Shifting patterns in how people
discover and interact with brands and products are changing how I craft communication strategies and measurement plans. These shifting patterns are even more apparent with Gen Zers, who are turning to
LLMs and TikTok over traditional search engines.
TikTok
Personally, I get many of my recipes from searching TikTok and have
#ItalianMomTok to thank for a few recent dinner-party hits that contain ingredients I learned about on TikTok. But “TikTok made me buy it” isn’t just reserved for small-ticket items.
While talking to a friend on the hunt for her first car, I wasn’t surprised to learn that most of her research had been done on TikTok vs. on the actual car brands’ websites. She showed me
a video of a woman asking TikTok which midsize SUV she should buy and a slew of comments from passionate drivers letting her know why they love theirs, which gave her a lot of ideas for which cars to
consider.
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AI Summaries and LLMs
Although LLMs have a plethora of uses, a big use case is for product research, just like with TikTok.
I used ChatGPT last night to help me figure out which skis to buy. Instead of browsing on different ski websites, I asked the app for skis similar to the pair I broke last season to help me decide if
I should stay with the same brand or maybe branch out. And even on traditional search engines, AI summaries have become the norm, giving people all the information they need right in the response.
According to new research from Bain & Company, 60% of
traditional search engine searches now don’t click through to another website. Although for marketers it might be jarring to see site visits dropping due to these trends, AI summaries and LLM
responses offer a great opportunity for brands to show up favorably and meet their audiences where they are.
Implications
With these
changing research habits among audiences, I am actively shifting my communication strategies accordingly. Here are a few places to start:
Capitalize on TikTok searches. Consider implementing keyword targeting and designing creative to fuel discovery, as people use TikTok as a place for
research.
Add Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to your website strategy. Optimize
your website to be favored by LLMs and show up in their summaries.
Adjust success
metrics. Add TikTok brand mentions and engagement as well as brand or product mentions in AI responses and summaries as success metrics.
Looking Ahead
As e-comm capabilities begin to roll out at AI companies and revenue becomes more of a focus, I doubt it will be long before brands can
begin to advertise in LLM responses. This too will become a crucial piece of the marketing mix.
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future editions, please reach out to our Managing Editor, Barbie Romero at Barbie@MediaPost.com.