What is Dark Social – An Interview with Waleed Najam

Waleed Najam is one of the leading online marketing bloggers globally and a self-made entrepreneur. Having experienced both failure and success, he has assisted numerous businesses in their growth. At 16, he started off his Freelancing career with doing Captcha jobs on Freelancer.com later on he shifted to digital marketing to deliver results for his clients. He has founded multiple companies and advised businesses of all sizes. It’s an honor to feature him on Disrupt Magazine.

Interview with Waleed

Hi Waleed. First of all, thank you for this interview and for your time. We know that at the age of 16, you started off your Freelancing career, and then later on ventured into the world of digital marketing. Could you please tell our readers who Waleed Najam is today?

Who is Waleed?

I am the founder of multiple companies as NEO Innovations, Rankistan, RankFellas etc. My journey is a decade long, starting off as a Freelancer, than agency owner to building ecommerce empire. As an ecommerce entrepreneur with a passion for digital marketing, my mission is to help and enable as many people as possible to learn about effective marketing strategies. I’m also an avid writer and share new articles oftenly on my blog. Additionally, I love to travel and meet like minded people and build business in different part of the world.
As we’re here today to explore about Dark Social, can you please tell us about
What is Dark Social?
So, Dark social is usually a place where Big brands do not really focuses on. I’ts a private mode of conversations with your customers. It refers to the sharing of content through private channels such as email, messaging apps, and direct messaging on social media platforms, where web analytics tools cannot track the sources of this traffic.
Some good examples of Dark Social is

• Broadcasting Channel on Whatsapp
• Facebook Groups
• Instagram Channels
• Communities on Discord
• Groups in Telegram
• Groups on Whatsapp
• Subreddit of Reddit
• Email Lists
• LinkedIn group
• WeChat Group
• Private Forums

Dark Social are also referred to ask Micro Level marketing channels. These are often ignored by marketers but are highly relevant, focused and sales driven.

Do you think startups and small business should focus on Dark Social? And how they can start?

Indeed these small micro level marketing channels are goldmines. These close communities and fan bases are highly relevant and once they become your loyal fan base they are a word of mouth marketing channels for you. They can work on
To effectively leverage dark social, startups and small businesses should encourage private sharing by adding easy-to-use sharing buttons for email, messaging apps, and direct links. Using UTM parameters can help track links shared through different channels to better understand traffic sources. Analyzing direct traffic can reveal spikes resulting from dark social.

Leveraging social listening tools to monitor conversations and mentions across various platforms is also crucial. Creating shareable, high-quality content is essential. Additionally, businesses should create private communities on each social media platform or app to foster engagement and sharing.

 Is there any formula for specifically growing your dark Social?

Growing your dark social presence doesn’t have a specific formula, but several strategies can help. Focusing on creating highly shareable content that resonates with your audience, encouraging them to share and discuss it privately.
Dark Social is all about community building over different platforms. At start you need to build a very loyal customers fan base, you may have to incentivise them, give them new models over big discounts or any such thing to lucrate them to stick with your company. Than leverage this fan base on creating content over these networks.
If i talk about reddit, you need a reddit army to give you upvotes, and positive comments to help you in growing your own community.
Can an e-commerce use Dark Socials to increase sales or it’s just as a communication channel?
Effective communication is key to initiating the checkout process, and the strength of your presence in dark social plays a crucial role. It’s not just about having strong marketing communication; your product quality, sales support, and after-sales service must be impeccable. A product that generates complaints will quickly fail in dark social, as negative opinions spread rapidly. People influence people, so having a community that positively discusses your products can significantly boost sales. Building trust and satisfaction within your community ensures a loyal customer base that advocates for your brand.

it’s essential to focus on providing exceptional customer experiences at every touchpoint. Engage with your audience in private groups and forums, addressing concerns promptly and positively. Offer exclusive deals or early access to new products to these communities to foster loyalty and encourage word-of-mouth marketing. Additionally, regularly gather feedback from your community to continuously improve your offerings and address any potential issues before they become widespread. By nurturing these private channels and maintaining high standards, you can effectively grow your dark social presence and drive sustained sales growth.

What tools or technologies do you recommend for monitoring dark social activity?

To monitor dark social activity, I recommend using a combination of tools and technologies. Implementing UTM parameters on your links helps to understand traffic sources. Google Analytics is useful for analyzing direct traffic spikes and referral sources.

Social listening tools like Brandwatch, Hootsuite, and Mention can monitor conversations and mentions across platforms. Integrating private sharing buttons for email and messaging apps allows tracking of shared content.

Additionally, URL shorteners such as Bitly provide insights into how links are shared and accessed privately. These tools collectively offer better visibility and insights into dark social activities.

According to your opinion or data, which is the Dark Social platform will have more engagement in 2024?

I believe the leading platform will be Reddit. Reddit’s structure, with its numerous specialized communities or “subreddits,” fosters deep engagement and discussions that are often shared privately. The anonymity it offers encourages honest and open communication, making it a hub for authentic interactions. As users increasingly seek genuine and niche content, Reddit’s role in dark social will likely grow. Its ability to generate organic, community-driven conversations makes it a powerful platform for engagement in 2024.