Social Roots

Knowledge base · Data & measurement

Dark social

Dark social is link sharing through private channels like WhatsApp and DMs, invisible to your measurement.

A large part of your best traffic arrives as direct, while in reality it was a forwarded link in a group chat. Measurement software sees no referrer and books it as unknown.

The consequence: you underestimate which content truly works. Articles forwarded often look unremarkable in the numbers.

There is no perfect fix. Ask about it on your thank-you page, use recognisable share links and read direct traffic with some context.

How we do it

We read direct traffic and surveys alongside the measurement data, so dark social does not stay invisible.

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Data & Visibility

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Related terms

Attribution

Attribution is assigning a conversion to the channels and touchpoints that contributed to it.

Server-side tracking

With server-side tracking, measurement data goes to platforms through your own server instead of straight from the browser.

Engagement rate

The engagement rate is the share of your reach that responds: liking, commenting, sharing or saving.

Curious what this means for your brand?

We look at your numbers with you and show where the gains are, in plain language.

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