The Future of Search: Are You Ready?

Rosie Hopes, our Head of Insight and Strategy, has immersed herself in the rapidly developing search landscape and put together a whitepaper on the Future of Search.

You can download Rosie’s whitepaper here.

It has become increasingly clear that user habits are changing and information online is sought in more places and in more formats than a text search in Google. As marketers we need to understand the shift in habits and adapt accordingly – both to capture the search intent of our audience now and to futureproof our activity going forward.

In this guide we cover:

• How search habits are changing, especially among younger generations
• How developments in social search, visual search and voice search are broadening the search landscape
• How future technologies like AI-driven chatbots may further alter the landscape
• How to develop search strategies that span the traditional silos of SEO and social media marketing

Key takeaways

1. The search landscape is much broader than just text-based search in search engines

This is driven by:

• Changes in user behaviour – people are searching for information, inspiration and social proof in more platforms than ever
• Developments in tech – there have been gigantic leaps forward in AI and how it can improve voice, visual and chatbot search

2. Users want a simpler, easier and more visual search journey than they find in traditional text search

The popularity of TikTok as a search engine stems from the ease with which searchers can find and consume the information they’re looking for, provided by creators they can “trust”. Voice and visual search both cater to those who don’t find it convenient to type out search queries, or find it hard to express what they want to search for with words

3. Younger demographics have been the first to branch out from traditional search, but it’s likely that older generations will follow

Brands need to be aware of these developments and how best to serve their audience’s search intent on whatever platform they choose to find information. Now is the time for brands to engage with these behavioural shifts and technological developments – can you truly say that you’re ready for the future of search?

You can download Rosie’s whitepaper here.