How Dark Social Is Impacting Your B2B Content Strategy

To deepen connections with your buyers, you need to understand the way they’re using social channels right now.

Buyers continue to consistently and frequently access social platforms… but they’re not interacting and engaging with content like they used to.

Direct messaging, text chains and private groups (all known as dark social) have replaced much of the social part of social media.

And it’s turning channels like LinkedIn into places where buyers seek out credible and relevant advice, resources and insights, which they then share with peers elsewhere.

So what does that mean for your company’s content marketing strategy?

With buyers turning to social media in search of the same kind of value they get from trusted media sources, they’re following more thought leaders and experts in their field… and fewer companies.

What buyers want is topical, in-the-moment content, rather than promotional collateral or pieces that try to push them through the funnel.

And that means your company needs to shift away from relying on flagship content.

Instead of breaking up and dispersing big cornerstone pieces as stand-alone posts across your platforms, consider how you can build insightful content that comments on what’s currently happening in your buyers’ world.

Creating timely content is all about knowing your buyers.

Content that’s built for longevity won’t grab buyers’ attention. You need to make sure to talk about the struggles buyers are experiencing today, not the ones they’ve been talking about the last few years.

Leveraging research, putting out surveys, talking to buyers and conducting social listening is crucial to staying up to date. The better you understand what buyers want to achieve, the challenges they’re facing and what kinds of insights they’re seeking, the more targeted and timely your content will be.

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