According to Forbes, 24% of consumers are now using social media to search for products, information, and brands. This number jumps to 46% for Gen Z! Understanding and leveraging this can give your podcast a significant edge in discoverability.

The focus of this episode is an emerging trend that sees social media being used as a search engine. Tonnisha starts by illustrating how platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube are increasingly becoming sources of information for users.

Citing statistics from Forbes and Sprout Social, she highlights that nearly 24% of consumers and a staggering 46% of Gen Z now utilize social media for searching products, information, and brands.

Tonnisha points out that while social media offers visual and interactive content that can be more engaging than traditional search engines, issues around credibility persist. Popular videos and influencers often overshadow the most accurate information, leading to potential misinformation.

How about some actionable insights for podcasters on how to optimize their content for social media search? Tonnisha emphasizes the importance of understanding the unique search purposes of different platforms, using relevant hashtags and keywords, and creating content that aligns with what users are likely looking for. Brett and Tonnisha also touch on the integration of AI in social media searches and how this technology is evolving across platforms like Google and TikTok.

Tonnisha shares practical advice on how podcasters can benefit from these shifts. She encourages creators to be strategic about their social media presence, focusing on where their target audience spends time online.

Key Moments

00:00 Social media increasingly competes with Google for searches.

06:19 AI evolving in Google Search and TikTok.

08:05 Tailor content based on platform and audience.

11:27 TikTok suggests related content using AI recommendations.

14:41 Future jobs will focus on social media search.

Top Takeaways

Social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube are increasingly being used as search engines, particularly by younger generations. This trend is something marketers and content creators must adapt to.

Traditional SEO principles can be applied to social media management to optimize content for visibility. Using relevant keywords and hashtags is a crucial strategy for appearing in social media searches.

Gen Z and subsequent generations show a high preference for social media searches over traditional search engines like Google. For Gen Z, this percentage stands at 46%. This indicates a significant shift in how information is sought and consumed.

While social media provides quick access to information, there are challenges regarding the credibility of that information. Unlike Google, social media content often prioritizes popularity over accuracy.

Each social media platform serves different user needs and has different search purposes. For instance, TikTok is preferred for video tutorials and storytime content, while Pinterest is useful for visual ideas and inspiration.

Incorporating trending hashtags and participating in popular social media trends can increase content visibility. Even though some claim hashtags are "dead," they remain effective on platforms like TikTok.

Creating playlists or categorized content can help keep the audience engaged. This tactic is similar to YouTube's recommended videos, making it easier for viewers to find related content.

As younger generations, like Gen Alpha, grow up with social media, the reliance on these platforms for search purposes is only expected to increase. Businesses and content creators need to prepare for this ongoing shift.

Effective use of social media search optimization and SEO can become a marketable skill. Podcasters and marketers can monetize their expertise by offering these skills as services to others.

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Each week, one of The Circle of Experts talks about critical aspects of growing your podcast. We focus on marketing, social media, monetization, website design, and implementation of all of these to help you make the best podcast possible.

Have a question or an idea for one of our episodes? Send us an email at podcasts@circle270media.com.

The Circle of Experts are:

Yasmine Robles from Robles Designs

Tonnisha English-Amamoo of TJE Communications

Don The Idea Guy

Brett Johnson, My Podcast Guy, from Circle270Media Podcast Consultants

Copyright 2024 Brett Johnson, My Podcast Guy™

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/face-game

License code: IUDJXGXP8JAXJVJS

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Welcome to the circle sessions featuring the circle of experts. Each week, 1 of the circle of experts joins me to talk about some critical aspects of growing your podcast. We focus on marketing, social media, monetization, and website designed to help you implement all of these together. The circle of experts are Yasmine Robles from Robles Designs, Tanisha English Amamu of TJE Communications, and Dawn The Idea Guy. I'm Brett Johnson from Circle 270 Media Podcast Consultants. This week, Tanisha is here from Circle of Experts. Tanisha's on a mission to help small businesses level the playing field through digital marketing solutions. Tanisha, thanks for joining me again today.

Yeah. Thanks for having me.

This is a phenomenon that, amazes me that we're now using social media as a search engine. Yeah. That that's wild. And and I know you've given some great examples over the past episodes just in regards to how, you know, your saves on a previous episode, your saves on Instagram, that that's a search right there that you saved something to for a meal to cook, and but that's a search. So let's talk about how to how we can look at social media being used as a search engine and what we need to do to be there as an answer for that query, basically.

Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, Yasmin has talked a lot about SEO on the podcast, and a lot of the things that she has talked about, if not everything, can be transferred into how we are managing our social media to also be a part of this social social media search, game that's going on now. And so if you're not really familiar, like, what what we mean by search social media search, essentially, it is, you know, the same way you would go to Google to look up something. Many people are going to Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and searching there. So, it's described by Sprout Social as the practice of looking for products, information, brands, or anything else directly within a social media platform. So it's different from, you know, going to Google and saying, you know, show me a TikTok video about this thing. It's actually going to TikTok and saying, like, this is what I'm trying to see videos of.

And so, traditionally, you know, Google has dominated search for a very long time. We know that other search engines exist, but, you know, the phrase, like, just Google it or what you know? Like, that's something that we all know. According to Forbes, 24% of consumers now use social media to search and find answers to questions. And it says the number is even higher for Gen z with the number being 46% using social media as their primary search engine to find information. And so along with that as well, 93% of business leaders say that social media data and insights, has been their company's primary source of business intelligence. So we know that most businesses, nearly all of them, are utilizing data and insights from social media to inform their decision making. And we know that this upcoming generation, you know, 46% of them, nearly half of them are going to social media before they go to Google to look for something. Now there's some pros and cons to that.

Right? So for me, I'm a huge TikTok girl. I know I've talked about it so many times. And, primarily, you know, for me going to TikTok, it's because I'm not just looking for the information. I need the information alongside a video or some instructions so I can, like, see what exactly you're talking about. The problem with that, though, is credibility. How do we determine the, you know, the search that's coming up for us on an Instagram is credible as a Google. You know, Google has been around for a very long time, and they have a process of vetting what kind of content shows up on that first page. Whereas social media is all about, like we talked about, reach, likes, followers.

So those influencers who have bigger platforms or a video that has gone viral will probably show up first before you actually get to the root of whatever it is that you're looking for. I mean, a lot of times, speaking of a viral video, you know, if a if a certain sound on TikTok or audio on TikTok has gone viral, like, every everybody's saying, like, things are demure. Have you seen that around?

Little bit. Yeah. Yeah.

And that started from a TikTok video. So you have to get through all of that noise to even get to the original, like, where did this even come from? So I think there's pros and cons with social media being considered the new search engine, but it's here. So now we have to adjust and get on board.

Yeah. That those percentages are are nothing you can just go, ah, that's a fad. That that those are big numbers. To to really think about. And and and Google's probably shot themselves in the foot as well too if you look at certain searches, and all it is is paid ads on the top fold.

Yeah. That that

that that doesn't help anything in regards to them. Again, it's that Google is supposed it was built on the fact that you ask it a question or search, and it gives you the best answer it can.

Right.

And if it's paid ads, that's not the best answer necessarily in my eyes or anybody's eyes.

Mhmm. And I'm noticing a shift with Google search where when you look for something, it will, show an AI answer. I believe their new AI platform is called Gemini. I keep getting, like, emails from G Suite to, like, try it out. So I'm seeing more of that, but I'm also seeing AI in TikTok searches as well. Like, you'll get, like, a little blurb about here's a synopsis of what you're looking for, and here's a video that we believe is probably the most credible, but then there's also these other videos for you to look at too. Hello. And so, you know, when it comes to podcasters, you know, how can podcasters keep up now with, people more consumers using social media to search? And so some key takeaways that I got from the article is that each social media platform has a different search purpose for users.

K. And so, you know, maybe searching on TikTok, you're looking for a video tutorial. We talked about recipes. I also have a folder on TikTok for recipes too, and so I need to see a step by step. But sometimes, like, I need I have so many clothes, but I also feel like I don't have any clothes. My husband says I need to just clean out my closet. So sometimes I'll go to Pinterest, and I'll say, okay. What outfit can go with black leggings and a jean jacket? And then I can see pictures of people wearing black leggings and jean jackets and kinda seeing how they put it together.

And then I can say, oh, okay. Like, I have these things. I can do something like this. And going even further, I can say, show me a black plus size woman wearing black leggings and a jean jacket outfit for a meeting with coworkers. And even there, it can get even more defined. And so thinking about as you are sharing, you know, clips or information about your podcast on different platforms, think about what people might be looking for. Are people, you know, talking about, you know, my my true crime love as you guys also are aware of? You know, are are people looking for information about a case? Are people looking for, like, a summary of a case? Where would they go? They're probably not gonna go to Pinterest for that. They probably will go to TikTok and see somebody's, like, story time time about a particular event.

So think about where you're posting the content, what what people may have in mind as they're searching, and then think about how you can create content that would fit into the framework of that search.

So is there an available or how do I wanna say this? So if you're posting something on a social media platform, let's go with the TikTok idea that, you know, going with what you're just talking about. So I'm sure there are ways of what you have to include. That way TikTok knows what you're posting about. So is that in include keywords? How will you describe the video that's up there? I mean, how do you how do you do research to know that what you're putting up there is actually telling those that are looking for you, you want them to be looking for you, that you're that you're answering their question about what they're searching for? What what's Yeah. What's a good way of attacking that?

So I definitely you know, keywords for sure is definitely gonna be the start. Even though, you know, people say hashtags are dead, but I don't think that's true for TikTok at least. So, you know, when it if we're talking about true crime, like, can you use the hashtag of, you know, the case? Can you use a a true crime hashtag? Can you use, like, a story time? People love doing story times on TikTok where actually, there was a woman that did a story time about some crazy, like, ex boyfriend that she had, and now she's, like, apparently getting a TV show about it, like, a whole, like, series about her experience. Mhmm. And so what trends are happening that you can use and include that in your content?

So it's doing some research prior to the posting.

Yeah.

Kinda looking at, okay, what stream do you wanna swim in with with that content and making sure you're saying the right thing. Mhmm. But the true being true to what you're posting as well, though, too. You know? Yeah. For sure. You know, including something that oughtn't be there just to kinda catch you. It's not gonna serve any purpose at all to do that exactly. Okay.

Gotcha.

And you know what also that TikTok is doing? I'm assuming this is through, like, AI. But if you're watching a video about something, there will be, like, a small little bar that will show a recommended thing for you to look for you to search for that is supposed to be related to the video. Sometimes it's super act accurate. Sometimes it's a little bit off, but it's something that they're automatically doing. Where if you're watching a video about, you know, Thanksgiving recipes, it may say, like, oh, here's a recipe for a sweet potato pie. Click you know, and you can click into it and still be within the framework of what you were looking for, but maybe, you know, suggesting something that you weren't necessarily looking for but still related to the topic.

Somewhat of that, YouTube default of what YouTube does is default, or you can control it, but YouTube will start to suggest Exactly. Videos of the same engine. And that's smart on their part. That that really is because it does help you continue to stay on that platform and become more and more informed and that, it it enhances that search feel Mhmm. That, you know, you wanna keep saving, keep saving, or keep sharing. That's where I think yeah. No. That's right.

I haven't seen that. I'm not on TikTok a lot, but that's interesting that it's happening organically, I guess, you could say, through their own software that it I would be interesting to see if that becomes an option down the road Right. That you're allowed to suggest, hey. If you like this, see my other video. See my other video.

Mhmm.

Whether maybe on a page level, possible. You know? I'll be who knows? But but that's interesting they're doing that, and that makes a lot of sense when the when it's something video centric like like that platform.

Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of people will kind of do some something like that with creating playlist for their videos. So they may have a playlist that's just videos of Thanksgiving recipes, that's just videos of desserts, just videos of soups for the fall, you know, as a way to kind of categorize and kinda send people down the rabbit hole of Okay. Looking at all your content.

Right. Exactly. Exactly. Okay. So yeah. So, I

would think too something else to just think about. You know, gen z. So my daughters are 8 14 months, so they're considered the alpha generation.

Right.

And so if Gen z is already at 46% using social search over traditional search engines, I can only imagine what it's gonna be like once Alpha starts, like, getting phones, getting cell phones, and then also being able to utilize social media, which I know there are some kids, you know, around my daughter's age that has a phone. She doesn't have one yet. But I can only imagine, you know, what that's gonna look like. I mean, even just yesterday after school, she asked me if she could get on YouTube because she wanted to see a video on how to draw, like, a frog or something.

Oh, wow.

And so she wanted to see videos of how to do it and, like, set here with her notepad and a marker and was, like, watching this video over and over trying to, like, draw this thing. And so that's something that we didn't do before. Right? So I'm I'm I just feel that, you know, as we're thinking about the future of, you know, social search, you know, we have people that specialize in search engine optimization. I would imagine that there's probably gonna be jobs created in the future where people solely focus on social media search. And that 46%, we could very well see it 50 or higher over the next few years. So just something to think about as we're creating content is just to be mindful, about what we're posting, where we're posting it to, what keywords we're using, and just thinking about what what people might be looking for and how we can show up for them in the search.

Yeah. That's a great opportunity for podcasters too if you think about it that that's SEO, social media platform search that you're talking about because if they you know, when a podcaster does it really well, then they're doing it very well. That that that's, an expertise that someone would pay to have them do. Yeah. So it's a it's a way to make money off your podcast indirectly that you're successful at doing that on social media. Well, yeah. I can do it for you too. Here's the formula, but you gotta pay me sort of thing.

So I think I think, podcasters get into that one mind frame one one mindset of I have to put ads on my podcast. Like, no. Actually, your expertise, your skills are worth something too.

Being able to sell the formula.

Oh, yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. You're talk yeah. That's only a few years away.

And and at the numbers you're talking about, it's a legitimate, cottage industry already. And, you know, if you're looking at nearly half of a generation doing that type of search, Yeah. It's it's all comes down to the really fine to fine toothed comb of this is how you do this, you know, a platform. This is how you do this platform and you kind of figure it out. Yeah. Wow. Mhmm. Amazing.

Amazing. So that's it's a lot to to to think about and put your head around. How can a listener get a hold of you to really kind of decipher? And and maybe before that call, do you kind of know this is the platform I wanna talk about, Tanisha? Let you know, maybe that's the best way to to go about it. And then, you know, rather than going, I don't know what platform. It's like, well, pick one before you call me. Yeah. Because then I can really help you if it's the right one or wrong one. Yeah.

Yeah. Think about that. And and, you know, go to sproutsocial.com/insights and take a look at, they often update the demographics per platform. And so who are you trying to reach? You know? Maybe Facebook. People definitely search on Facebook as well, especially within Facebook groups. Because if there's a group about, you know, how to make the best, like, pecan pie for Thanksgiving dinner, people sharing recipes, things like that, you could probably get a better answer from like, I'll I'll trust my grandma giving me insight on a food recipe than my friend because my grandma's 80, So she knows what she's talking about.

Right? Through some recipes and found the right one.

So I guarantee you, there's a community for everything. There's probably a group of grandmas or aunties on Facebook that share their family recipes.

Oh, sure.

Get on there and ask really good questions. And so just think about where are your people. And if you want to be where your people are, then, okay, let's talk about how to get there. If your people are on TikTok and you're not a TikTok person, then we can talk about that too. So so do some research and find out where's your ideal listener? Where's your ideal customer? Do you wanna be on those platforms? Yes or no? And then I think that would definitely give us a great framework for a really good conversation. And so you can go to tjecommunications.com. I do offer free consultations. There's no I'm the worst salesperson, so it's not like a sales thing.

Like, we literally will just talk about whatever it is that you're trying to figure out. And if you do decide that you wanna work together, we can talk about that too. But I just love being able to help people think about ideas and think about, you know, the work that they're doing in their podcast in a completely different way. Because I know this can sound scary, but if you just tackle one thing at a time, it makes it a lot more easier to digest and be able to go out and do it.

And that's the way you should look at it anyway. Yes. It's a whole world of social media, but pick 1 pick the right one. And like you said, even if you're not on it, there's somebody that can take care of it for you. It's just that it's that interview, that trust factor you have with the right person that can do it for you. 1, yeah. Okay. I'll go there occasionally, but I'm just not a blank user of that.

Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And and you get a hold of me for a podcast audit too.

I'm I'm I'm in the same camp as Tanisha, terrible sales rep for myself, but I I like the conversations to organically grow that it's that I if I can talk to you about the audit of your podcast and you're seeing some problems and it's too big for you to take over or you just need some help to get to where you wanna be from that conversation, then, yes, let's talk about a relationship of of working with you. I think it I think that's the best way to approach problems Yeah. Is to kind of figure out, who you are. Is it a good match? And, let's let's look at the timetable in regards to what what your goals are, and let's make something happen. So I I know you and I are both the same way. You can go to my calendar at my podcast guy.com. Tanisha, thanks again. This was great.

I loved it.

Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.