Move over Google, social media for search is here.
With 40% of Gen Z using social media to search for information ahead of traditional search engines, we’re tracking a major cultural shift in the way users consume information and learn.
Searching has always been instrumental to discovery across all social platforms. From finding your freshman roommate on Facebook to tracking down the perfectly aesthetic brunch location on Instagram—it’s part of the core functionality of a social media app.
With the emergence of Reddit in 2005, new aggregation tools, content ratings, and discussion threads paved the way for crowd-sourced information. So much so that in late 2009, Google even introduced search results that took into account retweets and likes when providing links to users. And now today, on the tail of TikTok’s general popularity across demographics, we’re seeing how this function has evolved to personalize search results and make social platforms the one-stop-shop for funny videos and informed research.
But why?
For starters, we know that reading isn’t Gen Z’s activity of choice. Video information is far more engaging due to the audiovisual aspect and makes it easy to absorb quickly as attention spans shorten. With the endless library of information that these platforms hold about anything you could want to know, it was inevitable for the next step to be Gen Z creating an entirely new use for socials. Thus, the shift from a Google search to a TikTok search was born.
Similar to how apps, like Yelp, function where users can scroll through ratings and reviews from other users, comment sections also allow users to stay within the app to gather crowdsourced information about a subject—gaining multiple viewpoints about something in a matter of seconds. A recent study found that 92% of consumers are more likely to trust word of mouth above all other forms of advertising. In the event users are dissatisfied with what they’re learning about a product, it’s not uncommon for them to learn about alternative products and services within the comment section of their original search. This makes finding the perfect product far more time efficient than starting the search over from scratch.
What does this mean for marketers?
We’re already one step ahead of you. Here are some of our team’s hottest suggestions to keep you ahead of the game:
TikTok
Bottom line, don’t skimp out on your TikTok content. Things that may seem self-explanatory may be exactly what a user is searching for, especially if you’re utilizing the caption for brand- or product-specific keywords and phrases. You never know what anyone could be searching for that would make them come across your video, which could be the deciding factor in their decision to pursue your product or service. Recently, TikTok has allowed us to not only incorporate location tags on videos but also search content that is location-specific, which is another great tool for brands to utilize.
Instagram and Facebook
Location tags, hashtags, alt. text, and metadata are your friends! Instagram and Facebook have a good number of places for you to incorporate information to make your content more discoverable, and we recommend utilizing all of these options. Oftentimes, these subtle additions will go a long way in terms of getting put in front of the eyes of new customers but will go unnoticed by people already following your pages.
We can’t forget about our aesthetic favorite! Pinterest is a great place to get searchable content out there for your brand, especially since they’ve recently started supporting video pins. Your copy is a great place to get started in terms of discoverability, but the platform can also give you an upper hand when it comes to redirecting users to your other platforms or website. Keep an eye on what’s trending to help improve your pin names and copy, board names, and profile information to make sure this content is as discoverable as possible.
Through LinkedIn’s own publishing platform, Articles, brands can publish long-form media-rich content that improves search performance on the platform. Because LinkedIn uses relationships between the searchers and each result, you’ll likely have an easier time reaching your target demographic. LinkedIn also provided “exclusive firmographic details on who’s reading & engaging, along with reach and engagement metrics” on all Articles, giving marketers a better idea of how searchers are finding their content.
When it comes to creating content, SSO (social search optimization) and SEO should always be top of mind. Incorporating these keywords and phrases into your copy across platforms will help your content be more discoverable across all platforms, search and social alike. While this should always be considered for the post copy, some platforms, such as TikTok, allow for searchable terms to be the copy that is present in the video, so long as the text is added through the app’s text function, and not done through a third party, such as CapCut or iMovie.
Staying on top of these trends is critical to your content being discoverable to users. Need help getting started? That’s what we do for a living, seriously. Drop us a line here.
