SEO, But Make It Sexy
Every platform and their dog is figuring out how to rank in the future generated, visual, and social search. Creator content is the hottest new metadata on the block.
Last month, Instagram business accounts started receiving a pop up from the platform, stating that from today (July 10th) professional content can now rank on Google. Some could say this update is a little on the late side, with opinion pieces on the future of Social Search dominating the conversation over the last few years ever since TikTok introduced the same parameters. But it’s not like Instagram hasn’t been trying. Keyword search and well stuffed captions have become pretty universal across the social space since those search behaviours began to move. But this update, that sees less links, and more visual, conversation led search for Instagram content, is also a response to a widening chasm between traditional search and the new generative frontier. I’m not going to get into the opportunities and shifting landscape of search. That stuff is reserved very much to my esteemed search and innovation colleagues. What I am shining my light on is what this means for the very guardians of the next web. The people. The creators.
The creator opportunity continues to supersede expectations. It’s almost like if you prioritise the behaviours of a collective of people who are nothing but their community insight, you find ways to breakthrough the monotonous noise of branded social. Because it’s not just the creative opportunity they’re defining (though that is certainly the most interesting development of the landscape). It’s how they can pair production with community to generate next level insight and discovery.
It's interesting the language that gets banded about when it comes to creators. Much like athletes in a world the pushed biohacking, we quite often talk of them like they’re these weird little meme robots that exist purely to help brands not look like losers. And whilst I firmly reject that and embrace the autonomy and perspective a smart creator partnership brings, its hard to not consider them as that slightly abstract digital opportunity. Whilst the branded opportunity from a visual perspective is so key, it’s that sweet metadata that could push us into a very new dimension.
We already rely so heavily on creators to unpack the beautiful and ugly of brands. From product proof points to gnarly reputational correction, we rely heavily on them to act as that trustworthy face that helps unpick the complex, who can explain and educate, who can decode misconceptions. And with speech to text social listening entering new levels of sophistication, both their verbal and written contributions will only push that further in a very AI Forward world.
Now not to create a Creator unicorn, but the BIG opportunity for brands is to find partners who can both deliver on the visual and creative hook but also be semantically rich as well, that can find ways of framing your brand in keywords without making it feel super stuffy. They can give the machines what they want about your brand from diverse perspectives to help push those recommendations. And they can find new ways to push results for their content, cementing repeat partnerships.
Brands are scrambling to figure out their home in the new generative era. The role social content plays in helping push representation in answers is huge. Creators can, over time, be the surfaced representation brands need. Think: what’s the best shoe for Hyrox? All those creators who partnered with PUMA’s push release will certainly see a spike in their view figures. The half-life opportunity here is vast as well. Creator surfaced search might help push up dated brand positive content from partnerships of the past. This doesn’t just change the opportunity and briefing process for creators, but also the measurement and reporting one. How will we truly say a piece of content has performed in a world where the search half-life could start to match the 3-month period of YouTube? A world that could go well beyond that?
This is big news for culture as well. We have long relied on tastemakers to tell us what’s good – the places to eat, the trainers to buy, the areas to rent in. But with the new terms of search, a Creators reach, and relevance goes well beyond their followers. Much like the shift we saw in non-follower views with Reels + TikTok, under the new search terms, Creators can be greater attributed toward the emergence of trends, becoming their own little cultural cartographers. Impact, a previously loosely held by-product of opinion leaders, upgrades its chains strength.
Creators who are trying to cement their legacy deeper than drop in the ocean virality have an opportunity to shift the perspective. They can consider their role in the feed and on their own channels – all around pushing out their niche and who they are. This will remain their curated perception of how they want to be read and engaged with, and perhaps the truest heart of their ambition. Then they can consider their role in search – what types of content they’re developing for longer tail discoverability and education pieces. What surfaces here will demonstrate who they are most perceived as - out of their control but always a consideration. And then the last is for the insight – how they are associated and attributed to informative, referenceable content. The impact they have on culture, and how they might end up shaping trends. This is their legacy and how they will be remembered. A sun, moon, rising for the personal brand, if you will.
As an agencies and brands, we have a role to ensure we are helping creators make the most of this new era. Not just for the brand impact but also supporting creators on how they can make the most of their visibility for the next era. How we measure success, the retrospectives we offer on projects, the areas we focus on for recommendations: these are all up for a shift to be able to support the future of creator. Briefs need to evolve to live to this promise. It’s not just about the creative and production opportunity, but the data opportunity and the role that takes in the consideration process.
Maybe none of this will come into fruition. So much of this is a “what if” rather than a definite when. But I can’t shake the feeling that the parameters we have set up are on a big shift, and that the role creators can play in cementing a brand into the future are immense. It’s exciting to try and figure this out on the way. Aren’t we lucky that we get to try?
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