Fe: Here are some ways:

• Sticking to SEO and SEM fundamentals: Although the channels of SEO and SEM continue to focus on these fundamentals while adapting their tactics to meet new challenges.
• Understanding and addressing the impact of AI-generated content to search landscape: Although the channels of SEO and SEM continue to focus on these fundamentals while adapting their tactics to meet new challenges.
• Establishing authority in your niche: In response to these challenges, it is even more crucial for brands to become authoritative voices within their niches. Establishing credibility and dominance as a trusted source of information should be a top priority. This involves producing high-quality, original content and leveraging Tech, On page and Off Page SEO best practices to enhance visibility and trustworthiness.

Fe: To integrate social selling into your overall marketing strategy, best practices include:

• Define clear objectives: Ensure your social selling efforts align with your broader marketing goals, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or boosting sales.
• Have a strong messaging: Maintain consistent brand messaging across all channels to reinforce the brand’s identity and values.
• Identify and understand your target audience:
  • Develop detailed profiles of your ideal customers to tailor your messaging and content accordingly.
  • Identify the platforms where your target audience is most active.
  • Understand their search behaviours – WHAT are they searching for and HOW they are searching for answers, to understand how your brand can play a part in being the solutions that they need.
• Create insight-driven content and leverage content creators/influencers: Collaborate with the right creators to share authentic content that would resonate with your audience to drive purchase consideration. Utilise search insights even when developing the partner content.
• Measure and analyse performance:
  • Track key metrics: Monitor metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to assess the effectiveness of your social selling efforts. You’re also now able to track SEARCH Traffic referrals of your TikTok content. Dive into the performance of your TikTok videos and understand how users are discovering your content.
  • Make data-driven decisions: Use analytics to identify areas for improvement and optimise your strategy.
  • Experiment and adapt: Experiment with different social selling tactics, messaging, and platforms to see what resonates best with your audience.

Fe: Brands can effectively navigate the generational shift in search behaviour by aligning their strategies with the evolving preferences and habits of younger audiences, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, to stay relevant and highly visible online.

• Understand the new search habits of today’s digital consumer:
• Where are they searching?
• What are they searching for?
• How are they searching across different platforms?
• What is the total search opportunity for your brand?
• How does your brand currently fare against competitors?

Conducting thorough omni-channel keyword research is essential to gain a comprehensive view of the search landscape across Google, social media, and marketplaces. This will help identify search opportunities and optimise your brand’s visibility.

• Create engaging, value-added content:
• Develop a mix of intent-based content informed by search insights and trends-based content driven by social media trends.
• Ensure content is optimised and tailored for each platform.
• On social media, focus on authentic brand storytelling, as younger audiences prioritise authenticity, which in turn builds brand trust.
• Stay agile and experiment continuously:

The digital landscape, particularly search engine algorithms, is constantly evolving. Adopt an agile marketing approach that involves continuous testing and iteration of content and strategies to see what resonates with younger audiences.
Regularly update and refine your approach to keep pace with changes in consumer behaviour and platform dynamics.

Fe: From searching on one source – Google, to now searching Omni-Channel across multiple platforms – Google, Social Media, Marketplaces and even AI Chatbots, consumers are now more than ever hungry for quick answers to their burning questions. They want answers delivered to them quickly, almost immediately and in a digestible manner.

1. Expansion of discovery channels – Search beyond search
Content discovery is evolving beyond active searches to include more passive forms, such as personalised feeds on social media platforms. This shift will influence how content is produced and optimised. For example, as Google, social media, marketplaces, and AI chatbots become increasingly integrated into our daily digital interactions, the strategies for engaging users will need to be more dynamic. This approach will require content to be adaptable across different platforms, ensuring it can drive visibility in a variety of traffic sources.
2. Content lifecycle and format diversification
As search algorithms prioritise fresh and relevant content, there will be a greater emphasis on regularly updating and repurposing content to keep it relevant and valuable.
• Short-form video: With platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels leading the way, short-form video content will dominate. Brands and creators will need to produce content that is engaging, snackable, and shareable.
• Shoppable content As e-commerce continues to merge with social media, shoppable content will grow in importance, allowing users to purchase products directly from search results or within content.
• User-generated content: Static content will evolve into more dynamic formats, including polls, quizzes, and interactive stories, increasing engagement and time spent on content.
3. Interactive and dynamic content: Static content will evolve into more dynamic formats, including polls, quizzes, and interactive stories, increasing engagement and time spent on content.
4. User-generated content:
Consumers now trust creators and brand advocates who share genuine experiences; a shift from celebrity endorsements to leveraging real people (the consumers) and authentic user-generated content (UGC). This new wave of influencer marketing can be utilised across various channels, such as social media, ads, and offline events, fostering community engagement, authenticity, and driving product conversions.
5. Influence of AI-personalisation
Modern search technologies, especially AI-driven platforms like social search engines and chatbots, are heavily influenced by personalisation. How content ranks on social search platforms or gets cited by AI chatbots will largely depend on user preferences and past behaviours. Therefore, in addition to creating high-quality content, brands must intensify their focus on identity and brand building.

Establishing a recognisable and authoritative presence in their niche is more crucial than ever. This means brands must craft content that not only informs and engages but also establishes their market position as thought leaders and trusted sources. In addition, brands should also consider alternative ways such as partnership and collaboration to drive visibility on some of these platforms.