Finding Your Customers in the Social Search Era

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The search landscape has dramatically transformed. What was once a simple trip to Google has evolved into a complex ecosystem where your customers seek answers on TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, and private communities like Discord. This shift isn't just a trend—it's fundamentally changing how people find solutions and make decisions.

When someone searches "best pizza in Chicago" on TikTok rather than Google, they're looking for authentic videos of real experiences, not polished marketing content or optimized websites. These social search results feel more trustworthy because they're created by real people sharing genuine reactions. The visual nature of platforms like Instagram and TikTok delivers immediate value without requiring users to wade through lengthy articles, while community signals like likes, comments, and shares provide built-in trust indicators.

For businesses, this means rethinking where and how you create content. Your perfectly optimized website might be invisible to customers who never leave their favorite social platforms. To stay relevant, you need to create bite-sized, visual content tailored to each platform where your audience hangs out. Look at what questions people are already asking, break your expertise into shareable pieces, consistently engage with your community, and maintain your brand voice across all touchpoints. The brands that thrive won't be those with the biggest SEO budgets, but those who authentically show up where people are actually searching. Don't just build for Google—build for wherever your customers scroll, search, and engage.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back to Stacked, and today we're going
to talk about the social searchversus traditional search if I
can even get through those wordsand where your customers are
really actually looking for theanswers.
So not too long ago, searchmeant one thing you went to
Google, typed in your questionand clicked a blue link.
And that is changing super fast.

(00:22):
Today, people are searching foranswers on TikTok.
That is me.
I don't say YouTube it, I sayTikTok it Instagram, reddit,
youtube and even inside privatecommunities and Discord groups.
If you're still focusing onlyon ranking for Google, you're
probably missing places thatyour customers are actually
asking their questions.
Google might not even be a toolthat they use.

(00:44):
So let's dig into this shift intechnology.
We'll talk about how socialsearch is different from
traditional search, how it'schanging customer behavior and
how you can adapt your systemsand your content to show up
where people are really looking.
So let's break it down simply.
Traditional search means using asearch engine like Google or
Bing.
You type in your query, itshows you pages, you pick a

(01:07):
result and that's the best wayfor decades.
Social search happens whensomeone uses a search bar in
TikTok, instagram, reddit oreven Facebook.
They type a question or ahashtag or keywords and they get
results inside the socialplatform.
They might look like a shortvideo, a community thread or
even a carousel image thatyou're posting that shows up as

(01:29):
an answer or a response.
So, for example, instead ofsearching best pizza in Chicago
on Google, someone might typethe same phrase on TikTok and
then watch videos of peopletrying pizza spots in real life.
Or instead of trying typing inhow to fix a leaky faucet in
Google, someone might search onReddit for other homeowners'

(01:51):
personal stories, photos andtips.
Traditional search results areoften articles, business
listings or paid sponsored ads,but social search results are
stories, reviews, photos, videosstraight from other humans much
more personal.
People trust these results morebecause they feel real.
Social Search also feelsquicker.

(02:12):
A short video or a commentthread gives them the sense of
what's working right now withoutreading a thousand-word blog
post.
Plus, social platforms usecommunity signals like likes,
shares, saves, comments, andthat's what's going to rank what
shows up.
That means that what you seefeels more current, more
relatable and more trustworthy.
If you're still writing only forGoogle, you're leaving

(02:34):
opportunity on the table andyour customers are probably
never going to see that blogpost, especially if they're only
searching on TikTok and theymight never click on your Google
link if they're browsing aReddit thread.
So here's what this shift meansfor you.
One, you need to show up withcontent in multiple places, not
just your website.
Two.
Two, you need to answerquestions with short, snappy,

(02:57):
visual content.
Three, you need to createshareable moments so other
people can pass along yourmessage.
And four, you need to stayactive in community spaces,
because that's whereconversations live now, and
conversations is how people aresearching.
So let's say you run alandscaping business in Oklahoma
.
Ten years ago you would havetried to rank for best lawn care

(03:19):
in Edmond.
You'd build a page with bulletpoints, a few pictures and maybe
a short description.
Well, today that same customermight search on TikTok for how
to fix brown spots in my yard.
They'll find someone showingthem how to test the soil, fix
irrigation or reseed grass.
And if you're the expert, youcould record a 30-second video
and talk about how to diagnosesoil problems and tag it with

(03:42):
those keywords.
So now you're answering thatquestion on the platform that
people are actually using, andmost times people are not going
to want to do the job that youdo anyways.
They want to know that you knowhow to do it, and then they'll
call for you to actuallycomplete the task.
Or let's imagine this You're abakery and instead of only
showing up in a Google maplisting, you might record a reel
about how you frost a cake, orpost a quick video of your

(04:05):
morning cinnamon rolls comingout of the oven, and when
someone searches best cinnamonrolls in Edmond on Instagram,
you are right there.
So I know this might sound maybea little overwhelming, but you
don't have to go viral on everyapp, and here is how you can
shift easily.
First, look at what people arealready asking.
Check your own DMs, yourreviews, your emails.

(04:27):
See what words customersactually use when they talk
about their problem.
Second, make bite-sized content.
Instead of writing only onelong article, break your
knowledge into smaller piecesthat you can use as reels,
shorts, carousels or evenreddits.
Third, schedule time to respond.
Social search depends oninteraction.
Google doesn't need you toreply to a comment, but TikTok

(04:50):
or Instagram does Block off 20minutes a day to answer
questions and join theconversation, or you can even
set up an automation to do thisfor you.
And fourth, use the same brandvoice.
You can use our brand voiceguide in the link below this
podcast description, because,whether you're on your website
or inside a Facebook group, youneed to keep your style, tone
and values consistent.

(05:10):
People need to be able torecognize you no matter where
they find you.
So we're living in this shifttoo.
So, inside gallery flow, we'vemade it easier to repurpose your
best blog posts into videoscripts, social captions or
conversation prompts, and thatmeans you don't have to rewrite
everything from scratch.
We've also included tools totrack what questions your

(05:31):
customers are asking, so thatyou can keep a running list of
topics you use in short formcontent and tag them as
categories on your social feeds.
Plus, our team can help youdevelop and build out
automations that follow up aftersomeone interacts with you on
social, so that you don't losethem in all the noise.
And this way you can stay human.
You can show up in more placesand make sure no one slips

(05:53):
through the cracks.
Social search is only going togrow from here.
People want quick, trustworthyanswers from other humans.
They want to see what actuallyworks, not just what shows up on
a Google ad.
Your brand can stay visible ifyou shift now, too, so don't
just build for Google, build forwherever your customers hang
out, scroll and search, becausethat is how you're going to stay

(06:15):
relevant, no matter how thealgorithm changes.
This is Stacked, where weautomate, elevate and repeat.