grabbing campaigns that also add value. A tall order these days.

To shoot through the distractions, companies need to create simpler messages. And they need to communicate them in a sharper way. But not in the repeated stabbing manner of click bait. Rather, companies should be sharpening their focus on what we’ll call the Three Es of Impactful Advertising: 

• Entertain
• Emote
• Engage

(Humor helps too. But the "Three Es and An H of Impactful Advertising" doesn’t deliver the same punch. So we’ll blend it in with Emote.)

That’s why it’s essential that your company understands its customers. For example, let’s say you run a funeral home. Most see this as a somber business. You don’t agree because, well, you went into the business. And it doesn’t seem all that dark to you. So in an effort to make things more light-hearted, you decide your advertising needs to be humorous. Put the “fun” back in funeral.  

Super bad idea. It would be akin to running a toy company

and employing a knife-wielding clown as your spokesperson. Or any clown. Because they’re just plain frightening. To nutshell it, marketing will have more impact if it elicits the right emotions for your target market. 

Once you’ve got some solid content that’s entertaining, emotional and/or engaging, consider this:

You Can Also Take Advantage of the Distractions

Though this applies across all forms of advertising, it’s particularly relevant to advertising on social. 

Once again, using distractions to your advantage requires you to know, first and foremost, the specific audience segment you wish to target. Of course, there will be multiple segments. But trying to go for all of them at once is a waste of resources. So focus on audience that’s most likely to be moved by your message and then blanket the social sites they frequent with advertising that doesn’t look or feel like advertising. This is also known as native advertising. 

Native advertising isn’t about earning clicks. Rather, it serves to provide value through the above-mentioned relevant content. Now, pay attention. Ask yourself, what’s catching your audience’s attention while they’re crawling around online with 13 tabs open at the same time? What, pray tell, is the buzz?

Know What’s Trending 

Get familiar with what’s relevant on every platform and channel your audience is reading. Then adjust your campaign to focus on what’s in demand. Most platforms offer some sort of tool that indicates what’s trending. Some can even give you measurements of the engagement levels of certain articles and topics. 

Check in with Reddit, who brand themselves “the front page of the internet.” Cuz they sorta are. You’re bound to get some juicy trending nuggets there. You can also use tools that are devoted specifically to scouring and sharing top headlines - some of which are free, while others charge a fee.

Streamline Your Execution

Trends happen fast. So forget about over-planning. You have to take action. 

That means if your spirit animal is a manatee or a sloth, then turn things over to those guided by the hummingbird or the ferret. Start streamlining that execution. Set some ground rules - like avoiding any topics of a political or traumatic nature. That’s just good practice. And be sure everyone’s on board with a brand persona that defines how your brand positions itself and why. Be clear about your values. 

Then get on it. While using trends to your advantage, it’s best to tweak timely campaigns in motion and learn as you go. Consider outsourcing the ad buy portion so you can keep

your focus on creative reworking as needed. And plan on having someone specifically monitoring your campaigns regularly so they can keep pace with trends rather than just analyzing the facts and watching your competitors grab your audience. 

The ultimate goal? Your company is trending. Or course, for all the right reasons… 

Is Your Content up to Snuff?

Whether you’re cutting through the distractions or using them to your advantage, it don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got that swing. And that swing is content.

Yes, you’ll need to fine-tune your strategy to find the most timely placement so you’ll be popping up multiple times. But what’s the point of getting premium real estate if you don’t have anything to to put on it? Or, even worse, populating it with false or misleading content. 

Know your audience. Know what they want and what they need. Know those important touch points so you - and NOTHING else - will be at the top of the their minds when the time comes to make a purchase. Distractions be damned.

Or just maybe, blessed. 

Advertising Question of the Week: How Has Digital Changed the Way Manufacturers Market?

Unless you’re in the manufacturing industry, you may not give much thought to manufacturing and manufacturers. Most of us outside the industry aren’t pondering hydraulic cylinders or contemplating press pit foundations.

But manufacturing is a business. And like all businesses, manufacturers need clients and customers to survive. So says Captain Obvious. 

In the past, manufacturers stuck to marketing within the confines of their industry - trade magazines, conferences, things of that nature. And these are still effective. But the digital world - and mobile technology in particular - has really changed the way manufacturers market. 

The Manufacturing Sector Was Once Largely Invisible

And as far as television and magazine ads are concerned, it still is. 

Nobody wants to see Matthew Mcconaughey staring off into the distant lamenting programmable logic controllers in order to promote new technology. (Or course it could be argued that nobody wants to see him ever.) 

By the same token, Aveeno knows that promoting Jennifer Aniston’s glowing skin in a full-page glossy rag ad is going to be far more effective toward selling their lotion than highlighting the benefits of their extruder as it systematically squirts lotion into jars. That’s more centerfold material for Extrusion Magazine. And Aveeno wouldn’t have much success advertising their lotion there anyhow. 

Which brings us back to our point. The majority of what people have known about manufacturing companies is the products they produce. John Deere is a mower. General Motors is a car. Trane is HVAC. In other words, the manufacturing process has always fallen secondary to the retail side of the industry. But that’s changing.

Digital Technology Has Impacted Both Manufacturing and Marketing

Current trends in the digital world are changing the way that manufacturers interact with customers. And labor laws, location and politics have increasingly made the manufacturing process part of a company’s marketing focus.

Here are some of the ways digital has changed manufacturer marketing:

Quick Response Codes (QRC)

Think of the QRC as the next generation of bar code. 

Manufacturers have long been using bar codes to organize

products and streamline operations. But the QRC brings the customer smack dab into the supply chain by giving them the option to receive a large amount of information that can be easily read on their smartphone. They’re also capable of opening websites and interfacing with the database management software of your contact system. 

Another big plus? You can get clever with a QRC. (And it won’t smack you.) The code doesn’t have to be square so it can be designed into logos, images, art or even innovative message generators. Maybe a tattoo?

Manufacturers As Educational Leaders

Websites as a form of marketing have been of tremendous value to manufacturers - even if they’d rather be operating a heavy press than a keyboard. Their website allows them to set themselves as leaders in their specific industry. 

More and more manufacturers are incorporating blogs into their websites to provide information and set themselves as an authority in their industry. When an uninformed potential customer sets out to learn about a specific manufacturing sector, having access to informational articles, guides, and links to technical journals is a valuable resource. They’re more likely to trust a manufacturer who takes this extra time to educate their customers.  

Plus, it’s helpful for SEO and pretty easy on the marketing budget.

Apps, Apps and More Apps

The simplicity of developing apps, along with their unbridled popularity, has made them a hugely effective way for manufacturers to interact with consumers. 

They’re digitally renewable, so they’re always up-to-date. In manufacturing, this is a big deal. Being able to supply a customer with reliable, accurate and current product information is critical. And since updating is done electronically, it’s cost effective. Try updating a print ad every month. 

Manufacturers Are Just More Connected 

The internet of things (IoT) has undeniably brought more people together - even if simultaneously tearing people apart at the dinner table. 

Websites and apps are connecting manufacturing businesses with customers in ways never before imagined. A customer can even use company templates on their smartphone or computer to customize a product that will then be 3-D printed. And from anywhere in the world. 

Yeah. Digital has definitely changed the way manufacturers are marketing. And it looks like that evolution will continue.

Advertising Question of the Week - What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing isn’t terribly complicated. But we’ll give you the extra simplified definition here: 

First, you partner with a company who offers an affiliate program. Once you sign up, you are required to give them a kidney. No, not really. Rather, the company provides you with a special link. This lets them know when someone who lands on their site was referred by you. If that person then buys anything, you receive a commission from the website.

It’s the old “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” But if you’ve been scratched, then you know not all back scratchers are created equal. And neither are all backs. 

That being said, affiliates earn more in commissions for digital products - typically 40% of their price - than they do for physical products. That’s a pretty juicy commission. And, of course, high ticket items allow affiliates to earn higher valued commissions. Duh.

You’ll also find that some companies pay more than others. So you’ll want to hunt around to find the one (or ones) that are the best fit for you.

How Affiliate Marketing Works

We’re going to assume that you already have a blog, website, email list or some other online presence. And that you have followers or supporters or customers because you’re either a content whiz, or you hired a professional writer/blogger to provide content for your site. Either way, well done.

Now, let’s say that your online presence involves dogs in some way. Maybe you’re a dog behaviorist with a vast array of followers trying to manage their unruly dogs. Perhaps, instead, you have a popular website that focuses exclusively on art with dogs. (Or even better, by dogs.)

You start thinking that you could use a few extra bucks. Doggie needs a new pair of shoes or two. So you become an affiliate with a company that offers a product or service that’s relevant to your dog-loving visitors. It could be someone offering dog therapy services. Or art supplies. For dogs.

Anyhow, you recommend this product or service to your followers. You may do this by:

• writing a fascinating post about it
• talking about it on social media (#awesomedogshoes)
• mentioning it in a newsletter
• placing a button or banner ad somewhere on your site

Whatever the case, you include the special link provided by the affiliate company. This link has a special number that is unique to you. It’s otherwise known as your affiliate ID.

When someone uses your affiliate link to make a purchase, you earn a commission. You receive payment of your accumulated earnings either after a specified period of time, or when your earnings reach a certain threshold.

How to Become An Affiliate Marketer

You need only join an affiliate program. Some are really easy to join, while others require you to apply. And then there are those that are by invitation only. Because they think they’re so special. Which honestly, they might be. It depends on what you need from an affiliate program.

Start by considering what kinds of things you like to talk about and/or use. For example, if your dog blog has a page devoted to reviewing wacky accessories for your dog, you might check your favorite pet supply website to see if they offer these products. Cruise around the site to look for a link that says “Affiliates,” “Affiliate Program,” or “Referral Program.” Then follow the links.

You can also do a more direct search. If you’re going for a big wig website, you could type in “Chewy Affiliate program,” for instance. On the other  hand, you might know

all about a website committed to nothing but Day-Glo Dog Coats. (Anything’s possible on the internet.) So try typing in “Day-Glo Dog Coats Affiliate program.” And if your first search doesn’t turn up anything, that doesn’t automatically indicate a lack of a program. Sometimes there are slight variances in word usage or terms, so keep on trying.

Another thing you’ll want to do is check out the affiliate products others in your niche are using. Study their sites and read their content. Is there anything interesting in their sidebar? To whom are they linking? Check blogs and website in similar niches too - such as the cat lover, ferret lover and hamster lover websites. There’s bound to be some overlap. And if you see a product or service mentioned on those sites that you can promote too (ethically, of course), seek out affiliate information for them as well.

You could also join an affiliate network. You may have no choice in this one, since a lot of companies offer their affiliate program through an affiliate network you’ll be required to join right after you give them one of your kidneys. (Again, not really.) Even if you have a staunch history of being a non-joiner, don’t immediately dodge this. An affiliate network is ultimately going to give you access to a lot more products. Especially if you can find a high-paying one.  

Is Affiliate Marketing Right for You? 

As we said above, this is the simplified version of what affiliate marketing is. In most cases, you’re not just going to sit back and watch the gold coins accumulate in your

Scrooge McDuck money room. There are other aspects you’ll need to consider before you decide to take the plunge.

When all is said and done though, you’ll find that you have the potential to make a good chunk of money if you get connected with the right company and know how to promote their product or service like marketing pros. 

Back scratched. 

Five Weirder Than Usual Advertising Stories

 Advertising is a strange industry. 

This is due in part to how heavily populated it is by creative people who need to pay their rent. But the nature of the work is inherently odd. Respected ad agencies are paid by individuals or companies to “talk them up,” as it were.

Remember back in middle school when you told Alex to tell Jessie how cool you were because you LIKED liked Jessie? Or maybe you pretended to be “going with” Alex to see if Jessie would suddenly find you interesting? It’s a lot like that, but more complicated.

Advertising Relies on a Deep Understanding of Psychology

And then using that psychology to generate interest. This has made for some pretty interesting stories.

Sunkist

Picture it. A smoggy morning in Minneapolis in 1902. A young man with a ripped t-shirt is downing some orange juice and getting ready to go pump iron at the gym. 

Okay. So before you go racing down to the comments section to skewer us for inaccuracies of the anachronistic nature (and perhaps question your own psychological need to do so), the above paragraph was intentional.

You probably caught the obvious mistakes. But did you include orange juice as one of those? Because orange juice wasn’t really around in 1902. And certainly not in Minnesota. Of course, oranges had juice. And both California and Florida were producing them. But nobody had given much thought to extracting that juice. 

By 1907, the production of oranges had increased beyond the demand for them. Most Americans didn’t know much about citrus fruits. So the California Fruit Growers Exchange (CFGE) hired the Lord & Thomas ad agency in 1907 to try to pump up demand for them. 

The problem was, the CFGE consisted of about 2,000 independent farmers, each with their own brand of oranges. So how could they do this? 

Enter Albert Lasker - a.k.a. the original Don Draper (though hopefully not so lascivious). Lasker was able to get the farmers to understand strength in numbers. He got them to unify all their brands under one brand. It would be the first perishable food product to be advertised.  They named the brand Sunkist; a name that delivered strong on the warm fuzzies. Who wouldn't want something that was sun-kissed?

But he knew that wouldn’t be enough. Americans were just too unfamiliar with oranges. Sun-kissed or otherwise. So what could be done with the excess of oranges? Lasker realized that it took a lot of oranges to make a glass of juice. That was the key.

So the campaign set out to teach consumers how to squeeze juice from oranges by educating them on different kinds of juicers for that purpose. By creating this new use for oranges, the fruit’s consumption in the United States sky-rocketed from an average of half an orange to 2-3 oranges per day. 

In essence, orange juice was created by advertising.

Formula E Racing

This ad is interesting for a couple of reasons. 

First, it serves as both an ad for Formula E Racing, as well as a breed of public service announcement promoting electric cars to lessen the impact of climate change… specifically on cheetahs.  

The ad shows a race between a cheetah and a Formula E car. But unlike the Michael Phelps race with a computer generated shark, this was actually a real race. It took place on

a landing strip in a remote part of the Western Cape of the southern tip of Africa.

We’re not quite sure how they pulled it off, but they did. And no cheetah was hurt in the making of this ad. Here’s how it went down. 

Both the Formula E race car and the cheetah can reach speeds of 62 miles/hour in 3 seconds. So at the beginning of the race, the cheetah takes the lead. Which is pretty impressive. But since the electric car has a top speed of 139mph compared to the cheetah’s maximum of 70mph, the race car eventually won.

Of course Formula E created this ad to promote its division of electric car racing. But the end game was to also bring attention to the effects of climate change and the danger it poses to the natural habitat of cheetahs and other wildlife. So there’s that.

Red Bull

Understanding of psychology has lead to some success stories in advertising. But, just as with the human brain, there have been misfires as well.

Take Red Bull, for instance. You’ve seen the commercials. Red Bull gives you wings. Catchy, even infectious, tagline. But hold up. If you look carefully, you’ll see that Red Bull actually gives you “Wiings.” 

What are wiings? Simply put, they’re the result of Red Bull getting sued in 2014 for not only stating that their energy drink will give you actual wings, but they also claimed that the drink could improve your concentration and reaction speed. Neither of which it does.

So several consumers brought a case against the company, regretfully stating that they showed no signs of improved intellectual or physical abilities - the ability to fly notwithstanding.

The damage? Red Bull agreed to pay out a maximum of $13 million — including $10 to every US consumer who had purchased the drink since 2002. Nevertheless, they’re still going strong.

Perfect example of taking broken wiings and learning to fly again.

Toyota Altis

If you live in the United States, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of the Toyota Altis. (Our version is essentially the Corolla.) But if you were in Malaysia back in 2002, you might have noticed a dearth of the zippy little Toyota’s advertising. It vanished. That’s because Malaysian officials pulled the plug on any advertising featuring Brad Pitt.

Now, using attractive people in advertising is nothing new. It taps into that psychological desire to also be attractive. (And driving an Altis will make you look like Brad Pitt.) 

But the Malaysian government found it an “insult to Asians” and was concerned about the effect Pitt’s good looks would have on the self-esteem of Malaysian men. "Why must we use their faces in our advertisements?” asked Zainuddin Maidin, the deputy information minister at the time. “Aren't our own people handsome enough?” 

It was definitely an oversight. While the self-esteem of men in the United States is routinely assaulted by Brad Pitt’s good looks, they’re used to it. But Toyota should have considered using an Asian Brad Pitt instead. 

Of course, the fact that Malaysia has some of the world's toughest censorship laws might have played into the decision. Television and film are strictly vetted by government officials. Kissing is often cut from films and TV programs. And forget about swearing. It’s viewed as a direct attack on Malaysian family values.

Imagine the reaction to an ad with Brad Pitt kissing a swearing woman who’s just stubbed her toe. 

Advanced Medical Institute (AMI)

In its day, the AMI was no stranger to controversy. The Australian medical clinic thrived on it. Experienced ad people know that negative attention is rarely better than no attention. But for the AMI, negative attention was ALWAYS better.

AMI dealt primarily with men’s erectile issues. And their advertising was often the subject of complaint. Their billboards and bench advertisements were considered tasteless and offensive to many. But there was one particular erectile-dysfunction spot they created which garnered 220 complaints. And this is in a country that started as a penal (no pun intended) colony.

The commercial shows a wife using her husband's erection as a step stool to get something out of the cupboard. And yes, there were probably a great many people who found it amusing. (We reserve comment on our opinion.)

But it wasn’t just this commercial that created buzz around AMI. It was the way they used psychology in advertising as a dangerous weapon. They laid claims behind which there was no science. Furthermore, they engaged in unconscionable conduct and used unfair contract terms in treating men for sexual dysfunction. Clients were warned of the dangers of stroke, prostate cancer and “penis shrinkage” if they failed to have treatment. 

When the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) got wind of this, a long-running court battle began. They stated, “It is immoral to seek to harness the fears and anxieties of men suffering from ED [erectile dysfunction] or PE [premature ejaculation] for the purpose of selling medical treatments.” They were right.

We won’t elaborate on the very drawn-out battle that ensued. Suffice it to say, AMI is no longer around. And now the ad sits happily on YouTube as one of the funniest advertisements ever. 

All of which brings us back to our original point. Advertising is a weird industry.