In episode #2622, We discuss the challenges of accurately tracking web traffic in the age of dark social. We highlight the misclassification of social referral traffic as direct and the impact it has on us marketers and website owners. With the rise of privacy concerns and the decline in tracking consent, traditional analytics platforms like Google Analytics are becoming less reliable. We emphasize the need for us marketers to invest in brand recall studies and qualitative data to better understand where our visitors and buyers are coming from.

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Check out more of Eric’s content (Leveling UP YT) and Neil’s videos (Neil Patel YT) 

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• (00:00) Today’s topic: Dark Social's False Attribution to 'Direct' Traffic
• (00:40) Misclassification of social referral traffic as direct traffic
• (01:38) Explanation of dark social and its attribution challenges
• (02:03) Increasing privacy concerns and its effect on tracking web traffic
• (02:54) Shift towards traditional marketing models and multitouch attribution
• (03:45) Strategies to capture qualitative data and attribute leads
• (04:17) Importance of investing in brand recall studies
• (04:23) Difficulty in analyzing data with Google Analytics
• (05:23) Use of custom reports and daily dashboards for analytics
• (05:46) That’s it for today! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe!

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

• Rand Fishkin Blog

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• Single Grain << Eric’s ad agency
• NP Digital << Neil’s ad agency
• X @neilpatel 
• X @ericosiu

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