Skip to main content
Commsy creative stuff straight to your inbox

Blog

The dark side of measurement: Unmasking employees’ social sharing 

< Blog home

The dark side of measurement: Unmasking employees’ social sharing 

Is the mask of dark social concealing employees’ true engagement with our communications? And with the threat of GDPR entering the ring, can we defeat it?

Reporting a campaign’s performance back to the boss can have even the best internal communicator’s back against the ropes.

Rightly or wrongly it’s always felt like internal communications has had a tougher time with measurement than our marketing and public relations luchadores, who can brag hard-hitting measures like the number of Twitter followers, share-of-voice, and AVE (advertising value equivalent).

A decade or so ago the biggest challenge for an internal communicator’s measurement was how to be sure a back-of-the-toilet-door poster got people talking down the pub on Friday evening.

Now with 80% of the world’s workforce non-desk based it’s online sharing that’s got us tapping out.

Dark social rises

The masked destroyer of measurement, dark social is the term given to the sharing of content through channels that web analytics can’t capture. Internally that tends to be mobile messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and personal email traffic.

With more than one in five employees saying they frequently send or receive work-related messages outside of core hours on their personal platforms, it’s perfectly viable that an employee could be taking your campaign’s content, and sharing it in their team’s unofficial WhatsApp group. This means you’ll see just one click on your intranet analytics and you’ll never know what they’re saying about it, unless they let you in.

With the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fast approaching in May, there are likely to be compliance issues with dark social in internal communications too, so it’s definitely the right time to face it head on.

How do we tackle dark social?

In today’s world, everyone’s a communicator. Almost all of your employees have personal mobiles, messengers and email, and a third of them are using them to access and share company information. A Yapster study found that shockingly 11% of employees they surveyed admitted to using them to share sensitive business information, like trading data and internal documents.

It’s clear that dark social is a tough beast to tackle, but we won’t be beaten. Ding Ding Ding.

  • Round up an A-Team. If you want to go into battle with social, hit it with the old school. The internal communications network, either formal or informal, was packing a punch long before social media was even a pipe dream. With the right people in your network you’ll be able to find out how your campaign message landed, and share that insight back up as part of your measurement report. You can also use your network to investigate whether dark social’s playing a role in their team.
  • WhatsApp to the rescue? 64% of 18-34 year olds say they use personal messaging services for work, so it makes perfect sense to hear that recently, WhatsApp launched a business app. It’s designed for small businesses, but can be applied to internal communications too. You’ll be able to measure the messages you send direct from your desktop were successfully sent, delivered, and read. And with document sharing up to 100MB, it’s a great tool for communicating with PDFs, documents, spreadsheets, videos and slideshows, and getting stats back. If you’re using the bog-standard WhatsApp messenger as an internal communications tool, now’s the time to look into how you’re using and storing employee data. There are huge fines at stake – €20 million or 4% of the company’s annual turnover; whichever is higher – if you’re not complying with GDPR.
  • Drop in some share buttons or comment tools.I t goes without saying that this works better for external communicators who can point readers to social media, but adding some easy sharing buttons or commenting features on your intranet news stories, digital newsletters, and email communications could stop people ‘going dark.’ Granted, you don’t want to encourage or enable anyone to start posting sensitive company information to Twitter, so you’ll have to create something that’s right for  your internal technology platforms and complies with security policies. You could use it as an opportunity to explore additions like Yammer or Yapster to your channel mix too.
  • Could BYOD save us? BYOD stands for ‘bring your own device’ and it’s an initiative being adopted by an increasing number of companies, encouraging employees to use their own devices, such as mobiles and tablets, for work purposes. Close to nine out of 10 executives are now placing high importance on giving their front-line workers digital tools and platforms so they’re as connected as their office worker counterparts. BYOD enables them to do it without breaking the bank. There’s a lot of interesting views about BYOD. Some think that if it’s implemented carefully, with strict policies and procedures, having more of your workforce accessing company systems and information from their devices – and therefore, in their own time too – could mean they’re less likely to want to share things ‘in the dark.’ If teamed with something like an official WhatsApp group, Yammer app, or a mobile-friendly Sharepoint site, BYOD could help internal communicators’ take down dark social.

Five knockout tips to help you wrestle dark social

  1. Do your research. Find out what hold dark social has on your organisation.
  2. Become GDPR’s biggest fan. Learn about it. Get a grip on it. Take action.
  3. Network with your peers, and talk to the experts. You won’t be the first to tackle dark social and you won’t be the last.
  4. Team up with IT. A study found that 31% of employees are using personal cloud services without approval from their IT department, so they’re going to back you up against dark social.
  5. Expand your channels. Yes, budgets can be tight and regulators can be even tighter, but have a look at what apps, systems and tools are out there to help you bring social sharing out of the dark and into the light.

By Ellie Buckingham for Alive!

Sources:

 

“I feel like they own and care for the project as much as we do! I would not use anyone else for my creative work and think Alive is ahead of the game.”

Jo Hobbs — Communications Manager

“Thanks for all your help. We are delighted with the campaign, both in terms of the creativity and messaging but also the thought taken over the rollout of the materials. All looks absolutely fabulous!”

Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

“We went to ‘Alive’ for ideas on how to run a specific employee program in Europe. Alan and his team were brilliant in coming up with fresh, creative and practical approaches. The team took charge and executed brilliantly. We are pleased with the progress made so far and hope to have the same level of partnership and commitment going forward.”

Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

“Alive helped us create a video of our response to the floods of winter 2019. Our Chief Officer received messages from all round the country praising us for it and was really pleased with both the video and the response to it.”

Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“We had the privilege to work with the Alive team. It was our first time to be involved in creating an animation for our patients within paediatrics. The team were approachable, friendly, creative and very accommodating. Your vision for what you want to create, is at all times acknowledged, appreciated and accommodated by the team. They worked effectively and with great passion towards our project and worked not only alongside health professionals but also our patients who really enjoyed the experience of working with the Alive team. It has given our team the confidence and inspiration to do further projects in the future. We highly recommend Alive and their exceptional team.”

DR ELENI ATHANASAKOS, Lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist — NHS Barts Health

“‘The short animation developed in co-production with clinicians and young people is outstanding! Informative, developmentally appropriate, vitally fun and engaging. We are really grateful for the expertise of the Alive with Ideas team for their innovative approach in building children’s health literacy.'”

Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

“Our mission was to update our brand visuals to better reflect our innovative and forward-thinking organisation. After receiving numerous pitches from different branding agencies, Alive stood out with their clear passion and understanding of our identity and goals. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Alive Team to create an engaging new brand that we are immensely proud of.”

Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead

“Alive wowed us during the pitch process and they didn’t stop wowing us throughout the whole project. Every person we worked with at Alive were so friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about what they do. They have worked with us to really understand what we do and have created a new brand and website that really stands out from our competitors. Thank you!”

Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

“I think the team have done such a brilliant job, particularly with responding to our requests. It's one of the best mental health videos I've ever seen. Very proud to be associated with your exemplary work. Thank you so much.”

Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

“We have worked with Alan, Caroline and the wider Alive With Ideas team for many years. In that time, they have provided a dedicated service that is second to none. We appreciate their attention to detail and creative approach to bringing our brand, communications and stories to life. And would recommend them to anyone looking for creative communications support.”

Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

“This is brilliant. I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the team who worked on this. You all understood exactly what we wanted to communicate and why, and then managed to do it in a way that was far better than anything I could have imagined. I’m a bit choked up to be honest!”

Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

“Each time I work with the team, I am always stunned at the effort and creativity that goes into each detail and am always eager for the end result. The team is extremely accommodating and always provide a fresh approach to our projects that elevates our communications materials!”

Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

“What I really appreciate about Alive is that they work with us as partners, and care as much about getting it right for our patients as we do.”

Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

“The (Alive) team were able to creatively pull together and document (in just over 2minutes) everything our service has achieved over the last few months, from thousands of prescriptions deliveries to hundreds of phone calls made to the vulnerable. The final product was so powerful and reflective of what our service has and continues to achieve. It couldn’t have been better received within the service – thanks Alive for once again helping us to communicate our vision!’”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

“We got 'Alive' involved to help us shift mindsets across our organisation and they delivered! Using simple, clear and creative ideas the team have delivered us a campaign which has seen a dramatic increase in idea sharing and development. They’ve also played a significant role in creating a culture of shared success. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with again, in fact, we already are!”

Gavin Buckle — B&Q
Alive logo