Marketers Rely on Native Search Behaviors – but Have Customers Adopted New Ways of Being Online?

We are experiencing a moment of never-before-seen uncertainty in the digital space. Twitter is a minefield, Microsoft and Apple are making significant advances in advertising technology, and search engine usage is more fragmented than ever. As Forbes put it, traditional uses of search engines for digital discovery have become relics of the past.

Much of this shift in behavior is driven by younger users. Gen Z is far more likely to look to TikTok or Instagram for a lunch recommendation than they are to search Google Maps. Amazon is now a native destination where customers search for products, and Snapchat and TikTok are among the leading platforms where young people get their news.

Meanwhile, as travel demand has surged in the (hopefully) waning days of the pandemic, Google is edging out of the travel space, and providers such as Kayak, Trip Advisor, and Booking.com are seeing massive ad revenue spikes. Arguably, these sites have more traction than an individual brand’s site or a search engine because they give users more agency to optimize for the best, most relevant results.

For marketers, this leads to an interesting fork in the road. Are you the type of brand that wants to optimize for search, or do you want to optimize for search AND advertise on other platforms to achieve greater visibility on all fronts? The leaders at ASTRALCOM are here to help support your digital strategy and implement campaigns that meet your audience where they’re most likely to discover you. Get in touch to learn more about our expertise.