The Dark Posts of Influencer Marketing: Does It Make Sense for Your Brand?

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When thinking of influencer marketing, dark posts are certainly not the first thing that comes to mind. While some brands use dark posts religiously, most are still unaware of the benefits of fully leveraging this type of paid media.

From more defined target audiences to increased ROI, dark posts are making a come back in the influencer marketing industry. This article will define the dark posts of influencer marketing and help brands know when to leverage them to stay aligned with campaign objectives.

What Are Dark Posts? 

Dark Posts in influencer marketing is paid media that boosts influencer content in the feeds and stories of targeted users on social media. They show up outside influencers following, timeline, and stories. These ads typically have a ‘call to action’ to drive conversions and sales to increase influencer campaign ROI.

For a brand or agency to obtain first-party influencer data, they must first whitelist an influencer. Whitelisting gives advertiser access to both an Influencer’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, allowing brand partners to optimize influencer generated content.

Once access is gained, brand partners have access to back-end information on influencer posts and can decide how best to retarget the content. Whether they choose to build out lookalike audiences or use the data for more in-depth audience targeting, the goal is to drive higher conversion rates and increase sales.

How Dark Posts Impact ROI

There is no doubt that dark posts in influencer marketing have a significant impact on campaign ROI. These ad types push influencer generated content to defined audience markets and niches shown to engage and increase conversions through data-driven insights.

When an influencer creates and posts branded content to their timeline, brand partners have already established first-party data access through whitelisting. This access gives insight into how the post performs organically and an insider view of what target demographics are interacting more with the post. The brand then decides what pivots, if any, they should make in retargeting efforts.

This rich-media data helps brands decide whether to use lookalike audiences or zoom in on specific niche targets for increased performance. It also ensures influencer campaigns successfully target audiences that will not only interact but drive conversions and sales. The outcome is increased ROI!

When and How To Leverage Dark Posts

Brand partners can execute dark posts throughout an influencer campaign lifetime! The moment influencers post branded content is the exact moment brand partners start seeing analytics in real-time and can start flipping IGC into paid media ads while also gaining more insight into audience analysis.

Brand partners can leverage dark posts in several ways, one way being to boost IGC that is the highest-performing amongst other influencers. Since brand partners have access to influencer data, they can see what posts to amplify and which ones to set aside. This data creates an opportunity to boost influencer content that will gain more traction among target audiences and give another sure way of increasing engagement, conversions, and ultimately ROI.

Another way brands can use dark posts is by partnering with influencers to collaborate on branded content specifically for amplification. So, while the influencer may only post one or two pieces of branded content to their timeline, brands have five more content pieces to leverage for dark posts. With first-party data access, brand partners can then create target audiences from the best performing organic posts to ensure the best results when leveraging extra content pieces.

Final Thoughts

When strategizing your next influencer marketing campaign, whether you are using an agency or heading it yourself, keep in mind that dark posts are a great way to exceed campaign objectives and increase ROI. They are an essential component of any influencer campaign and help brands reach a more targeted demographic outside an influencer’s reach and following.