Dark social and Dark Web are just old-fashioned marketing

“Dark Web and Dark Social are like old-fashioned marketing.”

It was an intriguing response from an upcoming podcast guest to intriguing phenomena.

In simple terms, Dark Web and Dark Social are marketing activities that are hard to track.

It’s invisible conversations, information and link-sharing happening behind the curtains.

But here’s the thing: it’s NOT a new business challenge.

Until the Web emerged in the late-1990s, a lot of marketing wasn’t easily measured:
– Radio
– TV
– Direct mail
– Newspapers
– Magazines
– Coupons
– Events

But it didn’t stop companies from spending on marketing. They knew it worked even though results weren’t easily measured.

In some respects, marketing has become a leap of faith.

In simplistic terms, marketing happens in channels you think will perform, and then you see what happens.

This has put more focus on customer research, creativity, high-value content, and experiments.

And new ways to measure success and ROI.

Cool app: Untools, tools and framework for better thinking.