Search has given brands another way to be discovered on social media platforms, but it fulfils different objectives to the feed, and it requires a different approach.
Authoritative statistics about the use of social media as a search engine are hard to come by, but there is some data from platforms themselves. TikTok, for example, states that 24% of users now enter terms into the platform’s search bar within 30 seconds of opening the app.
‘So, a quarter of people are now going to TikTok with some sort of intent of what they are looking for rather than just going to scroll,’ says Beth Thomas, co-founder of Slice Social, who was previously a campaign operations manager at TikTok.
Social media’s emergence as an alternative search platform is good for brands. Active engagement signals are down across the social media, as more platforms adopt feeds of content to hold users’ attention as they scroll passively. Search provides another method of discovery, which better captures users’ intent.
‘And the platforms are starting to build the infrastructure to cater to that,’ says Michael Corcoran, the other co-founder of Slice Social. ‘TikTok’s got a tool called Creator Search Insights, which gives you keywords and content gaps based on what people are searching for.’
But what works when brands create content for the feed will not necessarily work when they aim to capture search traffic because they serve different functions.
The feed, says Corcoran, is more useful for brand building. ‘It’s quick and quite fragmented in the approaches you could take, whether it’s trends, original content, collaborations or brand partnerships.
‘Search, though, is built upon the actual keywords. So, the pacing and the information is probably going to be a little bit different. You’re still going to need the basics of a good hook to bring people in, and then get them to stick around, but the roles change.’
Feed and search content also differ in their shelf life. Feed content is likely to run its course within 72 hours, which may perhaps extend to seven days, estimates Corcoran, but search content can live for nine to 12 months.
This means that search content will take much longer to accumulate views than on the feed, but the platforms now generally provide tools that track where engagement is coming from.
‘That’s really exciting,’ says Corcoran. ‘Beyond creators and beyond paid, you now have almost this rebirth of organic social.
‘The ideal and the dream is to probably do both [feed and search content]. but not all brands may need to do both. If you have a certain strategic approach and you know reach is not your problem, you might invest more in search, rather than the feed.’
If you’d like to hear more from Thomas and Corcoran about the state of social media and how brands can use it to their advantage, listen to our interview in the MediaCat UK podcast.
