Influencer “Dark Posting” is still a massive opportunity for D2C brands.
(and we’ll dive in to the specific “how to” details on how one brand went from 60k/mo to $100M in revenue in just 18 months in just a moment…)
“Dark Posting”: What it sounds like
But first, let’s take a look at something that even some of the best ever in D2C are still NOT taking advantage of when it comes to Influencer Marketing & Dark Posting on YouTube & YouTube shorts…
Let’s start with one of our all-time favorite D2C beauty brands, Dollar Shave Club…
First, log into VidTao 2.0 and search by category, let’s say “Beauty & Fitness -> Face & Body Care:
There is Dollar Shave Club AND a bunch more D2C beauty brands, and VidTao 2.0 gives you full access to all their ads + performance data + landing pages across YouTube, Search & Display…
Btw - in case you still haven’t checked out VidTao 2.0? Here’s how to get access:
How to Access VidTao 2.0
Already a VidTao Premium Member?
As a VidTao Premium Member you have full access to current VidTao 2.0 features, just go here & login with your existing info:
https://next.vidtao.com
Not yet a VidTao Premium member?
Go here to sign up & save before price increases: 
(((( Quick Sidebar Not relevant to today’s conversation but sharing anyways:
Because we used to have to pay $500/mo for a display ads spy tool, and now it’s included inside VidTao 2.0 —> Here for example we can check out Dollar Shave Club’s display ads:
Ok, back to our content on the power of “Dark Posting”…
Now what’s really cool about VidTao 2.0 is that you have full visibility at the company level on what channels or “brands” a legal entity is advertising to.
As an example, Dollar Shave Club is only running ads to a single brand YouTube channel here:
And you can see that from the ads they’re running are very much coming from the voice of the brand:
Contrast this to what DSC is doing on TikTok, where they’re massively leveraging influencers of all sizes & their channels:
…You’ll see post after post from influencers, many of which no doubt are backed by DSC’s adspend.
Now here’s the thing:
TikTok / FB Reels / other vertical format video ad content often does very well, imported straight to YouTube shorts ads.
YouTube allows you to link your ad account to any number of channels (see several of the affiliate marketing breakdowns we’ve done recently to see examples of this).
So with that said, a couple questions for you:
1) Why do you think DSC is NOT at least testing this same approach on YouTube shorts?
2) Have you seen any good examples of advertisers leveraging “Dark Posting” on YouTube & YouTube shorts?
Would love to get your thoughts on this in the comments section below.
But maybe right now you’re asking yourself…
What is “Dark Posting”, Anyways?
Dark posting refers to the practice of connecting an influencer's advertising account to a brand's ad account in order to run sponsored ads through the influencer's handle and likeness. This allows brands to leverage the influencer's existing audience, image, and authority to promote products, instead of having to build recognition for the brand alone. The influencer essentially "rents" access to their account and following, while still retaining control. Dark posts appear the same as regular organic posts to the influencer's followers, but are actually paid partnerships.
Dark posting is one of the most powerful levers in advertising, and very few marketers truly understand how to unleash its potential as well as John Hagan.
(Go here to connect with John on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hagan/)
With John's help implementing Dark Posting, he took one brand from $60,000 per month to nearly $100 million in annual revenue within 18 months.
Let’s take a look at that from another perspective using some “back of the napkin” rough math…
If we assume a relatively conservative ecommerce valuation of 5x EBITA
…Dark posting took this company from a $3.6 million USD valuation to an $500 million USD valuation - half a billion dollars - in under 18 months.
Insane!
And as it turns out, inside our current cohort of our Direct Response UGC Factory program, John gave an insanely detailed live deep-dive training on Dark Posting to our students (which include marketing leaders at multiple 7, 8 and 9 figure D2C / direct response businesses).
( Go here to learn more about the Direct Response UGC Factory program: https://blog.vidtao.com/ugc-factory-info)
Before John did this private training for our students, he also jumped on a value-packed podcast with us where he pulls back the curtain on dark posting and how brands big and small can utilize it to shortcut to success.
On this podcast you’ll learn exactly: How he structures “Dark Post” partnerships to be a massive “win/win” How he creates high-converting content, How he scales “Dark Post” ad campaigns to 8-figures and beyond. (And much more)
John also shares tactical tips for monitoring performance you can apply right away.
- Sponsored -
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Inceptly High-Performance YouTube Advertising Agency
Inceptly builds YouTube ad creatives & manages over 5M USD/month in YouTube ad spend for companies like ClickFunnels, Descript, MindValley, Advanced Bionaturals, Organifi, and many more.
Are you spending over $1k/day on ads and looking to scale your business with YouTube ads?
Schedule your free YouTube ad brainstorming call here:
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If you want to master influencer marketing and take your advertising to the next level, this podcast is a must-watch.
John, sharing his “Dark Posting” knowledge with you on the podcast
Go here to check out the “Dark Posting” podcast: https://youtu.be/mCFsG_exVgE
Here are some highlights:
How a 21 year old with no experience was able to quickly scale Facebook ad spend to $7 million per month by leveraging influencer audiences and likeness through "dark posting" (2:46) Why tapping into an influencer's existing engaged following can perpetually deliver you more buyers versus just using your own brand's assets and audiences (9:03) How brands today need more than just their own branded assets to effectively advertise and should utilize influence and authority from partners (9:14) How using the dark posting technique only during optimal 3 week periods can increase ad results by 200% without increasing budget (6:11) How paying influencers a small percentage of ad spend versus large flat fees can get 10x more budget efficiency from influencer partnerships (13:16) How negotiating a favourable upfront fee for access can cancel out high ongoing percentages and costs from influencers (52:04) How leveraging influencers' existing authority and content can shortcut the need for extensive creative testing and still gain ad success quickly (48:33) How influencer authority lends a psychological edge to ad dominance and can help you win on platforms new to you (49:17) How monitoring influencer content efficiency indicates when your dark posting strategy needs refreshing (25:56)
…And a whole lot more!
Have a great week!
The VidTao Team
PS: How do you access VidTao 2.0?
If you have a VidTao Premium account already?
Go to next.vidtao.com to log in to VidTao 2.0 and try it out.
…And if you don’t yet have a VidTao Premium account?
Current VidTao Premium members will be “grandfathered in” on the current pricing tier for VidTao 2.0…
…But once we fully launch VidTao 2.0?
We’ll be raising the price (as you can imagine we’ve invested A LOT to upgrade the software and continue to add a bunch more amazing features we’ll be walking through over the next few days)
Go here to lock in current pricing & claim your VidTao Premium membership with VidTao 2.0 access: https://blog.vidtao.com/vidtaopremium
What are your YouTube ad questions?
Let us know in the Comments section below, and we’ll make sure to cover your question in an upcoming post.
Have a nice day!
The VidTao Team
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