How Social Media Search Is Changing the Way Customers Find Brands

A customer looking for a restaurant, skincare product, fashion brand, agency, or local service may no longer start with Google. They may search Instagram for reviews, TikTok for demonstrations, YouTube for comparisons, or social comments for opinions from real users. For brands, this means visibility now depends on being discoverable wherever customers actively explore.

The opportunity is particularly significant in India. India had 500 million active social media user identities in October 2025, according to DataReportal, showing the enormous scale of social platforms as discovery environments. Google also reports that 80% of Gen Z in India relies on Google Search for shopping, discovery, research and decisions, while 87% of Indian consumers in a cited consumer-journey study discovered a new brand, product or retailer through Google and YouTube.

For marketers, the question is no longer whether social media matters. It is whether customers can actually find, evaluate and trust a brand through social search.

This guide explains how social search is changing discovery, what customers expect to find, how businesses can optimise their content, and what to evaluate when choosing a social media marketing company in Kolkata.

What Is Social Media Search and Why Does It Matter?

Social media search is the process of using platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook or LinkedIn to find information, products, services, people, recommendations and brands. Unlike traditional search, it combines keywords with videos, images, creator opinions, comments, engagement and personalised recommendations.

The important change is that search and discovery are becoming less separate.

A person might see a Reel about a new café, search the café's name on Instagram, check customer comments, visit its profile, watch another video and then search Google for its location. One discovery event can therefore create several search actions.

Research supports this broader behaviour. HubSpot's 2025 consumer research found that nearly one-third of consumers use social media apps to search for information.

At the same time, global brand-discovery research from DataReportal found that social media ads were cited by 29.7% of respondents as a source for discovering new brands and products, up from 26.6% in Q3 2022.

That creates a practical implication: social profiles are no longer simply places to publish content. They are becoming searchable brand assets.

How Is Social Search Changing the Customer Journey?

Social search compresses discovery, research and consideration into the same environment. Customers can discover a product, search for related content, compare opinions, inspect comments and evaluate the brand without immediately leaving the platform.

Traditional customer journeys often looked something like:

Search → Website → Research → Decision

The social-first journey can look more like:

Video → Search → Creator content → Comments → Profile → Website → Purchase

It can also move in the opposite direction.

A customer might search Google first, discover a brand website, then move to Instagram to check whether the business is active and credible.

This matters because social content increasingly acts as proof, not just promotion.

A polished advertisement can introduce a product. But customer comments, creator demonstrations, before-and-after content, product walkthroughs and user-generated posts can influence whether someone believes the product is worth considering.

TikTok's research illustrates this shift. Its 2024 report stated that 61% of TikTok users discovered new brands and products on the platform, while half said they had used TikTok to research or learn more about new products or brands.

The lesson is straightforward: brands need content that supports different stages of intent, not just content designed to generate views.

What Are Customers Actually Searching for on Social Platforms?