Social media metrics have come a long way – but the truth is that organic (non-sponsored) content accounts for just one-fifth of social marketing today.

In a joint presentation at the Insights Association’s Converge conference, GfK and BrandTotal will shed light on the world of “dark marketing,” showing how brands are targeting specific consumer segments with content and campaigns that are not publicly visible.

The partners will define dark marketing’s implications for brands and social media metrics as well as share details of a cross-platform measurement and planning solution based on a complete understanding of competitive campaigns. 

The Converge conference – whose theme this year is “Tapping New Data Sources to Power Better Business Decisions” – will take place on December 10th and 11th in Los Angeles.
GfK’s Natasha Stevens (EVP, Solution Integration and Data Activation) and BrandTotal’s Alon Leibovich (CEO and Co-founder) will present “Out of the Darkness: Tracking the Effects of Personalized Marketing Across Social and Digital Platforms” on the 10th at 1PM.

• Combining best-in-class data with agile marketing enablement, GfK and BrandTotal are allowing marketers to make more informed decisions and increase their ROI. By integrating metrics for brand, behavior, digital, and social exposure, the partnership allows brands to 
• Track the behavior of high-value customer segments within social platforms;
• Monitor campaign effectiveness through consumer commentary – linking sentiment to creative across the competitive landscape
• Optimize pre-campaign planning through analyzing recent campaign performance against specific audiences relative to the competition

Stevens is a thought leader and innovator with 20 years’ experience in digital research. She currently leads data activation and digital strategy at GfK, focusing on driving innovation and commercialization of predictive analytic solutions to power client growth.

Leibovich is co-founder and CEO of BrandTotal, a marketing technology platform that empowers marketers to discover and act on threats and opportunities in real time. As a communication strategist at McCann Worldgroup, Leibovich identified a major blind spot in analyzing competitive advertising, where 85% of sponsored posts are not viewable to the public – creating a massive gap in competitive insight.